This chapter of Routman really drives home the importance of having a well organized and supplied classroom library. The questionnaire given in the chapter really brought to light some changes that I could consider making in my own classroom. One question asked if the classroom collection was static? That really got me thinking...from my perspective I have spent hours collecting, lexiling, labeling and organizing what seems like A LOT of books, but to my students who are weekly going through the bins looking for something to read they see the same books week after week. The idea came to me that instead of having more bins with more books, have a set number of bins and switch them out with others each quarter. The article also suggested switching books with other teachers to provide variety.
With each of our social studies units, we pull out books that directly relate to that particular time in history, which is another addition of books to the classroom. The article states that reading comprehension test scores are directly related to the amount of engaged reading a student is involved in, and providing a wide variety of reading options is key to getting students to read.
One section of the article that I really struggled with was the concept of deemphasizing leveled books in classroom libraries. I completely understand that students can and often judge themselves and others by their level or group. However, when I am doing individual conferences with students and they need help choosing a book, it is so easy to tell them to pull certain bins based on their lexile level and go through those. By fifth grade, students are aware that everyone is on a different level. I don't want to draw attention to it in a negative way, but I want to make it easier for my students to choose books.
I do need to find ways to incorporate more talking/sharing of books in my classroom. I really like the teacher who created a Top 10 list of books with his students. Overall, I feel like I have made great strides the last few years in increasing the size and variety of my classroom library.
Although it is easier to send them to a bin to pick out a book on their level, we also have to look at the big picture! When our students walk into the public library or into Barnes and Noble, there are a lot more books, and there are no book levels! Students can gain a lot of perusing a book to decide if it is a just right book. More goes into it than just "Can I read these words?" when they decide. One acronym I like is to use with students is "I PICK" Students ask themselves, "Does it fit my Purpose for reading? Does it Interest me? Can I Comprehend the material? and Do I Know most of the words?" If we are limiting students to a basket, they may have gone a level higher and found a book that they were very interested in reading and because of that were able to read it and comprehend it. You do not have to "hide" a reading level on a book, but you don't have to use it to limit readers from reading it just because the STAR test gave a reading range and that number wasn't in it. I am sure you allow flexibility with those STAR reading ranges, but you get what I am saying! It is hard to trust our students to make those choices, but if we are trying to foster independence we have to be willing to let them try!
ReplyDeleteHi Carolyn,
ReplyDeleteI love the suggestion of sharing books of interests during our reading workshop so that students can share what books they loved. Many times this helps students choose their next book. While I agree that we want to know our students' reading levels and the levels of our texts, I never want to limit my student by a level. So many variables go into play when a student is self-selecting a book such as their background knowledge and their motivation level and we want students to be able to choose their own books with our guidance and monitoring. If we assign and limit a level we are taking not only the choice away but we also take away the opportunity they have to learn by making a choice - even if it is the wrong one. Sincerely, Dawn