Coby's Chapter 11,000/1,000 Reflection

In chapter eleven of her book Taberski talks about how to match children with books that are right for them. Taberski suggests that teachers organize their class library into atleast four different difficulty stages. Next she says that teachers need to make time during the day to meet with one or two children. This meeting should be used to gauge the children and find a book(s) for them that is appropriate.

While I was reading this I thought of the way my mentor teacher gives out books to her students. Every Friday when they go to the library she picks out twenty-two (the number of students in the class) books, tells the children to choose which book they want to take home, and lets them take that book home. Everyday for the rest of the week the children will trade books with the others on their table. In total each child gets to bring home five books a week. It is a manageable way to distribute books. However, I have wondered about the issue of giving children appropriate books and it would be good to ask her how she determine that each student is getting an appropriate book.

It seems to me that I can take a little of both strategies when it is time for me to choose appropriate books for my students.