WELCOME TO THE

ALL ACCESS PAGE! 

I thought it would be helpful for you to have all of your resources together on one easy-to-save page. 

We've explored so many wonderful components of launching (or enriching) a successful choice reading program, and I hope you're feeling ready to put them into action in 2022! 

Below, you'll find a printable PD certificate for this mini-course, as well as a speed runthrough of everything we've discussed and every resource I've shared. 

Bookmark it for later, and feel free to share with your department! 

Building a library is about collecting books that your students can really connect to. Better to have a few dozen of the right books, than hundreds of the wrong ones. 

Please, don't be intimidated if you have no books right now. That's OK! Building a library is a beautiful and rewarding process, and there are lots of ways to do it. 

Start here, with this list of top student favorites. 

Now, consider your options for building your collection. 

#1 Slow and Steady (on your own): With this option, you begin to collect books today. Search in library book sales, used book stores, your friends' basements, Goodwill, your own bookshelf. 

#2 In Collaboration with your Librarian: This is a great way to supplement your own texts, or even as a way to entirely fill your library. Meet with your school librarian and ask if there is a way to run an outpost of the school library in your room, curated by you. 

#3 With Donors Choose: Donors Choose is a great way to fund your classroom library, if your district allows it. You can create a classroom wishlist and get rolling right away using these helpful tips for success. 

#4 With an Amazon Wishlist: If you'd like to tap into your parent community to support your library (and your school is OK with that), you can create an Amazon wishlist with the books you'd like to add to your library (here's a step-by-step to help). For an easy way to share it, create a classroom newsletter a few times a year using these free templates at Canva, and then link your wishlist in one section along with a quick request for interested families to choose a book to donate. 

Can you use all four strategies, you ask? Of course!!!

If you can get your students access to electronic or audio books, that's a free way to expand your shelf by a lot! Creating a digital bookshelf for your class will help students take the best advantage of these resources. 

Here’s how you can create one: 

1. Use one of these bookshelves in Google slides. 

2. Using the program students have access to (Libby, Sora, Overdrive, etc.), screenshot a picture of a book you want to feature. Drop the screenshot onto the slide, resize, and drag it onto the shelf. Click it and press “link”, then add the link to the site where students can find it. 

3. Repeat capturing screenshots and linking them until your shelf is full. Make as many as you want!

For the shelf I created here, the top shelf is books students can readily access for free online, because they're in the public domain. The bottom shelf takes students to the Overdrive site, where they would need to be registered and then request and check out the book (free) to read. Because ebooks are available in limited numbers, you can’t guarantee that anyone clicking the book will be able to get the book just when they want it, so you should remind students that if a book is already taken, they should submit a request to get it next before moving on to check out a different book. 

As your book collection grows, you'll want to create an inviting home for it in your classroom. Time to keep an eye open for free or inexpensive bookshelves. Adding book posters, genre labels, and a book return area will help keep things organized (download these items below). 

Use the App, Book Buddy, the web program Booksource or a chart in a notebook to help you track books coming in and out. 

Today's first resource is a set of six sketchnotes templates students can doodle their takeaways on as they listen to the read-aloud. It always helps to have something to do with your hands as you listen. Encourage kids to jot down quotes they like, doodle characters, share ideas around connections to other works or to the modern world, or whatever else springs to mind. The process will simply help them focus on the text and remember it with more depth. 

Because not every student will be able to check out a copy of the book you've just read, it's nice to help students keep track of their To-Be-Read list from your program.

You can print bookmarks like the ones pictured here (click here to make your copy of the template).

You can create a display on one shelf of your library where you always feature FCF books.

You can use Canva to create book posters featuring photos or screenshots of the books you share, or of happy readers with the books. Use the link below to access poster templates. 

First things first, let me share some helpful articles that you can provide to administrators, co-workers or parents as needed to help them get on board with your program.  

These articles come from three amazing educators, educators at the forefront of the choice reading movement: Jennifer Gonzalez, Donalyn Miller, and Pernille Ripp. There are plenty of other sources you could turn to - Nancy Atwell, Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle, Berit Gordon - but these make a great start. 

How to Stop Killing the Love of Reading from Jennifer Gonzalez

I've Got Research. Yes, I do. I've got Research, How About You? from Donalyn Miller, "The Book Whisperer"

Be a Reader Leader - What Administrators Can Do to Promote a Reading Culture from Pernille Ripp

Probably the most essential thing you can do with your choice reading library is give kids time to read in class. Without at least some time in class, you won't know if your students are cracking open their books, and you won't know if they've made good choices. 

People do this in many different ways, and you'll know best what works for your classroom. Personally, I've opted for a once-a-week reading time that is a bit longer (15-20 minutes) rather than a short daily read.

