What do I LOVE about my sixth-grade language arts and history students? I love that they are READERS! I have made it my mission to stomp out fake reading in my classroom. How do I, as their teacher, create a classroom of interested and engaged readers? It's rather simple. I have tried to fill my classroom library with relevant and interesting books that 11-12 year olds are interested in reading. I research titles by using online tools such as: Common Sense Media, Lexile.com, and the New York Times Best Selling Books for Middle Grades to name a few. Of course, I also use our school librarian's expertise, as well as recommendations from my fellow colleagues when it comes to finding the right middle school books.
Building a middle school culture where it's cool to share book titles, exchange books, be in book clubs, and have impromptu book chats is the key to success in my classroom.
All levels of readers are buying into this culture because they are exposed to great books and time to read them.
My Project
I continue my mission to build a better classroom library that serves all students regardless of reading level, cultural background, and/or identity. My book offerings are showing improvement, but I can do better! When you have students that ask for books that have characters who look like them or come from a similar background, you want to have these books at your fingertips for the pass-off. Unfortunately, this is where my library is weak. You also want to inspire your students to read books about characters who are different than themselves.
My goal is to continue to grow a library that offers WINDOWS and MIRRORS to all learners.
I want to provide reading material that reflects how kids see themselves (mirror) or give them a window into seeing how others live and think. In addition, my library needs a reboot with lower Lexile titles that are interesting and relatable to middle school students. Sometimes with lower Lexile books, the content is too young for the tween student. This results in the student choosing a book that "looks" like a middle school title, but the Lexile level will be too high. I have chosen some titles that will fix this problem and I am hoping you can help me get the right books in the right hands. All students will be reading interesting books at the appropriate reading level!
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