13 January, 2012
A small room full of books is now the center of the guided reading program at Hopkins School. The Book Room opened on October 24, 2011 and is filled with over 2,000 books, both fiction and non-fiction, that are categorized by genre and the level of challenge they offer children as they are developing their reading skills.
"They have gotten so excited about guided reading, " said Jen Keeler, a 4th grade teacher at Hopkins.
Rather than reading novels, teachers are now using guided reading, a highly effective form of small group instruction. Based on an assessment, a teacher brings together a group of readers who are similar in their reading development, at a common instructional level, to focus on specific reading skills and strategies.
"The way it is now wea are using shorter texts" said Keeler. "Now they're reading independent books and these guided reading books and they are getting a lot more reading time."
The first step in a guided reading program is the asssessment of the students. Once assessed, Literary Specialist Joan Frank says the teachers are then able to form the snall groups.
While teachers at Hopkins were aware of the benefits of using leveled readers, they did not always have the materials to do so, and that's what the Book Room is all about.
"We've spent time researching materials, gathering best practices, in order to effectively instruct th students and now we have the resources in order to be able to do that," said 4th Grade Teacher Deanna Law.
As well as making teachers more effective, the Book Room is also having a positive effect on the studetns at Hopkins.
"The kids love small group instruction," said Law, "because they get to participate more and have their time to shine and they love the books. The books are at their level and they have cool pictures and graphics that really make them come alive for them."
Putting the Book Room together was a parent teacher partnership as there was a lot of work involved to set everythiing up. Books had to be unpackaged, grouped by type and level, bagged and arranged on shelves in the bins that were assembled by parent volunteers.
"This was a long involved process," said Mackie. "We spent many long evenings on the weekend working to get the Book Room open."
The Book Room at Hopkins is now being fully utilized by teachers on a daily basis, and while very successful, teachers would still like to see some improvements for next year, such as a database and a way to search the books for particular topics or reading levels. They would also like to see more non-fiction books tied to the science and social studies subjects so that teachers can teach reading in all subject areas, not just during the time allotted for reading.
"We are all very proud of our Book Room," said Hopkins Principal Greg Martineau. "I think this will serve the students well for years to come."
