Classroom Library Ribbon Cutting!

I am extremely proud of my classroom library.  It has taken a few years, but I think I finally have a color-coded system of how the books are organized (by genre).  I try my best to stay on top of all the new literature that comes out every year to ensure that I will have a book that will interest everyone...now if only money grew on trees!  This year I decided to do something a little different with my classroom library.  Instead of going over the expectations and then allowing the students to begin checking out, I made them wait!  By the end of the week the anticipation was killing them!  I have never had a class so excited about checking out books!  Each day I gave them a teaser that got them a little more excited!

Monday (the first day):  This was the first day of school so we were very busy getting to know each other and getting our routines set.  I did allow the students to read from my picture book shelf.  This is when the questions started..."When do we get to go on the other side?!?"

Tuesday:  We did a mini lesson over how the books in the classroom library are organized.  I allowed several students to grab one of each color book and then we talked about what genre it belonged to.  I ended up doing a book talk on almost every book they grabbed and the excitement grew!

Wednesday:  I so wish I had took pictures on this day but I was having so much fun watching the students that I totally forgot!  On this day the students went "speed dating"!  After the giggles subsided and I reassured them that no one had to buy anyone dinner, the students began a 3- minute "date" with a book.  The read the blurb, a couple of pages, etc and decided whether or not they would want to try the book.  Basically this was a "book pass" but calling it "speed dating" made it more fun for the students (crazy, I know!).  By the end of reading, the students all had at least one book they were itching to try out!

Thursday:  When the students got to class on this day, they found the classroom library roped off with red ribbon. 

 

 

They had an invitation on the board to come to the classroom library "ribbon cutting" that Friday.  They were super pumped!  During our reading block we went over the procedures for all the different reading spots in our classroom.  Thanks to a PE 4 Life grant our school received last year, I have 3 stationary bikes in the classroom that the students can sit on while they read.  I also have several other spots that students enjoy sitting in.

 

Friday:  Today was the day!  I will let the pictures and videos do the talking...needless to say, I had a happy class of students!

 

(this is not the best video...they were So excited which caused a couple management issues!)

 

 

 

 

Overall, opening up my classroom library this way was a huge success.  I know it might seem silly, but the students LOVED cutting the ribbon and even enjoyed some "bookworms" (gummy worms...thank you Pinterest!).  I will definitely be opening my library the same way again next year.  I do think I will have the red ribbon up from the first day to help build the excitement even more (a student in the class actually had the ribbon idea!)

 

Now that the library is open, we will starting up guided reading/literature studies.  My goal is to have EVERYONE on grade level by the end of the year!!!

 

Thanks for stopping by Room 506!

Mrs. Worthy



First two weeks in review!

We have had a great start to the school year!  The students in Mrs. Worthy's class came ready to learn and have done a fantastic job learning our classroom norms and have worked extremely hard to build a strong community.  Two specific things we are doing to ensure a strong classroom community are morning meetings and "drops in a bucket".  We start every morning with a morning meeting.  During our meeting we make sure that everyone is greeted.  We are focusing on making eye contact, a firm handshake (but not too firm!), and speaking in a clear voice.  This has been a great way for us to get to know each other and learn each other's names! 

"Drops in a bucket" is something that I have done in the past.  We talk about how each person has an imaginary bucket inside and that people can fill up your bucket with nice words and gestures.  On the flip side, people can also dip from your bucket by saying or acting in a negative way.  Each student in class has a bucket on the bulletin board where others can drop nice notes/compliments.  Students get to take their "drops" home each Friday.  A quick story, last Friday morning I noticed a student peeking in all the buckets.  I just watched her and quickly noticed that she was making sure that every person was going to have a drop in their bucket to take home over the weekend.  So sweet!

We sat down as a class on the second day of school and made our classroom expectations.  We then sorted each expectation into the different areas of our school mantra.  The students loved this because it helps them to have ownership over the expectations...they aren't just a meaningless list that Mrs. Worthy created!

I know already that this is going to be a wonderful school year!  I am looking forward to all that is to come!

Thanks for stopping by Room 506!
Mrs. Worthy