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The Commonsense Guide to Your Classroom Library: Building a Collection That Inspires, Engages, and Challenges Readers
Literacy champions Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp provide teachers with the advice they need to transform the classroom library into a true instructional partner. They show how to procure and weed books based on quantity, diversity, currency and relevance, and organization and use. From there, they follow the lifecycle of Sharp's classroom library throughout the year, showing ways he evaluates and supports his students as they become increasingly independent in their reading.
160 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 10, 2022
11 people are currently reading
336 people want to read
About the author
Donalyn Miller
9books5,974followersDonalyn Miller has worked with a variety of upper elementary and middle school students and currently teaches fifth grade at O.A. Peterson Elementary in Forth Worth, Texas. In her popular book, The Book Whisperer, Donalyn reflects on her journey to become a reading teacher and describes how she inspires and motivates her middle school students to read 40 or more books a year. In her latest book, Reading in the Wild, Donalyn collects responses from 900 adult readers and uses this information to teach lifelong reading habits to her students. Donalyn currently facilitates the community blog, The Nerdy Book Club and co-writes a monthly column for Scholastic’s Principal-to-Principal Newsletter. Her articles about teaching and reading have appeared in publications such as The Reading Teacher, Educational Leadership and The Washington Post.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 6, 2022
I’m reviewing this book so that my ŷ friends will see that the book has been released! Colby and I hope that our book will support teachers who are striving to build, maintain, and use a classroom library collection with their students.
April 28, 2022
I co-wrote this book with my friend Donalyn Miller, so my star rating probably comes from the fact that the book is filled with stories about my amazing students. Since the are without a doubt five star kids, I'm giving the book five stars.
December 16, 2022
3.5 As a librarian I found most of the advice similar to what we do in our jobs. However, this is a wonderful book to use as a springboard with teachers to organize, with the librarian, an effective and engaging classroom library. I will certainly put it in the hands of my colleagues to encourage collaboration and foster a love of reading.
July 8, 2024
Synopsis:
-A professional development resource for teachers and librarians to help build a collection that inspires, engages, and challenges readers.
My thoughts:
🤔 I really appreciated how Colby Sharp gave so many real-life examples from his 5th grade classroom. I also like that he shared lots of stories about his students - showcasing not only their growth but also their struggles.
🤔 I also liked all of the interviews with other experts and sharing what works for them.
🤔 So many great take-aways! I used a lot of post-its and my highlighter while reading this book! @donalynm has been a professional inspiration to me ever since I read The Book Whisperer, and @ColbySharp and his fabulous book-talks are viewed regularly in my libraries.I hope these two continue to collaborate and inspire students and professionals!
Who is going to love it?
� Teachers
❤️ Librarians
❤️ Those who love learning and continuing to grow professionally.
-A professional development resource for teachers and librarians to help build a collection that inspires, engages, and challenges readers.
My thoughts:
🤔 I really appreciated how Colby Sharp gave so many real-life examples from his 5th grade classroom. I also like that he shared lots of stories about his students - showcasing not only their growth but also their struggles.
🤔 I also liked all of the interviews with other experts and sharing what works for them.
🤔 So many great take-aways! I used a lot of post-its and my highlighter while reading this book! @donalynm has been a professional inspiration to me ever since I read The Book Whisperer, and @ColbySharp and his fabulous book-talks are viewed regularly in my libraries.I hope these two continue to collaborate and inspire students and professionals!
Who is going to love it?
� Teachers
❤️ Librarians
❤️ Those who love learning and continuing to grow professionally.
August 7, 2024
"The Commonsense Guide To Your Classroom Library" by Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp is a solid teacher resource, though some parts felt like déjà vu. While the first half is geared towards schools with limited funding and a focus on diverse representation (which is important but not new to me), pages 52-147 are where the gems are.
I've highlighted and sticky-noted routines I'll use, like asking students how they choose books and introducing genres with picture books. I’m rethinking my no-checkout policy, especially since I've racked up $70 in library fines from missing books—ouch! Colby's ideas for tracking student reading are comprehensive, but I'll need to streamline them for efficiency.
