Classroom Design for Student Agency

Create Spaces to Empower Young Readers and Writers

Lynsey Burkins, Franki Sibberson

• Publisher: National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
• Year: 2023
• ISBN:
  9780814101568
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Teaching Languages

Classrooms should be spaces where every child feels safe to bring their whole self to school. This book shows how to set up preK–grade 6 classrooms that support student agency, independence, and choice. The results of classrooms designed with these goals in mind include:

• Greater student engagement with curriculum
• Students who know themselves and are empowered as learners
• Students who feel valued and care about their learning as well as the learning of others
• A more cohesive, authentic, and accepting community of learners
• Opportunities for choice and decision-making by all learners

With examples drawn from real classrooms, the authors demonstrate how to make choices in seating, materials used, books read, and more. Special attention is paid to the design of classroom libraries in which a variety of diverse, quality books anchor so much of the work in helping young readers and writers grow and learn.

The book is richly illustrated with photos and samples to provide an inside look at classrooms in which children are centered and the teacher is responsive to creating spaces with student agency in mind.

172 pp. 2023. Grades PreK–6

Table of contents

• Foreword by Carla Shalaby
• Introduction to Classroom Design
• Part 1. Classroom Design
• Designing for Student Agency
• Various Spaces for Different Configurations for Learning
• Whole-Group Spaces
• Independent Learning Spaces
• Small-Group Spaces
• Spaces for Partners
• Creating Flexible Spaces and Flexible Seating
• The Message of Tables and Bookshelves on Wheels
• When Students Create the Spaces They Need
• Making the Best Use of Wall Space
• Accessible Tools for Learning
• The Role of Technology in Room Design
• Book Bins as a Tool for Student Agency
• Working with the Space You Have
• Working with the Furniture You Have
• What Is Good Here?
• Part 2. The Classroom Library
• The Importance of a Robust Classroom Library
• Curating a Diverse Classroom Library
• The Classroom Library as a Teaching Tool
• The Power of Baskets for Organizing Books
• The Concept of Reading Ladders and How Libraries Support Them
• Organizing by Author
• Organizing by Genre
• Organizing by Series
• Organizing by Format
• Organizing Graphic Novels
• Organizing New Books
• Organizing Nonfiction
• “If You Liked. . .” Baskets
• Displaying Books in the Classroom
• Connecting to the School and Public Libraries
• Organizing What You Have
• Auditing Our Classroom Library
• Weeding Your Book Collection Matters
• What Counts as Reading?
• Afterword by Detra Price-Dennis
• Index
• Authors