Building a Classroom Library

This morning, Sarah Chattin posted an interesting survey on the English Companion Ning - she was interested in building a classroom library. I take great pride in the stacked bookshelves tucked in the corner of my classroom, so I decided to participate in the survey. Since the survey is a bit lengthy and I tend to ramble anyway, I decided to post my responses here rather than on the Ning reply thread.

Classroom Library Survey

What grades do you teach?
I teach 7th and 8th grade English Language Arts in a semi-rural district located near Niagara Falls, New York.

Do you have a classroom library?
My classroom library consists of about 150 books located on a bookshelf in the corner of my room. In addition, my school has multiple “book stops” located in the hallways. Students use an honor system to borrow these books.

How did you collect your books? And how do you get new ones? (Garage sales, gifts, bookstores, grants, school money, book fairs, etc.)
Up until a few years ago, I was fortunate to have a Scholastic Books warehouse located only minutes from my home. Several times a year, they would open it up to the public and liquidate inventory. In this way, I was able to purchase multiple copies of new titles for as low as 50 cents a book! Sadly, the warehouse was moved to another area, so I no longer have this as an option. Instead, I have been using online services like BookMooch to replenish and reinvigorate my class library (I wrote more about this in a previous blog post).

Do you make a point to continue adding to your classroom library?
Yes. I keep an eye on the popular book titles within my library and try to rotate out those that don't get much use. I also follow groups on Ning and Twitter to keep up-to-date with current young adult bestsellers.

What sorts of resources do you have in your library? Books (fiction, non fiction, graphic novels, etc), newspaper articles, magazines, music, movies, etc?
My library is entirely made up of books, simply because the funds are not available for subscriptions and other media. These books are primarily novels, non-fiction, and historical fiction. I try to have a selection for all my students – reading levels in my library range between 5th and 10th grade.

What materials do you wish you had?
I am currently pursuing a grant through Barnes and Noble for a class set of Nook E-Readers. I'd like to use these for independent reading as well as for books that we typically read as a full class. Not only are e-books cheaper, but they never become damaged or warn.

What books do you think should be in every classroom library?
I feel that a classroom library should establish and encourage reading enjoyment. Therefore, book topics should be diverse, of high-interest, and as current as possible.

Do you have suggestions for how a new teacher can build a library?
Keep an eye out for public library book sales. While these books usually aren't on the bestseller's list, they'll give you a foundation of materials from which to build on. For teachers looking for funding to purchase books, I would suggest Donors Choose. Many teacher have great success is securing funds for books through this site.

How do you use your classroom library?
My library is used for independent reading as well as for our school sustained silent reading (SSR) program. More info regarding SSR in this previous blog post.

Do you have a system for students to check out books or can they borrow them at will?
Students usually make a verbal request for a book. More of my books get ruined from overuse and wear-and-tear than they do from vandalism or theft, so I don't bother with a formal means of signing them out. As far as I'm concerned, students reading my books too much is a good problem to have!

What are the most popular books?
My students currently seem to be interested in trilogy or series books. The Hunger Games and Chaos Walking seem to be favorites right now.

Do you keep potentially controversial books in your library? Why or why not?
I do have books on more mature topics available to students, but I keep them tucked away in a drawer. I offer them to students who I know are responsible enough to read and enjoy them. These include copies of some of the more classic works – Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, Animal Farm, 1984, To Kill a Mockingbird, etc.

Do you require parental permission for students to borrow certain books?
No, I do not. I have never had a problem with a parent showing concern over what their child was reading. I try to read every book that I make available to my students. This way, if a student either misunderstands or misconstrues something, I can have a well-informed conversation with him/her about the book.

What do students think about your classroom library?
Middle school students by nature will never tell you that they enjoy anything that's even remotely academic. While my students certainly don't praise my shelves of books, they recognize that they are a resource for them when they are looking for a good read.

What do you wish this survey had asked, and how would you answer?
I would be interested to know more about teachers' recreational reading habits. So often we forget that we are role models and our students will emulate our behavior. I try to make it a point to have my student see me reading for fun, or at the very least share with them what I am reading at home. I think this helps make reading feel less like a chore for them.

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Modeling How to Use the Flip Camera with Students

Every day, my team begins our daily meeting by entering homework into the team calendar on our school website. It's a nice way to communicate to parents, and also serves as a way to hold kids accountable when they are absent. Understandably so, it's not the most popular page on the website. Based on a quick poll in class, I'd guess less than a third of our kids frequent it more than once a week.

I'm trying to change that. For the past week, I've been taking the last 10 minutes of my silent reading group and filming skits with them that go along with the day's homework. It's giving me practice with my new Flip camera (yesterday's post explained how I got it), and since I upload the finished movie directly into the calendar, I'm assuming more kids are visiting it from home.

Right now the skits are more about the message than the process. I'm the one who writes up the dialogue, and the one who records and edits the video. But I'm hoping by modeling this process on a daily basis, students will soon be able to take over the task. Actually, that's already happening. Today, several students knocked on my door to ask if they could borrow the Flip for a Social Studies project.

Those kids probably aren't going to check the homework tonight, but I can guarantee they wouldn't have thought of adding a technology piece to their project if they hadn't seen how it was done first.

Here are our video skits for the last two days. I hope you enjoy!

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How to Get Students Reading Silently and Independently

Our teaching contract requires us to teach five classes, and supervise one duty. Being an ELA teacher, my duty usually ends up being SSR, or Silent Sustained Reading in the half period opposite my students’ lunch. On paper, this is a 20 minute period of time where students choose a book to read while relaxing with their full bellies. The reality is that it is a holding tank for children hopped up on the social gossip spilled during lunch SSR is the time during the day where students are asked to do something that many of them do not particularly love to do, and where there is no consequence, punitive or grade-based, for their performance.

Some teachers concede quickly to SSR, turning it into a study hall. Others play dumb – ignoring students who habitually grab a different book from the shelf each day, or dangle carrots like “free Friday” for silent compliance during the week.

I’ve tried group read-alouds, small book clubs, high interest selections – all with some success. Some kids embrace it while others visit my desk daily with legs bent and knees touching proclaiming inevitable bladder infection unless I turn them loose to visit the bathroom and then roam the halls. At best I would estimate 80% of my group to be engaged in meaningful reading. Better than the SSR classes that abandoned reading altogether, but not great. I resigned myself to this being the best possible model for an unstructured activity with a group of middle schoolers. Until, that is, I found the one missing component to a successful reading group. Me.

I’ve been a big fan of practice what you preach (here’s an earlier post on that same topic), and I realized I hadn’t been doing that during SSR. Typically after handing out books, and clearing the line of children with near-exploding bladders, I would hunker down at my desk and use the time to catch up on some of my own work.

My example was the wrong one. No wonder some SSR groups transform into a study hall. I had done it myself without even noticing. With the start of a new school year, and two SSR groups, I promised myself that I would set myself as an example. We are only into the second week of school, but perched in front of a silent group of readers with my book open in my lap, I have already noticed significant changes.

Once we begin reading, I open my book and get comfy in the front of the room. Amazingly, only twice have I been interrupted by a student asking to leave the room. I’d like to think that seeing my with a book caused an epiphany with my students on the importance and value of reading, causing them to immerse themselves in their own books. In reality, they are probably intimidated by the idea of interrupting the teacher while he is doing something. Either way, they are reading more during SSR. Everyone. I have 100% participation.

And best of all, I get a few minutes during my hectic day to read.

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