I teach in a low-income, Title I school. Most {over 90%} of our students receive free or reduced lunch. Many students do not have books of their own at home. In an effort to get books {and quality ones at that} into the hands of my students, I started a program called "Bag-a-Book." This program was introduced to me by my awesome, brand new teammate, Jenna and I'm so glad I started it!!!
Here's how it works:
Each Friday, my students take home a bag-a-book. They read the book {most likely someone reads it to them} at home over the weekend. They return their books on Monday {or before the following Friday}. Each Thursday, the students sit in a circle, in order, with their bag-a-books. We rotate the books once clockwise. The kids then get a new book to take home with them on Friday!
Prep-work:
To begin, obtain enough books {one per student} for everyone in you room. The number of books you have will last you that many weeks. Next, print out a letter explaining the program to families. Then, number gallon sized ziploc bags with a Sharpie {or print the labels I've provided you with below}. Assign a bag to each of your students. *I use numbers for cubbies and mailboxes, so the kids naturally got the same number for their bag-a-books. Go over the process with your kids and stress the importance of bringing the bag-a-books back each week. Make a big deal about it! Once a week, rotate the books around {as mentioned above}.
Common Questions:
Where do you get the books?
I purchased books from Scholastic. However, you could easily use books found in your classroom library or purchase books at Goodwill or any other secondhand store.
What happens if the kids lose their books?
No biggie, since most of the books were inexpensive. I just make the student a new bag {with their same number on it} and add in a new book. So far this year, I have only had one student lose a book.
What if the kids don't read their book?
No biggie! If they don't read it, oh well. I am almost certain that they will at least look at the pictures, right!? Ideally, I'd love for someone at home to sit down with them and read to them but
exposing them to good books is fine by me if an adult isn't available!
This is such a wonderful program and I plan on continuing it for years to come!! Thanks, new teacher, Jenna!
Grab the free bag-a-book labels and letter! Enjoy!
xo
Megan
Here's how it works:
Each Friday, my students take home a bag-a-book. They read the book {most likely someone reads it to them} at home over the weekend. They return their books on Monday {or before the following Friday}. Each Thursday, the students sit in a circle, in order, with their bag-a-books. We rotate the books once clockwise. The kids then get a new book to take home with them on Friday!
To begin, obtain enough books {one per student} for everyone in you room. The number of books you have will last you that many weeks. Next, print out a letter explaining the program to families. Then, number gallon sized ziploc bags with a Sharpie {or print the labels I've provided you with below}. Assign a bag to each of your students. *I use numbers for cubbies and mailboxes, so the kids naturally got the same number for their bag-a-books. Go over the process with your kids and stress the importance of bringing the bag-a-books back each week. Make a big deal about it! Once a week, rotate the books around {as mentioned above}.
Common Questions:
Where do you get the books?
I purchased books from Scholastic. However, you could easily use books found in your classroom library or purchase books at Goodwill or any other secondhand store.
What happens if the kids lose their books?
No biggie, since most of the books were inexpensive. I just make the student a new bag {with their same number on it} and add in a new book. So far this year, I have only had one student lose a book.
What if the kids don't read their book?
No biggie! If they don't read it, oh well. I am almost certain that they will at least look at the pictures, right!? Ideally, I'd love for someone at home to sit down with them and read to them but
exposing them to good books is fine by me if an adult isn't available!
This is such a wonderful program and I plan on continuing it for years to come!! Thanks, new teacher, Jenna!
Grab the free bag-a-book labels and letter! Enjoy!
xo
Megan
6 comments:
Love this idea! Just downloaded the letter and labels. Thank you for sharing. Any chance you can update the labels so that all have the boy with books on the right side? It's missing from a few labels. Thanks!
@Abby J Thanks for catching that. My labels template has been acting strange. Please re-download. I wasn't able to include the images, but there is a cute font!
Me too. I love this concept. Thanks for sharing.
I do something similar to this. I use manila envelopes and laminate them. I tape on a log. Then I get books out of the library and they take one home a night and have someone read it to them and write it on the log. The next day they pick a new book from those books. every week we go to the library to get new books. When their log is filed they get a new "color" log. The magic of color. When they fill 10 colored logs they get to get a prize from the prize box.
Are the books leveled or did you choose books that were k-2? Thanks
Thank you for sharing this! I can't wait to start it next week with my students. =)
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