Bright Ideas: Taming the Classroom Library

I am thrilled to be apart of the Bright Ideas Link Up for April!
If you haven't have a chance to check one of these bad boys out, then now is the time! Up to 150 bloggers join together to share their best teaching ideas and tips. No sale pitches, no "follow" me requirements, just good honest idea sharing. WAHOO! Let's get started!

The idea that I want to share with you today is how to best organize and maintain your personal classroom library. As one who calls himself a book "hoarder", it can be difficult to maintain, organize, and keep track of large amounts of books. (This includes picture books to non-fiction!)

As a 6th grade teacher, I use picture books like crazy as mentor texts in writing, mini-lessons in reading, and to help make in point in science and math. So, with my collection of picture books, I had to find an easy way to organize them. After much discussion with my wife, we decided to alphabetize them and mark each letter of the alphabet with a red card as pictured below. It has worked out super-well!

When it comes to my regular library of fiction, this requires a whole NEW level of taming. It isn't as difficult as one might think. Let me tell you how I organize my books, and hopefully it will inspire YOU with an idea on how to best track and organize YOURS!

I have an old computer that I use in my library. I use software that our school provided, but a quick google search of FREE library software will provide you with lots of options.  I strongly encourage you to look around and find program or online organizer. If you can't find one, no worries- I didn't have one for the first several years of my teaching. I simply typed all my titles in Excel so that I had a record of my books. AND, I could search the spread sheet using the Crtl-F function and find the title I wanted. If you choose to use a program, be sure to get a bar code scanner. I got mine several years ago for $30.00. They make it much easier to enter your books.

Regardless of HOW you track them (and I strongly encourage you to do so!), it is very helpful when ordering new books, so you don't repeatedly order the same books!) So, let me tell you how I organize my books on my shelves! First, I start by taking my unleveled books! These are brand-new from my latest book order.

The first thing I do is write my name on the end of the book (or the class/school if the books belong to them). This ensures a couple of things- 1) it is easy to identify that it is my/classes book and 2) makes it nearly impossible for students to steal my books. My name on the front page can be easily ripped out.

When adding new books, I only write my name with a dash to start with. I will look up the level of each book later, and add that to the top next to my name.

Next, I add a bar code on the inside cover. If you are not using bar codes, you would skip this step. Don't feel overwhelmed. It took me a long time to get all my books into my program. Remember to use your volunteers or even some students can be trusted to enter information correctly. :)

To level a book, I use Scholastic's Book Wizard. All my books are leveled with the Guided Reading Levels (GRL). With my name and the level written on the top of the books, it is very simple to keep the books organized on my shelves.

So, when you look at my rather out of control collection, you can see that organizing is very important. Whether you have a LOT of books or just getting started, organizing your collection is vital. But, what about non-fiction you ask. Let's take a peek at that part of my collection.

I organize my non-fiction by topic. I do NOT level my non-fiction, and it is not allowed to leave my classroom. In fact, students can not check it out to themselves, but are free to read it at their desk, during recess, or any other time as needed. It has worked wonderfully and the students enjoy sharing all the popular books because they can't "lose" them in their desks.

I have found a very simple way to keep topics organized. I bought colored dots at an office supply store. I started by sticking one on the topic label as show below:

Then, any book on that topic also receives the same colored dot as shown:

I have continued to label all the books in my library in the same manner.

The rest of my non-fiction library is organized by topic in tubs. This keeps the covers facing out so the students are exposed to the intriguing and inviting covers! LOVE LOVE LOVE!

I hope that you are feeling inspired in SOME fashion to work on taming that classroom library you have! Here's to adding many more exciting titles to inspire those young minds you work with!

-Cheers!
Mr. Hughes

This is just ONE of 150 BRIGHT IDEAS! Check out many more in the link up below! WAHOO!

An InLinkz Link-up

"Read-Aloud Round-Up" Book Share

Howdy Friends!

I recently had a friend ask if I could/would recommend some good "student level" reads for her summer reading.  She wanted to read some books she could recommend to her students next year. This request has been in my thoughts for several days now and I finally decided this is how I want to share my list. Plus, with summer comes that time reflect on what we want to do "next year". So this is a perfect time to reflect on those books we shared this year that the kiddos LOVED!

First of all, let me explain myself. I LOVE to read the same books my students read. That could be why I have a 5,000 book library that I personally own. I love knowing what they are reading about because it opens a doorway to student engagement. Students love it when the "teacher" knows about their zombie book. I'll admit, I do have limits. I won't read gory or horror books. I will look up the book on Amazon or another book site and read about it so I have an understanding about the book.

Not only are these grade level books quick, easy reads for us as teachers and parents, I am always on the lookout for a new class read-aloud.

In the past I had a set list of books I would read outloud. Every year I read my "babies". Then I began to realize something. The students were less and less interested in those stories. Not because they weren't good stories, but because many of them had already read them or their brother or sister read it and told them about it. Or, it just simply isn't the current trend in reading (for example, it seems zombies and vampires have taken over the reading world as of late).

Before I ever begin a story, I ask who has read the book. If more than one or two have, I quietly set the book down and pick up my next choice. Some years I will even read a book to the class that I haven't read yet. This is a double-edged sword. I love being able to predict along with the students. we get to have some pretty amazing discussions because "the teacher really doesn't know". However, I have run into a couple sticky situations with inappropriate content or language. Usually this is easy to fix while I am reading along and sometimes, well, we just have to keep reading.

