In her article Room for Beliefs, Debbie Miller says, “Step outside your classroom door and look back in, as if for the first time. What do you see? Do you want to come back inside? Or do you want to run and hide?” I loved this article when I first read it and it helped me to think about the messages my classroom gave to the students who entered.
I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about the struggling readers in our classroom and schools. As I think about room set up, the school library, classroom libraries and routines, I am trying to look at them through the eyes of the children who do not already see themselves as readers.
I have been trying to imagine what those struggling readers see when they look at the classroom libraries and school libraries. Does the set-up let these readers know that there is a place for them in this school or does it give them the message that the reading they can do is not valued here?
Since most students in the upper elementary grades are reading chapter books, those have always taken up a huge portion of our classroom library and of the fiction section of the school library. I have always had series book baskets, author baskets, favorite character baskets and more.
But I am starting to ask myself whether the books I display really span the range of needs of the readers in the classroom and school. The books on display and the way they are arranged give our students a message about what it is we value.
Look at your classroom and school libraries from the eyes of your most struggling readers. Are our students just choosing books as a way to move to harder books or are they choosing books that they love-books by a favorite author, books about a favorite character, books about a topic they are interested in?
These are the questions I am asking myself about my book displays:
Do I highlight only authors who write “chapter books” or do I also have picture book, poetry and nonfiction author baskets?
I have found that highlighting authors with a variety of books helps to value all types of books in the classroom. By highlighting authors such as Jon Scieszka and Ralph Fletcher (authors who have published picture books and chapter books), students learn to value the writing and the authors rather than the difficulty of the text.
When I look around the room, am I giving the impression that longer, fatter books are the ones that are valued?
I have found that I have to look at the kinds of books I have on display in the classroom. If most of the books on display are at or above grade level reading expectations, I may be giving the message that hard books matter. Instead, I want kids to know that all readers need a variety of texts. So I make sure to highlight quality books that may be thin alongside books like Harry Potter.
Is there a spot for graphic novels, magazines and other short text for students who struggle with stamina and for those who need visual support?
For students who have difficulty with stamina and those who still need picture support, it is important that I value a variety of texts. I have found that sections in the room for graphic novels, children’s magazines and a basket filled with news articles and short stories helps to place value on shorter text with more picture support.
What are some ways that I can group books to encourage kids at different reading levels to talk around them?
Creating popular topic baskets, such as a sports basket, is a way to make sure that kids of various reading levels have access to and can participate in conversations about favorite topics. For example, having a sports basket that includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, picture books, short articles, and magazines gives students lots of ways into a reading topic.
Are chapter books separated from picture books?
For years, I separated my picture books from my chapter books. Although my picture books were in a prominent place in the classroom, they were not as thoughtfully displayed and they were separated from the chapter books. By housing all fiction books in the same spot, picture books gain more value.
What about fairy tales and other genres?
I try to highlight baskets of books like fairy tales that span the variety of levels in a classroom. Fairy tales come in easy picture books formats, more complex picture books, early series books, complicated novels, and even poetry. Displaying baskets with this variety of complexity invites students to read a variety of books in this genre.
Do the books highlighted for independent reading go below and above reading levels?
When I look across the collection, I want to see a good number of easy books displayed in the room. If the Horrible Harry books are in a discreet basket while the Harry Potter books are displayed in the center of the chalkboard ledge, am I giving students the message that Harry Potter is more valued.
Are picture books available and valued for independent reading time- or do you only use picture books for writing lessons?
Often teachers tell me that they use picture books every day-as part of a writing min-lesson or in their content teaching. But, if we do not find ways to invite students to read picture books during independent reading time, and place value on these books for that purpose, students won’t choose them to read on their own.
Do I highlight thin books that are complex?
It is hard to combat the message students are getting from the outside world-that reading fatter, harder books are what we are shooting for in schools and at home. I am always on the lookout for thin books that have depth. Sharing these with students-books where the text is easy but the thinking is hard, seems key to helping kids get away from their frantic race to find the fattest, hardest books on the shelves.
Do I read aloud books that are accessible to more struggling students?
In college methods courses, I was taught to believe that I had to read above students’ independent reading level to expand their “listening vocabulary.” Years ago Joanne Hindley helped me rethink this idea when she considered routines from a struggling reader’s perspective. Our read aloud books become the books our children love-those that they want to read on their own. If we read books that are beyond their independent reading level every time, what are we saying about their abilities? I try to read easy series books as part of read aloud now-books that even my most struggling readers can read on their own. Every time I have done this, these books have become important books in our classroom community’s collective discussions about characters over time. The reading level becomes less valued in our community than quality of book.
In the afterword in Why We Teach by Linda Alston, Lester Laminack writes, “We fail them when we take their dignity and strip away their self worth that enables them to value other human beings, all of whom are more like one another than different from one another. We fail them when we behave as if others can, but they cannot. We fail them when we treat them as if others are more worthy and they are less so, for whatever reasons.” As teachers, we never want to take away our students’ dignity as readers and as learners. Taking a hard look at our library set-ups can help all students know that we value the things they read. Our classrooms and schools can only support them as readers if we can help them to know that there is a place for them as readers.