Students begin each class period with free reading time. At the moment, I have books in various types of shelving units. The bookshelf that gets the most traffic is the shelf that allows books to face forward, so the covers can be seen, rather than typical shelves that only show the binding.
I see all of the students in 4th and 5th grade in my school.
This means that on a typical day, 6 different classes come through my door to learn French. We begin each class period with free reading time, where students are allowed to choose books to read. This is their first exposure to French, so surrounding them with books in French is a high priority for me.
Students are curious to choose books, but they are not as interested in selecting books when only the book bindings face outward. If they can see the cover of the book, they are likely to make a more informed decision.
My school was reorganized 3 years ago, and gathering classroom furniture was a hit or miss experience for me as I moved into the building. I currently have a bookshelf that faces books outward, but it is broken and quickly becoming dangerous. I would hate to lose this feature for my students.
My Project
Every class period, I select students from my roster to have free reading time while everyone else works on a task. I tell students that the free reading time is like a free pass for the work during that time. I award them the points that everyone else earns, while they get to spend that time with books of their choice. The variety of books includes books in French, books in English and books that are bilingual. I have cookbooks, art books, magazines, comic books, and the list goes on.
Students will have better access to books with this bookcase because they will be able to see more books at one time, and they will be able to reach the books on this shelf easier because of its height.
If this bookcase is in my room, I will be able to safely display many more of my books with their covers outward to entice students to select books.
This set-up is also better for the books because the current bookcase I have has metal edges that tear the books, if they are not put away correctly. My students will be able to select books that interest them, and encourage them to discover cultural information about France. They are learning some language that we would not normally have time to cover.
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