I loved the idea of students leaving behind reading lists for future classes. The book emphasizes fostering independence in readers, ensuring they can find books they love on their own. It's a good reminder that our goal is to nurture lifelong readers, not just fill shelves.
I've highlighted and sticky-noted routines I'll use, like asking students how they choose books and introducing genres with picture books. I’m rethinking my no-checkout policy, especially since I've racked up $70 in library fines from missing books—ouch! Colby's ideas for tracking student reading are comprehensive, but I'll need to streamline them for efficiency.
I loved the idea of students leaving behind reading lists for future classes. The book emphasizes fostering independence in readers, ensuring they can find books they love on their own. It's a good reminder that our goal is to nurture lifelong readers, not just fill shelves.
April 17, 2023
Another great collaboration from Colby and Donalyn. I’ve read enough of both of their writings that none of the information was really new, but just put together well. Including interviews with other experts and sharing what these ideas practically looked like in the classroom were great additions that made the book better.
My biggest struggle with reading books by both of these authors is it seemingly comes from classrooms where parents are more involved and student reading levels are not 3+ years behind. Perhaps they do exist and this process can work, but these stories are not shared. What about kids in the class that are language learners or those with special needs? I would appreciate more discussion around these topics.
My biggest struggle with reading books by both of these authors is it seemingly comes from classrooms where parents are more involved and student reading levels are not 3+ years behind. Perhaps they do exist and this process can work, but these stories are not shared. What about kids in the class that are language learners or those with special needs? I would appreciate more discussion around these topics.
September 23, 2024
The tips in this book, go beyond the typical advice and have challenged me to rethink how I trained teachers to use their classroom libraries.
It also brings great ideas like the "Mock Coldecott" and the "Volume Conference Form" used to used to identify if a reader is an agentive reader or not.
"We think just because we have a school library that our students know how to use one. We think a fifth grader knows how to consistently find a book in the library - they don't." Donalyn Miller
I highly recommend this book to any educator looking to inspire a new generation of readers!
It also brings great ideas like the "Mock Coldecott" and the "Volume Conference Form" used to used to identify if a reader is an agentive reader or not.
"We think just because we have a school library that our students know how to use one. We think a fifth grader knows how to consistently find a book in the library - they don't." Donalyn Miller
I highly recommend this book to any educator looking to inspire a new generation of readers!
October 8, 2022
I have been following Donalyn and Colby through books and various social media sites and they both have radically changed my teaching career. As a reading interventionist, I see that along with teaching kids how to read that kids need to fall in love with reading. This book along with their others does that by tackling the power that lies in a classroom library. So many excellent take aways and so thankful for all they have done for teachers and students.
October 8, 2022
I am already updating my classroom library after reading this helpful book! My 8th graders wanted a more mature library without the bins I had set up from last year when I taught 7th grade. I was excited to make it look more like the library locally. I also created a romance section and war section. This is a book that will guide future library endeavors.
August 7, 2023
Lots of good information compiled into one organized space. While I don’t have a classroom, but manage a library, I think many of the ideas here can apply to both a class and a school library. I also think this book gave me lots to think about in regards to helping teachers better use what our library has to offer, in conjunction with their class libraries.
October 9, 2022
I am a HUGE fan of Donalyn and Colby! But, after reading all of their previous books, this one is a little redundant. Still, there are some great practical suggestions for curating an inclusive classroom library and cultivating a lifelong love of literacy.
November 6, 2022
Two of my biggest reading community gurus team up in this book to remind about having books for your students to access and how to get them excited about reading. I love anything Miller and Sharp write.
July 1, 2024
The Commonsense Guide to Your Classroom Library is an excellent read. It gave me practical tips on how to improve the use of my own classroom library. It also gave me ideas on how to cultivate the reading lives of the young people in my learning communities. Well done, Donalyn and Colby!
October 10, 2022
Donalyn and Colby do such important work. I’ve been following them for quite some time and they inspire so much of what I do in my reading classroom.
June 18, 2023
Again, not a ton of new information, but I really enjoyed reading this and thinking through how I can make some changes to my classroom library for next year.
January 5, 2024
4.5 These 2 are the dream team with their knowledge, experience, and ideas.
October 28, 2024
4.5 I might need to take another look at this one in the future.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
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