Riddle, Organize an outstanding classroom library

"Value 'Light Reading'" is my favorite advice in this article.  I explain it to my students as chapter books and nonfiction books and heavy books (mentally not physically) are equivalent to the meal.  You want a meal that will stick to your ribs and energize you for a long time.  However, there are also those times when you just have to have a hershey kiss: Those no-brainer reading materials that keep you entertained and very little else.  "Snacks," we call them.

This meal analogy also relates to the variety suggestion of this portion of the book.  You wouldn't want to continue to eat sandwiches every day.  Why read the same genre day in and day out?  Mix it up.  

I drive my students crazy with the "Top 10" list.  When we come across a book that I adore, they can tell how much I love it by where it falls on my list.  "Top 20" or "Top 5"...I couldn't possibly REALLY narrow it down to a top 10.  At the end of last year my class had picked up the habit of ranking their favorite things.  I over heard one of them say, "That's my top 20 singer."  :)

After our class discussion on vocaroo I am very excited to get my students into recording their book reviews.  They love to share their opinions anyway.  We tried it out last week and found that a couple of our computers need microphone work.  Never fear though, we will push forward and try it again.  

I can't believe that California has pressured some teachers to remove their classroom libraries!  That does not make any sense at all! My class gets tons of mileage out of my library.  

Overall this chapter reiterated some excellent points on keeping a classroom library, many of which echo a school library.  One thing I want to try is getting the kids involved in organizing the books.  That's a scary bit of control to let go....