I tell them what they are, but don't "show all my cards" about how it works until it's time to actually do it.) Then we have a week of nominations, where I'll set out an empty bucket for each award category (I do: favorite chapter book, favorite picture book, and favorite nonfiction book.) Each student can nominate only one book (so we don't have too many to vote on). (Note: Usually some students notice these stickers early in the year, by chance, and are curious about what they mean. I do book awards sometime in the spring, after the class has had plenty of time to read books from our library.įirst, I show my class the books that won awards from last year's class, labeled with yellow star stickers and the year from which it won. I cut out and laminated the little bookworms you see in the picture above (using clip art from Our Monitos), and I velcro them to the calendar to signify a "classroom library event." You can snag a copy of my calendar tags by clicking HERE.Īnnual book awards are fun and make a lasting impression on the classroom library for years to come. This sometimes works better with just a group of students in charge (but you might be surprised at how many students love doing it.)
CLASSROOM LIBRARY BOOKS SERIES
I tried this whole idea towards the end of last year and my kids loved it, so this year, I'm putting two or three "events" on the calendar each month.
I like that it tells how many people died in each battle." (I have the rule that you have to give a specific reason you can't just say, "It's so good," or "It's an awesome book.") Ten seconds run out, I say "time's up," point to the next person, and say, "go." Afterward, you can have students return the books to their correct location for others to find, or I've also just had students put their books on the floor, right in the middle of the circle, and called a few students at a time to grab one they wanted. With students in a circle holding their books, and you with your eye on the second hand of the clock, the first student begins: he holds the book in front of him for all to see, says the title out loud, where to find it in the library, and a blurb about why he is recommending it.
Since each student gets literally only ten seconds to talk, a round of 10-Sec-Recs takes an average-sized class only about five minutes to complete. It helps to give students advance notice of the activity, so they have time to choose the book they'll use. Gather students in a circle, each one with a recently read book that they enjoyed. The idea is to give each student 10 seconds to recommend a book to the class.
They should read, but I rarely can devote enough time for it to happen.Įnter, the 10-Sec-Rec. Thanks!" or "When do you think you'll be finished with that book?" or "When you start this book, how about we read it as partners?" Some students even make a note about which books they want to get from the library at later time.Ī lot of students crave the opportunity to tell the class about a book "Oh, you're finished with that? I'd love to have it. I encourage a bit of friendly negotiation. It really gives the class a shot of rejuvenation. When students shop each other, they mill about, checking out what their classmates are reading, have just finished reading, or are about to read. They also may not promise to give a book to anyone later, but are more than welcome to give a book to someone right then and there, like books they have finished but haven't returned yet. Before we start, we talk about the ground rules: you can't just take a book out of someone else's book basket, but you also can't "hide" a book from your own book basket so no one else will see it. Every few weeks I like to allow students to peruse each others' book baskets, looking for interesting things they might like to read next.
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