The school district where I was hired to teach encourages all classroom teachers to have 1,000 books available to their students in their homerooms. I know that the intention is for teachers to build their libraries over several years, but I have taken it as a personal challenge to have all 1,000 books by the start of the school year.
After two short months I have accumulated 850 books! How, you ask?
Well, first of all, I am blessed with amazingly generous friends. All I had to do was get the word out that I was in need of books. After posting my goal of 1,000 books on Facebook, I received over 300 books from friends whose kids had outgrown them. I get lots of books, they get more storage space... it was a win / win!
I also hit garage sales. June was a great month to pick up books from retired teachers. Most books were a quarter while some great titles were worth the dollar the seller was asking.
Of course Half Price Books and other discount bookstores are wonderful spots to browse, but I found that they were only worth the time and money if I was looking for specific titles. They were a bit more pricey than the garage sales and used book sales at the local library.
My biggest score was a place in Glen Ellyn, Illinois that a teacher friend told me about. An organization known as SCARCE has a "book rescue" program that keeps books out of the landfill and offers them (for a donation) to educators who work with needy children. The warehouse is literally jam packed with books sorted by genre. They even have classroom sets of books, teacher manuals, file cabinets, and classroom supplies. There are lots of great treasures at this place, especially for teachers who are just starting their careers. If you plan on going, be sure to keep your own kiddos at home. Insurance regulations prohibit children younger than 14 years old from entering the warehouse. You'll appreciate the time to check out all the books without the little ones in tow, but be sure to bring someone with big muscles... those books get heavy really quickly!
So, now my house and my friend's garage are filled to the brim with books until I can get into my classroom. I have been spending lots of time trying to level the books that I do have, knowing that the time I put in now will save me lots of headaches in the future.
After using the Fountas and Pinnell website to level the books, I decided to code the spines of each book to help the students find their levels when searching the classroom library. I think it is great for students to know their actual reading level and to have a goal level to strive towards... however, I don't think that every other kid in the class needs to know that Susie is reading at a level "O" because there is a giant letter plastered on the spine of the book.
So, I decided to code the books using rainbow colored smiley face stickers and star stickers. The concept is really simple actually... the labels follow the ROY G.BIV color pattern, but I switch back and forth between the smiley faces and the starts. I started with my lowest level book in my library (L) and put a red smiley face on it. The "M" level was a red star shape, "N" is an orange smiley face, "O" is an orange star....
Now I can easily guide a student to a range of books at their reading level. I can be broad, "Choose an orange sticker," or specific, "Look for a book that interests you with a blue smiley face." The teacher can easily remember the system because it is a simple rainbow pattern, realizing that a star is always one level higher than the smiley face.
There is definitely a time and place for talking with your students about their specific reading level, but labeling books in this way helps them to keep it a bit more private. Sure, the kids can figure out the system, but they'll have to think about it a bit. I'm betting most will give up because they'll be too interested in their new book. ;)
After two short months I have accumulated 850 books! How, you ask?
Well, first of all, I am blessed with amazingly generous friends. All I had to do was get the word out that I was in need of books. After posting my goal of 1,000 books on Facebook, I received over 300 books from friends whose kids had outgrown them. I get lots of books, they get more storage space... it was a win / win!
I also hit garage sales. June was a great month to pick up books from retired teachers. Most books were a quarter while some great titles were worth the dollar the seller was asking.
Of course Half Price Books and other discount bookstores are wonderful spots to browse, but I found that they were only worth the time and money if I was looking for specific titles. They were a bit more pricey than the garage sales and used book sales at the local library.
My biggest score was a place in Glen Ellyn, Illinois that a teacher friend told me about. An organization known as SCARCE has a "book rescue" program that keeps books out of the landfill and offers them (for a donation) to educators who work with needy children. The warehouse is literally jam packed with books sorted by genre. They even have classroom sets of books, teacher manuals, file cabinets, and classroom supplies. There are lots of great treasures at this place, especially for teachers who are just starting their careers. If you plan on going, be sure to keep your own kiddos at home. Insurance regulations prohibit children younger than 14 years old from entering the warehouse. You'll appreciate the time to check out all the books without the little ones in tow, but be sure to bring someone with big muscles... those books get heavy really quickly!
So, now my house and my friend's garage are filled to the brim with books until I can get into my classroom. I have been spending lots of time trying to level the books that I do have, knowing that the time I put in now will save me lots of headaches in the future.
After using the Fountas and Pinnell website to level the books, I decided to code the spines of each book to help the students find their levels when searching the classroom library. I think it is great for students to know their actual reading level and to have a goal level to strive towards... however, I don't think that every other kid in the class needs to know that Susie is reading at a level "O" because there is a giant letter plastered on the spine of the book.
So, I decided to code the books using rainbow colored smiley face stickers and star stickers. The concept is really simple actually... the labels follow the ROY G.BIV color pattern, but I switch back and forth between the smiley faces and the starts. I started with my lowest level book in my library (L) and put a red smiley face on it. The "M" level was a red star shape, "N" is an orange smiley face, "O" is an orange star....
Now I can easily guide a student to a range of books at their reading level. I can be broad, "Choose an orange sticker," or specific, "Look for a book that interests you with a blue smiley face." The teacher can easily remember the system because it is a simple rainbow pattern, realizing that a star is always one level higher than the smiley face.
There is definitely a time and place for talking with your students about their specific reading level, but labeling books in this way helps them to keep it a bit more private. Sure, the kids can figure out the system, but they'll have to think about it a bit. I'm betting most will give up because they'll be too interested in their new book. ;)
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