LM_NET: Library Media Networking
Hi Everyone,
Sorry this hit is late. It is divided into three
parts. Thanks again to everyone who responded to my
question concerning color coding. Hope everyone has a
great and safe Thanksgiving holiday.
**I am not making plans to "color code" our books. We
have a "green" dot on the spine which indicates it is
an AR book. Inside the book is a label which denotes
the reading level. That keeps that information private
for a
student. Yes, a 5th/4th grade student may need to
read below his grade level to be
successful..........and we do not need to sacrifice
his self esteem.
I'm really of in favor of any child reading anything
as long as he/she is successful with
AR........Eventually, they will read all the available
"easy" books. We often forget these are children and
they miss the fun and
delightful "children's books by getting "trapped" and
told to read only for their grade.
**Our staff discussed this issue and decided that
tagging all levels with an AR tag and a small but
visible red dot was the best solution. It is easy for
the students to find their levels, yet not so obvious
to classmates!
**I am in about the same situation as you are with 4
libraries with media assistants and I'm the only LMS.
We have AR in all 4 with one really getting into it
hot and heavy. They pushed first to pull all AR books
and put them in one place. I said NO. Then they
wanted the color coding on the spine. I agree that it
helps the
students to find appropriate books, however, I don't
like adding extra garbage to the spine when the spine
label already takes up plenty of space.
So we compromised. They put a little sliver of colored
paper above the call number. I said it couldn't be
outside of the spine label nor cover the call number.
That works. Inside of the book, we ran the level
labels so those who need it could find the exact
reading level.
I'm happy. Books don't look bad. Strips aren't very
noticeable. Kids who are looking can find their color.
Maybe this is a solution for you. Also be aware that
if you upgrade to AR 5, the levels change
dramatically.
I'm glad we didn't get into this big time until now.
Maybe things will stay stable/static for awhile since
they just made the switch.
**I can give you a bit of input from two different
schools of thought.
In my former school, the AR books were all color coded
with a single red dot on the spine, just below the
spine label. The book level & points were written on
the dot like a fraction: 4.9 Reading Level
2.0 Point Value
This worked okay for the 3rd & 4th graders but was a
nightmare for 1st & even many 2nd. Forget about
kindergartners! AR information was not a part of the
OPAC.
In my brand-new (yay!) school's media center, I opted
for a bit of refinement. I took the Reading
Renaissance suggestion & changed it slightly. All
books have the complete AR information inside. My
books are now coded on the spines like this:
1.0 - 1.4 Lt. Blue Dots 3.0 - 3.4 Yellow Dots
1.5 - 1.9 Dk. Blue Dots 3.5 - 3.9 Orange Dots
2.0 - 2.4 Lt. Green Dots 4.0 - 4.9 Red Dots
2.5 - 2.9 Dk. Green Dots 5.0 and above Violet
Dots
Absolutely no one has made an issue over reading
"colors". I chose these colors because I could buy the
dots from a library supply store. The theory behind
4.0 & up is that if a child is reading on this level,
he can open the cover & check the AR label on the fly
leaf for reading level & point information. Also,
since the point value is not on the outside of the
book, I've had
better success in reading for points as opposed to
reading in your "comfort zone" --my term for ZPD.
Also, for the beginning readers, they can look for a
light blue dot much easier than reading an AR label on
the spine--commercially purchased or
prepared myself. Some teachers even send the children
to the media center with a card listing their ZPD and
colored marker showing the "color zone" they should
choose. Also, we can quickly walk the shelves & easily
find a book in a child's reading range--helpful with a
class of 20 or a flex time crowd of 50.
So far the new plan is working much, much better than
the former.
Good luck with whatever choice you make.
**We have had AR in our building K- 5 for the last
four years. We color code and it helps immensely when
students need books. I have fifth graders who
are only at a 1.0 level (which is yellow in my bldg.)
and we have had no major problems. When the program
first started four years ago there were a
few problems. I then had a talk with each class...
long story short, just because someone wears glasses
and needs help to see - someone in a lower level
colored book has not had as much practice reading...
etc... I
can honestly say we do not have any problems now with
color coding the books. Good Luck it is a great
program and really encourages reading.
**Linda, in my middle school of abut 1100 students, I
do have my AR books color coded. I have not had any
complaints from either students or parents about this.
The thing is, it is just so much easier and faster
for the students to choose their books. Also it saves
a lot of wear and tear on the books and less shelving
if they do not have to pull the books out to see what
level they are. I know there are a some negatives to
have the books color coded, and I certainly understand
that, but it has worked well for me.
**We have had AR in our schools for three years. The
elementary librarian and I have used different
approaches. She has labeled all AR with green dots
and shelves all the fiction according to reading
level. The shelves are labeled accordingly. Her goal
is to have all AR in her library.
