bibliothèque de salle de classe

For those who have expressed interest these are some of the series we have in our Kindergarten to grade 4 classrooms. These series are used for Daily Five, home reading and guided reading.  The classroom libraries are well rounded with both these types of levelled series of books, trade books, fiction and non-fiction.

Most of the series are followed by a link to the publisher's website.

Depending on your school's philosophy you may or may not decide to level your book collections. A handy website for this task is Atelier. You can type in just about any title and any publisher and this site will suggest a level that encompasses them all (many publishers use their own levelling system and they are rarely consistent across the different series).

In terms of best practice there is evidence that a book levelling system, especially when it segregates students and limits their book selection, is less than beneficial to students. The authenticity of this process has also been called into question as students transition from levelled books to the selection of books themselves for the pleasure of reading. Please refer to the book Beyond Levelled Books by Franki Sibberson and Karen Szymusiak to explore this further.

The Learning Commons teacher at École Edwards (librarian) is fantastic and supports teachers with ordering.  She knows what students like and how to guide students to books they might enjoy and be able to read.  As the younger classes come to the Learning Commons, they can choose their own books but are also encouraged to choose at least 1 French "I can read" book.  She has tables of books at the students' level to help with book selection.

Envol en littératie (scholastic):

- fiction and non-fiction

Alizé:

- especially good for k-1

- very simple beginning texts, students are pleased that they can read something early on in the year in French immersion, fiction and non-fiction

- simple stories are humorous because of clever and engaging illustrations

www.readinga-z.com:

- photocopiable books, simple, inexpensive, k-1

GB+:
- this series was purchased with multiple copies of each title for guided reading, they are in the bookroom and can be signed out each week by teachers

Alpha Jeunes
- also purchased in multiples and signed out by teachers from the book room

Du plaisir à lire:

- comic book style illustrations, goofy stories, a favourite for grade 1-2

En avant (scholastic):

- mostly non-fiction

Colorissimo:

- non-fiction

Lire-tôt:

- an older series, having the big books is convenient

Paul et Suzanne:

- kindergarten, has big books, songs, multi media options, illustrations explain the story, very reader-ish but a good place to start when students have 0 vocabulary
- these are used for read-alouds early in the year in K (not "I can read") although by the end of grade 1 students remember the series and are surprised to find they can now read the stories they remember from K

Mille-feuilles:

- this one has been around for a while, humorous stories, a wide range of levels, seems to often be some of the first books FI students read

Je lis mes mots utils

Je peux lire

Grades 3 and 4:

Teachers find the students like non-fiction more in the later grades, they need something at their level but not babyish:

Scholastic biography series

Petit roman:

- easy forst chapter books (my youngest son loved these because it was a "chapter book"!)

Cheval masqué

Cabane magique series

Choisis ta propre aventure

Junie B. Jones in French

À la une - cartoons & graphic novels (loved by older boys, harder vocabulary)

What's on your classroom bookshelves? What do you and your students in French Immersion love to read? Let us know in the comments section.

Thank you so much to Mme Cyrzan, Mme Masson and Mme Brownell for letting me look through your books and loiter in your classrooms!