Books in the Hands of Kids

I am a first grade teacher returning to the classroom and looking to build a love for literacy in each and every student in my classroom. Though we have been mixing between home learning and in-person learning experiences, access to books has never been more important. 

As a former 1st and 2nd grade teacher, I once had a robust classroom library for my students. This library was loaned out during my years as an instructional coach and donated to teachers across the district over many years. Now, returning to the classroom, I have a limited library and am wishing to expand the selection of texts. 

Literacyworldwide.org shares, "Given that there are approximately 180 days in the school year, a child should be able to select within the classroom a new book to read each day." 

There is a lot of work to be done! The range of leveled texts that students devour in the early years of first grade are vast; so, you can imagine the work that needs to be done for a new library. It is quite a task to identify and select a wide range of culturally diverse, leveled texts and trade books that are engaging to students. This quest is worth every dollar spent - students must have opportunities to see themselves in the books that they read. No one should ever be excluded.

This is just the beginning of updating titles and renovating the existing pool of texts for readers. I have identified countless quality sources of leveled texts, culturally diverse titles, and series texts with predictable and lovable characters. 

Thank you for taking the time to consider this mission!