A library in the Classroom...(Blog 3 - October)

Routman - Chapter 5 - Organize an Outstanding Classroom Library

"Classroom libraries are a literacy necessity; they are integral  to successful teaching and learning and must become a top priority it our students are to become thriving, engaged readers" (Routman, pg 64).

I am so excited about my classroom library this year. I spent a lot of time organizing my library and making it a place where students understand it's importance, as well as enjoy it's materials. It is important to me as a teacher to have these resources organized and in a well thought out place within the library in order to be able to use the books during lessons. I love that I have the ability to pull an entire bin of books from our classroom library and use them for specific learning tools and for specific lessons. My students were in awe of our library because of the amount of books and the space that the library creates for them to spend time in. 

"The availability of reading materials greatly impacts children's literacy development" (Routman, pg. 64).

The classroom library and our school library offer our students a great array of books. I like that this section of the chapters also acknowledges the importance of students having books to read at home, as well as at school. Our students usually come to us in the lower grade levels, having never been read too. I think it is important as literacy teachers to take this into consideration when modeling and teaching students how to love reading and become avid and successful readers. It is extremely essential in our demographic that we are sensitive to this and remain patient with our readers. I love that in this section of the chapter the author also discusses ways in which we can help families grow their home library. I believe that Matthew and our school does a wonderful job promoting reading and helping families and students get access to and own more books. 

The other parts of this chapter that I really enjoyed reading about and would love to implement in my classroom is the "Top 10 Books" and "Book Shares". I would love for my students to be able to share what books they are reading and have read, as well as begin a top 10 book wall in our classroom somewhere. I know from experience in reading novels with the class that if they enjoy the book, they are much more likely to check out other books from the same author. I have also noticed that students like to check out books on the subject matter we are learning about in class. There also also some trendy titles that students check out together. I believe sharing is caring and what better way to care about each other as readers, then to share the great books that we are reading.