So, what is the point of all this, you ask?

HUGE! ENORMOUS! GIGANTIC!

My goal is to have a database collection of teacher-tested read-aloud books for grades 3-8 that will be here for years to come for teachers to use as a resource. Of course I need YOUR help to make it amazing. Even if you don't "read aloud" to your students, here will be a great collection of recommended books you can use to encourage your students to read (or find a great book for YOU to enjoy!)

Here's How It Works:

1) Blog about your favorite 1-5 book(s) (or more, your call). Be sure to add a picture of each book, which you will need them for the linky below. Tell why you chose the book, why you love it, and/or what makes it a great read-aloud. It is okay to blog about your favorite 5 books in the same post and then link each book here back to that same post. Please include the read-aloud reading round-up picture at the top of this post in YOUR post with a link back here.

2) Choose the grade level Linky that you think each book BEST fits. Add the links one at a time for each book. If you are like me, I choose a book based on lots of things, not just grade/text complexity. We can browse through all the grade levels to look for books. You can add as many books as you want. The more the merrier. Each book title should be linked separately in the linky USING THE TITLE AND AUTHOR as the NAME. The link will be the same posting for each book. Remember that just because you teach 4th doesn't mean that the book is actually a 4th grade level. It might be a 5th or 6th grade level book and should be linked there.


Please avoid:
a) Linking to a general site, blog, or store. These links will have to be deleted as they do not add to the goal of this undertaking.
b) leaving the title and author OFF the posting. It is vital we know the title and author of the book. These links may also have to be deleted.
c) add the same book to multiple levels. Choose the ONE level you feel it best fits.
d) listing the same book repeatedly in the same level. Please look over the grade levels to see if your favorite books are listed before you link a title. Duplicates will most likely not be deleted, it just becomes annoying when the same book is listed over and over. :)

Once You Add, share this page with all your colleagues. I envision a rich and complex resource of read-aloud suggestions that you and I can use for years to come. It only takes a second and can make a huge difference in the amount of books we have to browse.

ALL RIGHT- LET'S GET LINKING THOSE BOOKS!

Questions? Please leave a comment and I will get to it as soon as possible, OR, email at: mrhughestptrequests (at) gmail (dot) com,

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Read Aloud Time Rocks!

That time after lunch, when my students are seated after recess is a magical time. I quietly grab the book, settle onto my bar stool, and open the book. The students watch in quiet anticipation. I look up and hands shoot in the air. They know that I want a summary of what we read yesterday. After a brief review, we start into the reading. 

This is my favorite part of the day. And I would love to share a few of my read-aloud books from this past year in hopes that you might find a new book to love OR have a trip down memory lane as you think about the last time you read that one.

1) Go Jump in the Pool by Gordon Korman.

I love this quirky series about two boys who living in an all boys boarding school in Canada. They tend to get  into a lot of trouble with their headmaster, Mr. Sturgeon. My 6th graders laughed and laughed at the silly antics Bruno and Boots go through in hopes of getting a swimming pool at their school. LOVE THIS! (Plus Gordon Korman is a great writing mentor since these books were published while he was still in high school!)

2) Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver

This is a favorite that I will read every few years. It presents some interesting discussions as the story goes from realistic fiction to almost fantasy and the students don't really notice the difference. It allows for discussion of beliefs of other cultures and also about prehistoric times. The premise is a young boy's father is killed by a evil bear. The boy must find a way to destroy the bear before the bear destroys the entire forest. There is just one problem. Torak has never been around other humans, aside from his father, so he has much to learn.

3) Thunder Cave by Roland Smith

If I had to choose one book my student loved most this year, this is the one. We learned so much about Africa. We looked at pictures of the landscape, the culture, the Masai people. We used Google maps to find the actual places that Jacob Lansa traveled to as he searched for his father after his mother's untimely death. Better yet, this is the first of three books about Jacob. Since I NEVER read more than one book in a series, the students were motivated to read more books. BONUS!

4) One of our last reads was The House of Sixty Fathers by Meindert DeJong. Mr. DeJong tells an amazing story about a Chinese boy in war torn China (World War II setting) and gives an interesting perspective of those people who struggled to survive against the Japanese soldiers who had taken over their part of China. It is a heart-wrenching story that took a very close second place of favorites with my students this year. I even created a comprehension packet that goes with this book to help my students stay focused on the reading. Perfect for studying WWII, Chinese Culture, and more. 

5) The Roar by Emma Clayton is amazing! It is set in a futuristic Europe with a dystopian plot. While I didn't have a chance to read this entire book due to the year ending, my students were very receptive to the story and were upset that we didn't get to finish the book. This is the first time I had ever tried to read it as a read aloud. I had read it previously for my own enjoyment, but had forgotten so much over the several years since, that it was almost like reading it for the first time. It brings up a lot of social issues about what rights should people have and who should get to control those rights. It presents a scary and interesting future picture of our Earth. I will say that there are words and sentences that I do have to skip here and there, but for the most part, it is a straight through read.

These were just five of the books we read this year. There were others, but these are the ones that really stood out.I hope you have found a new book or two to take for a test-drive!

Happy Reading,

Mr. Hughes

Just a heads-up. These books and many more can be found on the Read-Aloud Round-Up! Just click on the picture to check it out! I invite YOU to blog about YOUR top 5 favorite books and then share them in the Read-Aloud Round-Up! Be sure to use the logo below in your post and link it back to the Read-Aloud Round-Up page! WAHOO!