Teacher Interview

Teacher: Erin Brown

Grade: Kindergarten

School: King Elementary School, Van Buren, AR

1. Where did you get the materials you use in your classroom library?

            The books used in our classroom library are provided for us by our district. Our school has two instructional facilitators that spend time studying our curriculum and finding materials that best support the curriculum. This includes our classroom library. I can request specific books and they will be ordered for my classroom library. There is money set apart in our school’s budget that accounts for classroom libraries each year.

2. What types of reading materials does your school provide?

            Books, reading curriculum and word study curriculum, phonological awareness materials, and tools such as magnetic letters and other word study resources.

3. What types of books? Are they leveled?

            Rigby, Rigby PM, Rigby PM Plus, Author Series (Mia Coulton, Joy Cowley, etc.). They are leveled by letters. Kindergarten is typically Level A through E but there are levels up to G to support all learners.

4. When do you have access to these materials and what type of access do you have?

            We have access to our classroom library daily. There is also a book resource room that has leveled books. These books are separated into baggies of about 4-6 of the same book in each baggy to support small groups. They can be used for shared reading, guided reading, interactive reading, read alouds, etc.

5. What online catalogs or stores do you use to buy books and/or classroom resources and supplies?

            We mainly use Steps to Literacy to purchase books for our classroom library. We also use Lakeshore for reading and word study resources.

6. How do you organize the books in your classroom library? (i.e. by genre, by level, by author, etc.)

            They are separated by level in my classroom. There are level A-G baskets in my classroom library. They are also separated by fiction and nonfiction. Each level will have at least one fiction and one nonfiction basket but in most cases there are more than one of each.

7. Do you send books home with your students?

            My students take 2-3 books from their reading tub home each day to read for homework and return it to their reading tub the following day. Each child has a reading tub that collects books they are reading that week. Each week, every student gets an opportunity to ‘shop’ for new books from the classroom library and they keep those books in their book tub in their cubby.

8. If so, do you have a system in place for checking books out?

            We do not have a system for checking books out. The school I teach at is a Title 1 school so there is a lot of resources available to help replenish our classroom libraries each year if materials are not returned.

9. What procedures or rules do you have in place for your library?

            The students each have a reading tub that they keep their books in. Every student has a level that they are on and they shop from those level baskets. I have five tables in my classroom. Each day of the week, a table gets to ‘shop’ for new books from their level baskets. They spend the first 5 or so minutes of Reading Workshop to shop for new books. They usually have 10-15 books in their book tubs. The students each have a ‘shopping card’ and it tells them how many books of what level to get from the classroom library.

10. Do you incorporate bilingual or multicultural reading materials in your classroom?

            There are character series in our classroom library that feature a variety of multicultural characters and story lines. There are character series that feature several different multicultural backgrounds.

11. How do you motivate your students to read / hold them accountable for comprehension?

            I motivate students to read by providing materials and lessons that are engaging and interactive. I meet with students in small groups and independently so that I can meet their needs. I hold them accountable for comprehension by using informal and formal assessment checklists.

12. Do you invite parents to help or be a part of your classroom library in any way?

            Parents are a part of the classroom library by participating in their child’s reading every day. Parents read with their child every night and sign their child’s reading log. Parents are also a part of the classroom library by understanding their child’s reading level and the expectation for their reader at their specific level. This is communicated to parents through notes, messages, phone conferences, newsletters, and face to face conferences.

13. Anything innovative in your classroom or your school?

            Each classroom in our school has a large classroom library that is leveled. But the school also has a large book resource room that has several books from each level. The books are sorted by level and there are several of each book, sorted into a baggy system. Teachers can take a baggy of books (usually 4-6 books in the baggy) and use that book for a guided, shared, or interactive reading group. This allows each child in the group to have a copy of the book for that week. There are at least 75 book titles for each level and each of those 75 books has several copies. This book resource room is exceptionally large and something that most schools, even within our district, do not have available to them.