Chapter 4 Response

The most essential piece of information I gathered from chapter 4 involved Atwell's comment, "To make reading easy for students, the bottom-line requirement is an inviting classroom library, organized so it's simple for chidren to find good books and return them" (37). Atwell goes on to say that she shelves over 1,200 books alphabetically by authors' last names in bookcases labeled in inviting categories. While I'm happy to say that my classroom library has increased due to the $500 all Communication Arts teachers received to buy new books, my library is miniscule compared to Atwell's (I think I probably have 150-200 books???). How awesome would it be to have 1,000 books in one's classroom library, along with shelves?! While I think we are making great strides in developing students' passion for reading through the building of classroom libraries, it would be nice if more monetary resources from outside funds could assist us in our quest to buy new books.