I am starting to look at my books and wondering how most of you level your library? I looked at Beth Newingham's site and really liked the way she did hers. I was just wondering if anyone else does it like this? With the color code like she has? Is it easy to do and easy for the kids? I would really appreciate any feedback. I am moving from k to 5th and have a teacher who is retiring giving me her books.
Thank you, thank you!
i teach 6th and my books are not leveled. i have them separated by genre (similar to beth newingham). at this age, if there is a label on it that tells everyone what reading level it is, many kids who are reading below that level will just choose books that are too difficult for them as a show. but, they are not able to successfully read those. instead, they choose books based on genre, and if i see they aren't choosing good books for themselves, then we go over how to pick books that are good fit books for them.
I have two book cases in my room for my classroom library. On one case I keep all my chapter books and I level those by Lexile level. I have a basket for each hundreds of levels (I don't know how to say that, but for example, a basket for all the books from 400-499, one for all books from 500-599, etc).
On the other book case, I have baskets separated into genre: a basket for poetry, one for biographies, one for non-fiction, one for science books and magazines, one for math books, one for picture books, etc.
I don't have any of them color coded because I thought my students would be able to jut look at them and tell what basket to put them in. This was not the case. I do have the Lexile levels written in the back of the chapter books and that helps some, but my summer project this year is to color code them all, I'm just not sure how to go about that yet.
I do it by genre and spend a huge amount of time at the beginning of the year going over IPICK with the kids and having them pick books at their reading levels. Genre is a huge skill they need to know and that's what I focus on.
My 5th grade library is organized like the fiction section of a "real" library - by author's last name.
I also have color dot/stickers at the top of the bindings indicating which genre they are (I also have coordinated charts on the tops of the bookshelves).
Finally, I ordered return address stickers from VistaPrint that leave room for me to write the AR Level - a number (Accelerated Reader) and the GR Level - a letter (Fountas/Pinnell). I am more familiar/in favor of the F/P model, but since we've begun using AR at our school, I decided that it would be helpful to the kids to have both. These stickers go on the bottom of the bindings.
eta: I started this project last summer (color dotting & level labeling, etc.) by putting a packing tape reinforcement over each binding/stickers. It took a LONG time. :-) Several students have helped throughout the year to add the levels, and we're still not done. :-P I also have a lot of "old" books that aren't in the databases I've been using, so I still have a lot of "blank" levels.
Does your school have reading comprehension program like Accelerated Reader or Scholastic Reading Counts?
My school has Scholastic Reading counts so the whole school is leveled that way including the library. The library color codes books by level.
My books are in order by authors last name and have a dot indicating lexile color level. You can find lexile levels online at www.lexile.com. My kids use this sight at home to double check the level of the book that are reading at home. I had a few kids come in early and help with the color coding of books---they loved it.
My library is leveled by genre. I don't have the time or patience to keep it organized by level or author, so genre is the easiest way for me. I do have the RP level and points each book is worth written on the inside cover so that kids can look if they need to. When I set goals for each child, we sit down and I give them a range to read in (RP level) and then we set a goal.
For instance, one child who LOVES fantasy might have a goal that says: I will read 2-3 biographies and 1-2 historical fiction books this nine weeks. I will get an 80% or higher on each RP test for these books.
The number of books is not overly important to me ~ what I want to see is that they are branching out and trying different genres ~ and since our school uses RP, that 80% or higher is tacked on to please the powers that be. ;p
I also used Beth Newingham as a model for my classroom library. I have the book seperated into genres. I labeled the front of each book with a coordinating label, so that when the book returns to the classroom library it ends up in the correct basket.
I do label each book with the reading level. I use a grade equivilancy scale. Using colored dots and an matching chart, the students can look up the level of the book they are reading. During choice reading (SSR) I do not require the students to read at a certain level. I do require them to read on their independent level for their at home reading. I like this balance of leveled and not leveled reading.
I ordered all my colored dots from DEMCO. This is what my school linbrarian suggested. It cost a pretty penny to get started, but I won't run out of dots for the next few years.
Also, I use Renaissancelearning.com to look up the levels of the books. It's actually an AR quiz store, but you can still access book levels for free. Out of the websites I have visited for book leveling, it is the most current and vast.
I used to have mine in baskets, but it wasn't as user friendly for the kids IMHO. Now mine is set up just like the library - with the bindings showing. I start at the bookcase on the far left and it has the lowest reading level, then the next shelf has the next highest, etc...
I bought the colored labels that go on the bindings, and I used a sharpie to add the rest of the number (for example: 4.1 - I added the .1 to it). We use A.R., so the kids can easily see what the book levels are.
right fit . . . our elementary school uses Scholastic Reading Counts and the Middle School used AR. Our school libraries are sorted according to Dewey with the Lexile level also noted on the binding. In my classroom the books are Lexiled, but I teach kids the right fit books lesson because the Lexile Level is not infallible. Students take the Scholastic Reading Inventory and receive a Lexile score that helps to match them to appropriate books to read alone or in a guided reading situation. Kids take short quizzes after they finish reading a book and receive a predetermined number of points if they score whatever percentage you want them to score. Everything is computerized, and the program keeps great stats and performance history. I set a monthly goal for the number of points they should accumulate during a given month.
If we didn't have this system I would shelve books by author so that the kids would become skilled with finding those "right fit" books.
Do you have a dot color code for your books? I have been trying to get one from Reading counts for over a year, but no one seems to have one...even though the labels you print have colored bars at the top and bottom.
for example, 0-99 = yellow or whatever color
R Pike
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05-31-2010, 07:20 AM
