I [heart] Books!

Yesterday, as I was unpacking my 10th, 11th, 12th box of books, it slowly dawned on me: perhaps I have too many books. In my rough estimates, I must have over 2000 books for my classroom library, culled from the 8 years I’ve been teaching, a steady addiction to book sales, a shameless promotion of Scholastic book orders, and plugs for gifts at Christmas. So yesterday I did something I had never done before: I threw some out!

Even as I write that I have an urge to justify it, saying that they were old, irrelevant, broken, etc., all in an effort not to be equated with the book-burning fanatics that disgust me. I also put a whole box of books away - those that weren’t appropriate for my Grade 3 class.

What is it about books that has me so enthralled? I love teaching literacy. Along with numeracy, it is the key skill that our students must master before leaving school. I passionately read, write, speak and question, and I expect that from all of my students. In order to do this, they must read, write, speak and question. Every teacher of literacy needs books. Every teacher of literacy needs a well maintained and thoughtful classroom library, where books are read daily - and independently. Children need to make their own choices, regardless of levels. I believe that leveling books is the greatest injustice we can do for our students - if we keep them fenced within these levels, and only progress in a lock-step manner. Children need to choose books that are "Just Right" for them, based on interest, topic, ability, etc. They need to be empowered to read, not as a chore thrust upon them.

My students have made HUGE gains this year in their reading because they’ve been reading! They’ve been reading in an authentic and real way, not mindlessly pouring over worksheets then answering a series of questions based on the reading. They have been taught what good readers do to understand the books, and we’ve all worked on this. They’ve been taught how to make sense of the book. They’ve been taught how to love reading, because reading makes sense to them! They’ve been taught in a social, supportive and safe environment. My kids can read because their teacher loves books.

So maybe it is time to look at quality, not just quantity. Maybe it is time to spend money elsewhere - but who’s kidding who? This is a full on addiction! Bring on the books!