Classroom Library Questionnaire

This is a list of questions to consider and reflect on your current practices with your library.

Classroom Libraries—Essential Questions

o     Is my library an inviting place for readers?

o     Can my readers easily find what they’re looking for?

o     Are my books and bins clearly labeled?

o     How are my books organized by topic, genre, theme, etc.?

o     Are there enough just right books for students to read daily?

o     Does my library reflect the work we are doing in our classroom?

o     Does my library reflect the range of interests and abilities of my students?

o     Does my library provide opportunities for students to explore a wide variety of literature and other kinds of reading materials?

o     Does my library have enough books at each level to support all my students’ volume and growth as a reader? 

• How will I supplement my library to meet my readers’ needs? (book room, library, partnership, etc.)

Leveled Library- From the Experts Fountas & Pinnell

What is a leveled book collection? 
A leveled book collection consists of books organized along a gradient of difficulty, from easiest to read to hardest to read. A level indicates a group of books that are similar to one another. The level is described by a cluster of characteristics; no text will have every characteristic listed for the level. In the gradient, we use the letter A to indicate the easiest books to read and the letter Z to identify the most challenging books. To estimate the level of a particular text, we find the cluster of characteristics that most closely represents the text and then study student responses to the text over time. As we discover more about the text through further review and work in the classroom, we determine whether the level designation is reliable or needs to be adjusted.

What features do you look at when you "level" a book?
Leveling is a complex process: one text may be challenging because of certain features, and another text may be challenging for different features. A text with simple words and concepts may be made harder or easier by factors such as length, layout, and print size. On the other hand, a text that "looks easy" because it has few lines of text and big print may be quite challenging because of the vocabulary and the difficulty or number of the concepts included.

The features we evaluate as we level a book include print and layout, vocabulary, sentence complexity, structure, content, language, themes and ideas, and all these characteristics in combination. For a more detailed description of the considerations that go into leveling, visit the Understanding Book Characteristics section

Text quoted from http://www.fountasandpinnellleveledbooks.com/Understanding/characteristics.aspx 

Setting Up Your Balanced Literacy Classroom

Once you have your materials....

It takes time and thought to create an effective classroom layout.  I often change my mind and end up sliding book shelves around the room.  It is well worth the time to sit down and sketch out your classroom layout.

Organizing Your Library: 

You will need many books to support independent reading in your classroom.  The goal of the library for independent reading should be to allow students to choose books easily.  You will want to consider organizing your books by levels, topic, author, or genre.  These choices will need to be made based on your instructional goals.

*Leveled Library

    - Allows students to easily access books at their level.

    - Makes it easy for you to monitor students' book choices.

    - Scaffolds students' choosing Just Right Books.  (I put their level on their book box.)

Scholastic Book Wizard

*Topic/Genre Library

    - Some books level is unavailable or fits better into a "topic/genre" section of the library.

        For example, Poetry books.

    -All the books of one topic are gathered together in a bin.

*Labeling

   *You can make your own, or there are many commercially created labels out there.

    -Include the word "Animals" as well as a small picture.

    -Label the outside of each bin.

    -Label each book.  Keep the label in a consistent place.  (I put my stickers in the top right corner) That way students will always know where to look when trying to return books.

I've made my own labels in the past with a ink jet printer and mailing labels.

I just got a donors choose for these Book Labels.

      

A good place to start is to create labels for the books you have.  However, at you can download the lables below at this teacher's website. Labels to Download

*Book Shelf Placement

    -Keep your library "open".   Avoid creating barriers with bookshelves that might make it hard for you to see students while they are in the library area.

Do This: 

Not This: