Classroom Library—New-Book Tub

Many of you are as passionate about books and reading as I am. I frequently purchase new books for the classroom library, selecting titles based on current student interests, new offerings by our favorite authors, or treasures I find at garage sales. If these new titles are placed in our classroom library, they can be hard to find, quickly forgotten about, or sometimes, as in the case of Chicken Butt! by Erica S. Perl, never make it to a classroom library tub because Jacob has hogged it, reading it every day for months and never letting it stray from his book box.

New-Book Tub to the rescue. Having a tub to house new additions provides equal access to our most recent additions before they get swallowed up in our classroom library or permanently adopted by a child. The most recent 12–15 books are now in one place, and that tub is one of the literacy choices available to students during our Daily 5 time (they just check in with “Read to Self—New-Book Tub”). Students may not put items from this tub into their own book boxes, but may visit and revisit it as often as they like. I renew the tub by replacing its contents with new purchases every six weeks or so, which keeps student interest high.

Now everyone knows where to find a new favorite that I’ve read aloud, and everyone can read and reread it as often as they like.