The tornado begins during specials and I spread all the books over the floor. The students come in and are shocked to see the floor. Each student has a sheet on a clipboard to record any books that they might want to read. I give each student an empty container and they start to walk around the room looking for books that may be similar. (Hint: the day before we brainstorm all the ways that libraries are organized and we create a list) The talk in the classroom is amazing-everyone helps everyone. They discuss favorite books, books they want to read, and better yet books they have never seen before so now they are curious. Better yet they know where to find all those books because they set up the library!
The next step is to decorate a white index card for their tub which is fun and the students tend to take their tub personally because typically they are designing a tub that has one of their favorite books in it.
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| Original name cards for tubs |
Finally the students organize our class library and decide how to group the tubs. This year we have six sections: author, series, genres, poetry, picture books, and topics.
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| Our author bookshelf. |
This is one of those activities when the day is done I am exhausted but thrilled that the students were able to see all the books and be excited about reading. PRICELESS!
Love the pictures and your description of the tornado. Every year I think about not doing it but it's so worth it! I'm enjoying your blog, especially since I've seen some of this in action! ~sarah
ReplyDeleteHey, Maria. Good for you, I'm glad you took the plunge.
ReplyDeleteTeaching outside the box....I love it. I had a professor in college that jump up on his desk the 1st day of class to show us how the early Egytians carved statues. That was the turning point for me and my love of Art History. Keep up the GREAT work!!!
ReplyDeleteIt took Maria several years to convince me to have a TORNADO in my room, but it was well worth it when I did!
ReplyDeleteAwesome job, sister! Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the positive comments-we are having fun and I am learning so much!!
ReplyDeleteWow! What a great idea. I love that the kids take ownership of their book boxes. Do they reorganize and regroup as you add books throughout the year?
ReplyDeleteYes Emily the students are in charge of the boxes and typically the one they decorate is the one they adopt and take care of. Occasionally we add boxes if the first box gets too full. Thanks for asking.
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog and am reading from the beginning. Glad you love the tornado, but I am yet to be convinced. How man books in your classroom library? I am enjoying your blog and you might be the one to finally convince me!
ReplyDeleteMrs. L-welcome to my blog I am always excited when I have a new reader. For my first ever tornado, I pulled the non fiction books out and we sorted everything else. Just to cut down on numbers. This year my poetry books were not included because they live on their own shelf. So the answer to your question is probably about 200 books. That is a rough guess-it is so worth it just for the reason of the students getting to touch and see all the books and more important they know where the tubs are that are holding those books because many of them created the label for it. Let me know what you decide and if you have any more questions. Good luck-let the winds blow :)
ReplyDeleteThat number would seem more manageable. I have many more hundreds than that. I will think if I can have them do a particular section of the library. Thanks for the idea.
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