During your in-class reading time, you can read with your students, but you want to be ready to do one vital thing: Keep an eye out for kids who are obviously disinterested in their book. When someone is not flipping pages, or looks glazed, or isn't even looking at their book, walk over and ask how they like the book they've chosen. Then, assuming they don't like it at all, walk over to the library with them and help them to choose something else. In-class reading time is partly a chance to kids to fall in love with their books and realize they want to read them at other times too, and partly a chance for you (and/or their friends, as your reading culture builds) to help guide them to the right books. 

Another important way to help build the reading culture in your classroom is through book talks. Book talks will help kids find the books that are right for them, and it will also encourage bookish conversations between you and your students and between them. 

A book talk is just a quick pitch for a book. You wander over to your shelf, pick up a book your students will love, and tell them why you think they'll love it.

"Today I want to tell you a bit about one of my recent favorites, Ghost, by Jason Reynolds. If you loved his book, Long Way Down, when we read it in the fall, you'll probably love Ghost too. 

It's about a boy who ends up on a track team by accident and turns out to be quick as can be. But he's got a lot to run from, and he doesn't quite know how to handle all the parts of his life. It's a fast read, and the first in a series of four great books."

You can give two or three book talks before every reading time in your class (and even on other days), to help encourage kids to try new books. Then, as kids begin to find books they love, you can encourage them to offer booktalks to the class when they return a book. You can also bring in guest book talkers - teachers, parents, coaches, seniors, etc. - to share for a minute about their favorite book in your library. 

Check out the video below for an example! 

For a classroom transformation book tasting, arrange the seating in your classroom to resemble a coffee shop or cafe. If you can, add tablecloths or tiny vases of flowers. On each makeshift table, put several books. If possible, bring in refreshments - hot water and cocoa packets, donuts, tea, fruit, cookies, whatever works. 

Give students a copy of this book tasting guide, and have them wander from table to table, sipping their beverage and "tasting" the books by peeking at the back covers, browsing the first few pages, etc. By the end of your tasting, they should have several new books on their TBR list, and be a lot more familiar with your library. 

For a digital book tasting, the goal is also to introduce students to a wide variety of books and help them to discover new possibilities for their TBR list.

On each slide of your virtual tasting deck, include a screenshot of the book, as well as links out to trailers, related videos, book reviews, or anything else you think would help your students decide whether or not they'd like to read the books.

Then let your students scroll through the slides, examining the books and reviews, and creating a list of possible reads. In this slide deck,  you'll find four possible template options for your virtual book tasting. Simply cut and paste your favorite to use over and over with different books. 

Another fun way to draw attention to reading in your classroom is through small elements of challenge or competition.

Here are a few ideas to get started:

Reading Bingo: Put a bingo card out with various reading challenges (like the editable one you can download below). Offer some kind of fun prize for kids who get a bingo.

Break Reading Challenges: Over long weekends or breaks, offer a challenge to read a certain type of genre, a certain book, or just any book. Let kids know they can stop by to see you the day after break to tell you about their read and claim a small prize (like a homemade brownie).

Reading Certificates: As part of your choice reading program, consider offering certificates when kids read a certain number of pages. I've had success with ceremoniously inducting kids into the "1000 Page Club" (download below). It doesn't matter whether they are reading books you might consider "easy" or "hard," just that they're reading.

Here are three easy ways to build in accountability without taking the focus off reading.

Book Reviews: Have students write short reviews of their books, taking a strong stance on whether or not others should read it. If you wish, gather the reviews in a binder for future readers, or use the reviews to create a class book review blog that everyone can access for ideas for future reading. (Here's an example). 

Book Check-Ins: Another easy option is to have kids share their books through a book talk to the class, again taking a clear stance on whether or not they recommend it. Or have them create short Instagram posts about their book, including a related image or a photo of them with their book, and then a review-style caption. These are fun to print out and turn into a bulletin board ("Insta-Good Reads.")

Book Trailers: If you want kids to put a little more time and effort into the final project, have them create short videos about their books. These can be film-style trailers, or video reviews. Either way, building a library of book videos gives you an excellent resource to share with students. You can link them all from a reading website you create for your class, play one or two each week to help build enthusiasm for new books, or even do a film festival of all the reviews at the end of term, asking students to take note of at least five books they're interested in reading  the next term. 

Down the road, if you're looking for a fun grand finale to a big year of choice reading, consider holding a reading festival.

Your reading festival can showcase the best books, reviews, trailer videos, and more for the students coming into that grade level. Your class can design reading recommendation bookmarks, summer reading challenges, top ten lists in each genre that they've enjoyed, and more. Put kids in committees (invitations and public relations, atmosphere, refreshments, etc.) and let them invite the younger kids and any adults they'd like to have present, consider the location and set-up, bring in food, create playlists, etc. 

This is not only a special way for your class to end the year, it helps to ignite the spark of the reading culture for your incoming students.