Throughout my 21-year teaching career, I've noticed a huge change in students' interests. Reading is not always something children are as interested in doing when you consider the amazing technology they have at their fingertips. Part of getting children to love reading is giving them access to books that will hold their interest and will excite them. My students do not have consistent or frequent access to our school library and our school library isn't necessarily up to date with the newest titles. In order to get those newest titles into the kids' hands, it's important I have them available in our classroom library, not only for the kids to read independently but also for me to be able to read them aloud to the class. I've found that read aloud time is one of the most valuable times during the day. The kids love it so much that they sit on the floor around me, their eyes and ears glued to my every word. They love it so much that they beg me to read aloud to them via skype over the summer and work tirelessly to convince me to allow them to take books from our classroom library home with them to read over breaks. This kind of excitement out of fifth graders, about reading, is not always typical, but having a variety of quality titles readily accessible to the kids through our classroom library is so valuable in creating life long readers and learners. Building our classroom library will enable me the ability to foster this love of learning.
About my class
Throughout my 21-year teaching career, I've noticed a huge change in students' interests. Reading is not always something children are as interested in doing when you consider the amazing technology they have at their fingertips. Part of getting children to love reading is giving them access to books that will hold their interest and will excite them. My students do not have consistent or frequent access to our school library and our school library isn't necessarily up to date with the newest titles. In order to get those newest titles into the kids' hands, it's important I have them available in our classroom library, not only for the kids to read independently but also for me to be able to read them aloud to the class. I've found that read aloud time is one of the most valuable times during the day. The kids love it so much that they sit on the floor around me, their eyes and ears glued to my every word. They love it so much that they beg me to read aloud to them via skype over the summer and work tirelessly to convince me to allow them to take books from our classroom library home with them to read over breaks. This kind of excitement out of fifth graders, about reading, is not always typical, but having a variety of quality titles readily accessible to the kids through our classroom library is so valuable in creating life long readers and learners. Building our classroom library will enable me the ability to foster this love of learning.