Organize an Outstanding Classroom Library
This chapter begins with pretty obvious statements about books and classroom libraries; classroom libraries are often under stocked, ill-fitting, and not treated as a priority in school funding. The statement that I identified with is, "Books contribute more strongly to reading achievement than any computer software does" (pg. 64) I wish Routman would have listed those actual statistics and/or study to read. I wonder if schools know this, and if so, why are we still doing the same thing year after year? A huge frustration for teachers is how the district or state department spends money. Great gobs of money is spent every few years on textbooks, and then we are told not to teach from them. Umm, what? Imagine if we got the money that was spent on textbooks to beef up our classroom libraries?!? Ok, moving on.
The classroom library inventory we completed a few weeks ago opened my eyes to how poorly my classroom library has been operating. Partially because many of my books are old, donated titles, but also because they have been seen as "supplementary" rather than an essential part of my ELA block. Many of the library questions that Routman asks were seen on the survey.
Routman asks us to pay attention to student interests, and de-empasize leveled books. This is hard for me. I do wholeheartedly believe in student choice. Fiction or non fiction, topic, it doesn't matter, as long as the students are engaged in reading. I do struggle, however, with letting students choose books that are above their level. All the interest in the world can't help them comprehend what they are reading once they get past the picture book stage! (I'd also love to see the research on this:) )
I like her ideas about making "Top Ten" lists. I may start out by making "Top Five" lists, and go from there. These could be authors, books, book topics, genre, etc. It will encourage personal preferences and maybe even writing persuasive pieces convincing others to read their choices!
I love her ideas about library design and organization. However, bins, shelves, books, carpets, lamps, chairs, and pillows all cost money! How do we prioritize?
This chapter definitely sparked my interest in my library. Since reading this, I have reorganized my library into author, genre, topic, chapter books, and so on. Hopefully I can continue to think of my classroom library as an imperative part of my instruction.
I can tell a lot of thought has gone into connecting this reading with your classroom practice--nice! I'll keep my eye out for research in the areas you've mentioned. You're not the first to express frustration with the way we spend money in public education. I think it comes from the cliche association between textbooks and teaching. (Here's another interesting "at-home" research project I'd like to try one day--in pop culture representations of school culture [like commercials], what role do textbooks play? Classroom libraries? Might this influence how these two resources are perceived?) I will be interested to hear how your classroom library makeover has been received!
ReplyDelete