One of the things we try to do at our school is to make our reading visible. From my own display of books I have read outside of our classroom, to the rotating book displays in our classroom and school library, to the “Just Read” posters outside staff doors, we want our students to see that there is a lot of reading that happens in our community. A few weeks ago the “Favorite reads…” bulletin board idea was shared in the Facebook Passionate Readers community and I knew I wanted to create it. So thank you Tracy C. for sharing the idea in the first place.
All I needed to do was make time (which is hard to do these days) and find some book spine templates since I knew I did not have the patience to create them myself. Monday-Tuesday before break I made it my mission to get this done as I figured this was another quick way for our scholars to show off their reading. After a lot of gluing, this is the finished product. (It looks more polished in pictures ha, but it works).
I asked students to grab a spine or two and share what their favorite book(s) had been so far this year. I also showed them pictures of other similar displays so they knew what we were going for. Then they got to work, it didn’t take long for most of them, I then just had to glue them up. I even got a compliment by a student I don’t teach as I put up titles and other teachers complimented it as well.
So why bother? It once again makes reading more visible in our school community, it also is a way for kids to recommend books, as well as for me to get ideas for my own reading. While we always share our best book of the year in a speech at the end of the year, I like adding in this component as a check-in a few months in. And if you are wondering what kids have loved so far, take a look. There is a wide range of books, many I have book talked, some I don’t even have in our collection as they are more mature, and some kids have found on their own.
After I posted the pictures in our Facebook group, a fellow educator took the time to create book spines for others to use for free, yet another reason why I love our community. I share these here with her permission, thank you Lisa Anderson for taking the time to make these.
Perhaps you hadn’t seen this idea either or perhaps you are just looking for the push to do your own, whatever your reason, I hope this post is helpful. I really don’t have a lot of time to give to bulletin boards but am excited for this one, also because we have room to grow; more titles can be added as kids finish books and find new favorites.
If you like what you read here, consider reading my book, Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child. This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block. If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students. Also, if you are wondering where I will be in the coming year or would like to have me speak, please see this page.
Pernille Ripp 
Thank you for all you do to encourage and promote readers!
Mixing the joy of reading along with community outreach always leads to success.