My school has implemented the Accelerated Reader program to track our students' reading levels and library books read. After using the program for a year, I noticed how difficult it was to get students to visit our library to get new books inbetween classroom visits. There was little motivation on their part to get new books.
Our school gave us money to purchase in-class libraries. I asked the students what types of books they would like to read, then I bought them. My class was one of the few that purchased our books from Scholastic rather than our vendor that supplies the library. It was a good thing-the library vendor delivered the books one week before school ended, while my students had access to the books for half the year!
My action research question is this: Will students read more if they have access to an in-class library rather than a traditional school library?
Ultimately, I want to know if using classtime to visit the library can be avoided if students can get books directly from my class. This would free up many instructional minutes that are used while students choose books and travel to and from the library.
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4 comments:
At my school I feel pretty lucky to have a library across the hall. However, I totally see the value of this project. Even at my school a trip to the library takes up a lot of time. I'm working on creating a classroom library full of wonderful books and soft cozy chairs and pillows. So far, the students love it.
This is a great project. We do not have a school library, at this point, since we are a new campus. I have spent ( and this is no exageration) at least $1000.oo out of my own pocket, in the last two months to make sure my class has reading materials which they can have access to.
How are you going to get your data? Are you going to have an in-class sign in sheet, and will you work with your librarian to get print outs to see how many of your students checked out library books versus books in your class? Do you have a specific "library day" at your school, and would this potentially throw off results, since students would in a sense be "forced", or at least feel obligated to get a library book each time they went.
I am eager to see what happens!
-TeacherPreacher
We have a school library, however, I find that my kids waste time there instead of looking for books; they view it as "social time," so we only go once a month, specifically for book report and project oriented books. We are scheduled to go weekly, but it really became a waste of time. I do have an extensive in-class library with about 500 titles with varied levels (including very low and very high) and topics of interest. A lot of students prefer to use the class library for project books because they are all fairly recent books, and there is often competition at the library to get specific titles. (these are 6th graders I have, by the way..)
We use AR at my school and the students, staff, and teachers live by it. In my classroom we have built a library with at least 40 books for AR levels from 2.0 - 7.0 and I teach fourth grade. Students know what their AR level is and pick books from the appropriate shelf. This helps them choose books that are "their level". I think that it helps manage the students reading but I don't like to limit them to only AR books.
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