I cannot believe it's been almost 20 years!
This is a picture of my reading tubs labels -- they're old enough now that the glue is all but gone and they peel off easily. I feel like it was just yesterday that I decided not to fight with the first layer of stickers and haven't tried again...until today. Today I labeled all of my tubs with either numbers or letters. (Mostly this was to keep organization with my personal children "helping" me set up my classroom by reading all my sorted piles of books and then putting them back, willy nilly.) But, as I was methodically stickering and labeling, my roaming mind realized this plan had a lot of potential.
1. Lettering for reading levels is fine as long as it is not where I force students to read-- the library should be like Disneyland; full of experiences students savor, even if reading by looking at the pictures is as far as they can go. Yet. They should want to read (or have a friend read to them) the blurb, eagerly trying to see if this book sounds like something exciting or interesting to them. My purpose for level labels is to keep track of what I need to teach and facilitate, not for students to identify as a level. This misconception of levels leads to division and self-esteem issues, as well as fixed mindset, for students at all ends of the spectrum. Let go of the control.
BOOM.
2. As for numbering the tubs, this is purely for my initial management and organization. I sorted the tubs into nonfiction and fiction topics (series, author studies, genres) then assigned all the nonfiction tubs a number and put that number on the tub and each book. I continued my number system with the fiction tubs. My end plan is that groups of students will look at the books in the tub and decide what the books all have in common and create the tub label with words (spelling supported for standard spelling since it is for their peers to decipher) and a matching illustration. The number will remain for easy return.
3. As I was letting my mind drift, I realized that having the book tubs labeled like this would lead to some great parent activities at Back to School/ Open House Night! ...A parent scavenger hunt to see if they could determine (from a list) the genres/ topics of each number would give them an idea what students would be doing and what kind of books their kids like to read. Time filling and educational!
I was feeling pretty good.
4. Then I realized that I could support myself and the parents by putting a brief bullet list next to the letter tubs of the key skills needed to attempt those levels with comprehension and fluency success. This would be a great way to show parents what my age/ grade level skills would be and the progression of skills. It would also be a chance to explain that those bullets were for adults and how silly it would be for students to think in those adult terms... and thus why I do not label students as levels but have the levels purely as a guide as needed (and a smaller portion of my library than topic or genre choice tubs.) Students can choose old favorites that some might call "easy" or super challenging books they won't actually be independent in this school year. If I want students to work in a particular level, I will assign work during my controlled time: small group or centers. I will not impinge on their Disneyland trip through any library.
Repeat after me: I will not destroy the joy of perusal that makes actual bookstores and libraries so wonderful and lifelong reading actually happen!
Happy Joy-of Library-Nurturing,
