Summer Southerlin Blog Post 4, Organize an Outstanding Classroom Library, Ch. 5 Routman

     I had many different "take aways" from chapter 5 of Routman. One of the main aspects that jumped out at me, was allowing students to be involved in setting up the classroom library. I always figured students would "mess it up," or not understand how to properly put one together, but why can I not teach them? I can! As I continued to read about the idea I thought to myself, "my students understand genres, they know different authors, and have already began to show their interest. Why can't my students help me improve our library?" So I realized, this will be one of my new goals for my students. The library will not only be set up based on their interest and genres, but what makes sense to them as a class. I also feel allowing them to help in improving our library, it will cause them to have more ownership and pride in the books. They will take the time to set it up based on what is important to them, I just feel that pushes a sense of pride into their hearts.
     Another idea I took away from this chapter is having more nonfiction books. A lot more! On page 70, it discusses the study second-grade teachers constructed in New Jersey and how outstanding their students test scores were because they simply used nonfiction books to teach reading. Nonfiction books are not only vastly informational, but can be of extreme interest to students. The students are able to learn how to read, learn how to navigate nonfiction books (very useful in higher grades), and as the book said, learn about the world they live in. For students such as ours, I believe this is very important. They lack books at home, as well as simple experiences. No, a book can not replace an actual in person experience but it is better than never having the opportunity to learn about it in some form.
     My new goal I have set for my self after reading this chapter, is to redo my library with my awesome kiddos help! I want to learn more about their interest, encourage book talks, and have them help more organize the library based on genre, interest, and what makes sense to the students. I can not wait to see how they improve our classroom library.