I have labeled all AR with green dots but shelve them
in with the regular fiction. I have separated the
lower level- 5.0 and less. I do not like shelving by
level because I think kids will not browse and attempt
any higher level book. Our kids 6-8 grade are bad
about
refusing to read anything that is not AR. They miss a
lot of great literature that way. However, I have
found that when I am busy and kids are needing help,
it
is easier to point them to a section of the library to
choose from.
Also, I quit ordering the pre-made disks and sets. I
felt that a lot of the books included were
out-of-date. Instead, I keep a consideration file of
books to order; order those and make custom disks to
go with them.
I also keep a file of tests requested by the teachers.
Another tip, I now put the reading level and points on
the dot on the spine rather than on the end paper. It
is much easier to find the level you need on the
regular shelves.
**When I was the librarian at the middle school, I
chose to use the different colors while the librarian
at the other middle school chose to use one color for
all AR books. I felt it made it much easier for
students to find a book within their reading range.
Most teachers use some system to determine reading
level and then want students to stay within a similiar
range. If all AR books have the same colored label,
how would students know which books were in their
reading range? Would they have to look at the label on
every book to determine the reading level? I feel this
is frustrating, and it is
very time-consuming. When I explained about the
different colors, I never called it a "reading" level
or "grade" level. I simply called it a code level or
color level and explained that the level was
determined by the
difficulty of the vocabulary and plot. I think
students seldom "caught on" that the color actually
stood for a grade level. I never had a student or
parent complain. However, I do know that students and
parents often
complained at the other middle school where all books
had one color. Also, when the elementaries started
using AR, they all chose to use the same colors that I
used because they also felt it was easiest and best
for
students.
**When I started AR, I met with opposition to about
the color coding by reading levels.
My argument: Labeling the books' reading labels with
color dots saves a lot of searching time. If a
students needs a book in the 3rd grade reading level,
the books are easy to spot on the shelf. Otherwise
they waste a great deal of time checking
the cover or the inside of the book or the list to see
if it is the appropriate reading level. Kids aren't
stupid, they know not everyone can be good at
everything. They can tell who are the good athletes,
the bad atheletes, the slow learners, the quick
learners. They can pick out the leaders and the ones
who make good followers. They can tell who are
teachers' pets and who are easy prey for "picking."
They
know who are good readers and who aren't. A child in
4th grade reading "Go, Dog, Go" will be seen as a
struggling reader, whether it has a colored dot on it
or not. Students need to be taught respect for
everyone's learning. I never had trouble with kids
teasing each other about reading ability. They
understood that
no matter how good of a reader, or athlete, or artist,
they are, there is ALWAYS room for improvement.
Besides, those who weren't very good at reading could
show
the most improvement!! Put the color coded dots on the
books and teach kids about respect for learning.
**If you look in the archives you will find LOTS of
discussion about this very thing. If you don't know
how to access them, read over your new subscriber
letter you got from Peter. It has the instructions.
The very condensed version of my opinion is that I am
a library, and not an AR warehouse. In fact, if I
want to get my grant, I have to have books arranged in
a
bibliographic manner. All your concerns about
labeling kids is VERY VALID. My entire soapbox tirade
can be found in the archives sometime in late 1998 or
early 1999(I think). Good luck. You'll need it. The
AR people are very forceful, but stand up for what's
right. Our job is to foster a love of reading, not
know "where the 2.0 or blue books are."
**Hi, Linda. In our district of 33 elementary schools
all with AR, many color codes as AR suggested. Now
with the new version many of the "dots" are not valid
and must be changed or something. Who has the time to
do and
redo? Who is to say in another 3 years AR won't
create another version that changes all the dots. In
discussing this with Advantage Learning it is
clear that they are a money-driven organization and
aren't concerned about the logistics of their program
(the nuts and bolts of making it work in the school).
I also have a problem with children looking for a book
by "dot" color rather than by author, genre, desire,
etc. I think the dot color should be secondary in
choice. There is also some evidence that teachers are
"dot" oriented and are reluctant to let the kids read
outside of their "dot" even if the interest is there.
This goes against the research on increasing reading
skills by Krashen, Trelease and others. It's not they
are against AR, it is the abuse that can happen.
Good luck.
**I share your opinion . I had considered using the
different colored dots and decided against it although
I think it is a good idea. All of our AR books
have a blue dot with the reading level written on it.
Students catch on fairly quickly what numbers fall
within their range. I have also put up a chart showing
the progression (o.3, 0.4, 0.5, etc.) Our school is
grades 1-3. I have put the Rookie Readers in one
section, and the other lower levels, up to 1.7 in a
separate area to make that search easier. Other books
are shelved within the collection.
**Don't kids know what titles are "higher" and "lower"
anyway? If a fifth grade student is reading a picture
book or an easy chapter book the other students will
know regardless of any color stickers. Putting the
color code just makes it easier to find a book in a
particular reading level.
End Part I
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