BUILDING A

CLASSROOM LIBRARY

August 16, 2013

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presentation at

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Dan Dawer, Pflugerville Middle School

Outcomes

In this session, participants will:

• Understand the importance of building an organized, diverse, and enticing classroom library.

• Examine systems for managing classroom library materials.

• Plan methods for connecting classroom library materials to the curriculum.

Agenda

Personal Reflection 1:00 – 1:15

Presentation 1:15 – 1:45

Field Trip! 1:45 – 2:20

Return to PHS 2:20 – 2:30

Personal Reflection

Think about your classroom library (if you have

one).

How many books are in your library? How do

you display your books? How do you choose

which books go in your library?

If you don’t have a classroom library: What

would an ideal classroom library look like?

Why do I need a classroom

library?

Students will read more often and

become better readers.

Teachers have more high-quality

instructional resources at their

disposal.

What the research says

Enriching the print environments in classrooms

has been shown to result in more reading.

(Krashen 2004)

More reading tend[s] to take place in those

classrooms in which more books [are] available in

the classroom library...in which teachers also read

while students read...in which students [are] not

required to bring their own books, and in which

teachers [make] deliberate efforts to promote

certain books. (Krashen 2004)

What the research says

Children living in poverty have very little

access to books at home and in their

communities, with less access to good public

libraries and bookstores. (Neuman and Celano

2001)

Children in schools that are located in low-

economic neighborhoods have about 50

percent fewer books in their schools than

children going to schools located in wealthy

communities. (McQuillan 1998)

What the research says

There is recent evidence suggesting that

increasing access to books can not only help

students enormously--it can even mitigate the

effects of poverty on school achievement and

literacy development. (Krashen 2010)

4 things to consider when building

a classroom library

1. Organization

2. Diversity

3. Entice students to read

4. Make connections to the

curriculum

Organization

Sort books by genre.

Label your books.

Devise a checkout

system.

Diversity

Provide fiction and

nonfiction materials.

Provide magazines,

graphic novels, and

other “light reading”.

Be frugal.

Entice students to read.

The physical characteristics of the reading

environment matter.

Spotlight good

books.

Talk about books with

your students.

Use student

recommendations to

your advantage.

Make connections to the

curriculum

Make independent reading the norm.

Draw on model texts to teach reading and writing.

Make reading THE goal, not just a means to access content.

Field Trip!

We will be visiting my classroom library at

Pflugerville Middle School.

Plan to meet at the entrance to the building

(inside). We will walk together to room B-108.