Instructional
Library
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Instructional Library |
What is Instructional Library?
An
individual self-paced reading practice program designed specifically for the
K-2 classroom
A
way to increase meaningful reading minutes at each child’s instructional
level
An
idea based on research that finds that 30 minutes of independent reading per
day in books that practice skills increases reading competence.
A
program that stemmed from the need to meet individual student’s needs
A
way for students to make the connection between reading skills and pleasure
reading
A
proven method that boosts self-esteem as well as test scores, such as a gain
of 24 ITBS standard
score points in 6 months.
A
program where students experience a wide variety of genre
A carefully structured and monitored system that helps identify specific remediation needs.
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Implementation :
Organize
your classroom library according to reading levels instead of genre or
themes. Place the leveled books in tubs and label them with a level number.
My levels range from 1, which are wordless books, to 18, which are for
advanced readers. (Chapter books, such as “Ramona” books are level 19
and above.)
Begin
leveling your collection with the lowest levels and work up. Increase the
levels according to amount of text per page, vocabulary difficulty, and
sentence patterns and structure. In the harder levels, story content may
also be a factor.
From teacher assessments that are given during the first week of school, the students are placed in a successful book box level. As each child is assessed individually, he reads from a sample of levels. Many first graders start the year with boxes 1-4, and more advanced children often begin with boxes 8 or 9.
Level
12 of our first grade book boxes at Redmond Elementary seems to be in line
with grade level standards such as the BRI and Read Naturally.
It
is helpful to track Instructional Library progress in a spreadsheet format.
You may also want to file your book collection in a database so that you can
easily find titles based on author, subject, and level.
Maintenance:
Throughout
the year, the class participates in Instructional Library sessions 3 times a
week for approximately 30-40 minutes.
The
students learn to maintain their own record keeping by recording each book
they read by title and date. This recording is done on a form designed with
spaces for 10 books per level from levels 1-20+.
The
students read 10 books from their level before being assessed for fluency,
comprehension, vocabulary mastery, and the ability to recognize and apply
word patterns.
When
10 books have been read, the teacher and child each choose 1 book from the
recording form for testing.
After
silently practicing the testing selections 3 times, the student reads his
books to a parent helper, and then reads them to the classroom teacher. All
of this structured practice insures that the children are better prepared,
have more confidence, and read more fluently.
If
the student masters his current level, he advances to the next book level.
If more practice is needed, then more books from the same level are usually
assigned. (Depending on the child, perhaps just more practice on the same 2
books is needed.)
We
emphasize that just reading 10 books will not automatically mean that a book
level has been passed. We frequently remind the class that Instructional
Library is not a reading race!
When each child passes a book level, the class celebrates that accomplishment with applause.
You are welcome to contact us with your questions.
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