Reading Anchor ChartsReading Area Charts might include:
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Setting the MoodMake the reading area inviting with supporting anchor charts of reading strategies.
I usually had a basket on a shelf with post-its and bookmarks. Book people has TONS of free bookmarks. (Look in the clearance section on the shelf and you'll find lots of old index cards and bookmarks for upcoming book release dates that have passed. They are colorful, have a summary of the book, and work well. Their register section also has bookmarks with funny slogans and sayings about reading. Use rugs, and pillows, whenever possible! You can use that area as an incentive. For example, students who read a certain number of pages at home get to sit in the reading rug area. |
Library Set-Up: Everything You Need to Know
ORGANIZING YOUR SHELVES: I recommend you add bins to add organization. I didn't have more than 10 total. Common bins I used included: Romance, Graphic Novels, Multi-cultural Lit, Sports, or bins by the same author to lump all their books together. Some libraries put every book in bins. That's up to you. I think a mix of some books facing forward, if you have multiple copies, bins, and some books being simply put in with spines facing out is fine (see picture bottom right). It makes it look more like a book store! Have students make recommendations for books, whenever possible, to include on the shelves. They can be great extra credit opportunities for students and make your library more inviting!
I write the lexile and points inside the flap of each book, along with a stamp of my name, the school name, and my room number. Then, I typed every title, author, genre or section of my library I put it in, the lexile, and the point value (in SRC - Scholastic Reading Counts) into an excel file so I could organize the whole library accordingly. I know this is crazy but if you start it year one, it's not too hard to keep adding as your library grows. Students who need community service can also be a valuable resource to help you with this! I printed the list by alphabetical title, by genre, by author last name, and by lexile and put each list tabbed into a binder so students could use whichever list they needed. If they were looking for another book from an author they liked, they would use the author title list. (The genre column would say where to look.) If students wanted to read a high lexile book for a challenge, they could look at the list that was sorted from highest lexile to lowest. If they wanted to earn a certain number of points, they could look at the list that way as well. Last, I put a star sticker or page reinforcements in bright colors on a label, then put the label on the spine of each book and covered it with clear packing tape to make sure it would stay. This made it easier for students to find books in that genre because the shelves were labeled with the title of the genre and that kind of sticker. BOOK CHECK OUT: Students would check out books by writing their name, their ID, the title and author of the book they checked out, and the date on a notebook paper that I had column headers on. It was at the beginning of the library binder. At the end of the year, I could look at the excel printed by genre and check my shelves. If something was missing, I would highlight it and then look over the check-out forms to see who had it last. GETTING BOOKS: To grow your library, invite students to donate some of their favorite books to you so other students can enjoy them. I also recommend going to Half Price Books; they will give teachers a full box of books if they have the inventory (which they usually do!). I've also used First Book - they offer grants throughout the year where books are free and you only pay .45 a book to cover shipping. If you are willing to drive to a warehouse, you don't even have to pay for shipping. Several of my colleagues have also had success with Donors Choose. Last, but not least, Penny Kittle has a foundation that donates complete libraries of her recommendations; the application is due every March. "Fake" vs. REAL Reading |
What Should Go In the LibraryEvery library should have a good mix of genres, including comics and graphic novels. There are a lot of lists with recommendations but here are a few to consider:
I also love this website - What Should I Read Next? - because students can type in any book they've loved and it will give them multiple recommendations that are similar. |
Students should be reading independent books that...
1) Are interesting to them (do a reading survey and/or do a mini-lesson on choosing the right book to help them)
2) Are appropriate to their age/grade level (not just in content, but also in level. While we don't want to limit students, if they are reading books that are far too challenging or too easy, they may become frustrated and turn away from reading. That being said, levels or lexiles are only guidelines. Student interest and choice should ALWAYS trump lexile.)
Here's what Independent Reading should look like when someone walks into your room.
1) Are interesting to them (do a reading survey and/or do a mini-lesson on choosing the right book to help them)
2) Are appropriate to their age/grade level (not just in content, but also in level. While we don't want to limit students, if they are reading books that are far too challenging or too easy, they may become frustrated and turn away from reading. That being said, levels or lexiles are only guidelines. Student interest and choice should ALWAYS trump lexile.)
Here's what Independent Reading should look like when someone walks into your room.
Reading Conferences & Mini-Lessons
Reading ConferencesReading Conferences should be happening on a daily basis (Scholastic resource on conferences here). As students read for 20-30 minutes daily, teachers should be walking around the room, checking student page numbers (you can use this for attendance as well!) to see progress.
Reading Conferences have two purposes: (1) gauging overall general comprehension, interest, and opinion about what students are reading
Keeping track of your conferences - there are some ideas on the videos and online resources page. You can also try apps like Stream Reading or Confer. Or, you can just keep an online record using google docs like this teacher. Ideas for the IN: Have students keep track of reading strategies in their IN so they can refer to their own resource when they are struggling with a word or with staying focused. As you conference, you can also have them summarize a strategy you gave on a post-it and include it in their IN. Use the last page of the "Reading Strategies" section of the IN for a "Next List." That way, you begin to put the recommendations and ideas for what to read next on students. This can grow as other students recommend what they are reading but also through book talks (pg 3). More resources: This is a great article about reading conferences with more ideas. This PDF also has tons of different types of conferences you can use with students. How to Create Lifelong Readers |
Reading Mini-LessonsGive general mini-lessons (or this resource for mini-lessons) before reading at the beginning of the year with basic support strategies but make sure you don't cut into their minimum 20-30 minutes of reading.
At this time and/or during reading conferences give focused mini-lessons based on their level of skill from the Reading SBG rubric, which identifies goals for: Reading Workshops should also be happening in class. Group students together to work on skills like or for reading mini-lessons on specific TEKS or skills like character inferences or theme. (These need AISD logins to access.) (I also really liked this blog with free printable forms to help keep track of student growth & notes regarding these skills.) "BOOK LOVE" Defined,
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Reading Conferences (see questions stems on slides 6-9) :
The slideshow above was excerpted from a larger PPT; Original PD Session: "Reader’s Workshop
Best Practices to Support Reading Achievement" by Janet Hester and Leslie Barrett
Best Practices to Support Reading Achievement" by Janet Hester and Leslie Barrett
Literature CirclesHere is a list of resources you may consider using, including this informational article:
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Reading LogsI love this reading log because the back page has different types of reading strategies/questions, making sure students are practicing these much needed skills. Here is another one to consider.
Since theme is a major term assessed on STAAR, this reading log asks students to keep track of themes from multiple genres of text. |