New look for The Leveled Research Library 2017-2018
This school year I am back in the regular classroom teaching First Grade. I spent two years working with various ESL students in a smaller class size and various language levels in small group settings all day. I loved the children I was working with, but I have come to realize that I am a classroom teacher. I like the structure, I like knowing where I am expected to be every day, and the time seems to fly by every day. I have always had fast paced jobs. I love to be busy at work and to feel accomplished every day! So this year I am back in First Grade, which is where my heart is in teaching along with nonfiction books and researching.
Each year, I start my Leveled Research Library earlier and earlier. For first graders, I usually start in January and February. I use it as supplemental material in the classroom to keep my students reading and writing when they complete their classwork. It has eased my anxiety of my higher achieving students having to “wait” for everyone to finish before we move on. It has also eased my “guilt” that I am leaving students behind by not having a few minutes to help them. I always have a classroom of students waiting for the next task and they are tired of just reading a book at their seat for they have resulted to talking to their neighbor in a lunchroom voice level.
Until then, I have stocked their folders full of extra work to do, I have provided them with dry eraser markers and an activity folder for each student, I have extra writing prompts, etc. After all of this, I still had my first “I’m finished.”
Me: “You can work on your folder with the dry erase maker.”
Student: “I’m finished with that.”
Me: “Do you have a book to read?” (I cringe as I say this. First, I don’t like uttering these words. It means I haven’t planned very well. Secondly, I know he doesn’t because we have library orientation next week.)
Student: No.
Me: Do you have anything in your chair pocket you can work on?
Student: “I’m finished with that.”
Me: “Do you have a book to read?” (I cringe as I say this. First, I don’t like uttering these words. It means I haven’t planned very well. Secondly, I know he doesn’t because we have library orientation next week.)
Student: No.
Me: Do you have anything in your chair pocket you can work on?
The student reaches into his chair pocket, pulls out a folder, and begins to search through it. I wait eagerly to see if there is anything they can work on while the rest of the class can just learn how to use a number line. (My desperation voice here.) He pulls out a paper high in to the air and places it on his desk. He proceeds to get a pencil out of his pencil box and begins working on another task. Whew! Crisis averted!
What to do to prevent this? First, I am going to update the work in the dry erase folders. Second, I am going to open my research library early this year.
I have about 5 students who can begin researching from it. They will serve as the “hook” for more researchers to come as my First Graders quickly grow as readers and writers. I usually wait until I have some students reading at a level D or higher and can write an “I like” sentence.
Now I am all setup and ready to start some of my students researching from The Leveled Research Library.
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