.png "To expose students to books in our classroom library and help them build a TBR list throughout the year, there's four things I do routinely.")
Over the years I've built up my classroom library from just two bookshelves to over 1,600 books. A bigger classroom library means more books for students to choose from, but it can also make it difficult for students to select a book they are interested in.
At the start of the school year, I spend a considerable amount of time making sure students understand the different genres that I use to organize my classroom library and where to find those genres (and additional formats like graphic novels, verse novels, manga, and short story collections). But having students understand which genres they are interested in is just the beginning of helping them to find books they want to read.
To expose students to books in our classroom library and help them build a TBR (to be read) list throughout the year, here's four things I do routinely.
1. Book Movie Monday
Or Must Read Monday, or Book Trailer Tuesday, or Watch It Wednesday, or Book Trailer Thursday, or Book Film Friday. It doesn't matter what you call it! On whatever day works for our schedule, students have a choice of five book trailers (easily found by searching YouTube) to watch. All five trailers feature books from our classroom library.
I try to choose trailers for books that might not otherwise grab students’ attention just by looking at the cover. I also lean toward spotlighting books in series, knowing that if a student is hooked by the first book, they've got several more lined up to read after that.
Throughout the year last year, students had the choice of watching 115 different book trailers featuring books from our classroom library. I post a Google Slides presentation of these trailers on Google Classroom so if students have downtime or if they are struggling to find a new independent reading book, they can watch these on their own.
You can find a template for creating your own Google Slides presentation plus links to playlists of book trailers organized by genres and formats in this reading resource pack. Note: I can't sell the resource with the book images or videos in it because of copyright law.
2. Featured Author Fridays
Each Friday I feature authors who have multiple titles, preferably across genres, in our classroom library. I came up with the idea two years ago, but didn't consistently follow through with it at first. Last year I think I only missed one or two weeks (and the students let me know when I did!) and this year I didn't miss it once. The routine became something students looked forward to at the end of each week, and by the end of this school year, students had been exposed to 27 authors and 179 books (or series) by those authors.
As I choose authors to feature, I try to be conscious of the number of male versus female authors, as well as white versus authors of color. I try to spotlight authors of books we read in class (whole class novels or literature circle choices) and make connections to monthly themes like Hispanic Heritage Month or Mental Health Awareness Month. I may also add featured topics based on student interest like books about 9/11 as the anniversary of the event nears, football books for the Super Bowl, or basketball books for March Madness.
At the start of each school year, I review my Google Slides presentation of featured authors to update it. Sometimes books or authors have to be removed because I've weeded the titles from my classroom library and sometimes books or authors need to be added because I have added new titles to my classroom library.
Similar to my Google Slides presentation of book trailers, I post this Slides presentation on Google Classroom as well so if students have downtime or if they are struggling to find a new independent reading book, they can look back at these on their own.
You can find a template for creating your own Google Slides presentation plus a list of recommended middle grade authors to feature in this reading resource pack. Note: I can't sell the resource with the book or author images in it because of copyright law.
3. Book Tastings
This is an activity I do the first week of school and then again each time we transition from an assigned novel study back to choice reading. I pull books from our classroom library to create six themed bins. You could do more or less depending on space in your classroom and the number of students you have.
Students have a clipboard, a pencil, and a basic recording handout for this activity. On the front side, students are directed to preview books as they visit each of the six “courses” (drinks, appetizers, soups, salads, entrees, and desserts) by checking out the cover, looking at the summary on the back or inside flap, and reading the first page or two. They record the titles of any books that interest them at each course. On the back side of the handout, students are directed to list the three titles they are most interested in reading next on their plate and circle the top title on their list if they need a book to read right now.
Some possible ideas for themed bins might be new additions to the library, titles celebrating the month’s theme (i.e. banned books or Black History Month), read alike books for a recently finished class novel, books to read next if you liked a popular book or series, or books in unique formats (graphic novels, verse novels, short story collections, etc.).
At the beginning of the school year, the six themed bins I put together are:
- My summer reads
- Titles to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month
- Books set at school
- Firsts in series
- Buddy reads
- Life stories (biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs)
After our whole class novel, Pax by Sara Pennypacker, many of the bins connect to themes in the book:
- Survival stories
- Animal tales
- Books about friendship
- War stories
- Titles celebrating Native American Heritage Month
- New additions to our classroom library
And after our literature circle unit, many of the bins are read alike suggestions for the novels students just finished:
- Books to read if you liked Tight or The Only Road
- Books to read if you liked Maybe He Just Likes You or A Good Kind of Trouble
- Books to read if you liked Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World or Freak the Mighty
- Titles celebrating Black History Month
- Verse novels & short story collections
- New additions to our classroom library
You can find the simple handout I use for book tastings plus signs to label the bins in this reading resource pack.
4. Displaying What I’m Reading
I don't exclusively read books from my classroom library, but I do read a lot of them, especially during the school year. Immersing myself in middle grades literature helps me be able to make better recommendations to students and discuss what students are reading with them.
As often as possible I read when my students are reading. The books I'm reading at school stay in the classroom (although I may also have the ebook and audiobook checked out on Libby) and I use magnetic spice shelves on my front white board to display:
- what I just read
- what I’m currently reading
- what I'm currently listening to
- what I plan on reading next
If we have an extra minute or two to fill in class, I can easily grab and book talk any of these titles. I also never say no if a student asks to take one of the books from the display.
Besides having these books easily accessible, part of helping students develop their identity as readers is modeling what readers do. I want students to see that readers can read in different ways, whether that is using our eyes to see the words or using our ears to listen to the words. I also want students to see that readers are always making plans about what they want to read next so there's no time lost between books.
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