Classroom Management - Naming Tables

I know that many, if not most, in the primary grades are used to giving tables names so you can call on an entire table to line up, put chairs up, etc. Many teachers give their tables color names (red table, blue table, etc.), some use shapes (circle table, triangle table, etc.) and some give numbers or letters (A table/table A or Table 3).

My favorite way to name tables is to use the name of authors and/or illustrators. I decide on the people I want to highlight (I do more with these individuals but will descibe in a future post). Once I have my list (i.e. Dr. Seuss, Maurice Sendak, Barbara Park, etc.) I center a picture of each person on poster board (about 8.5"x11") with their name under the picture in large easy-to-read print. Then on either side of the picture I place pictures of familiar characters from their books. For example the Barbara Park would have pictures of Junie. B. Jones on the poster board. (If you are doing this with older grades for, say, rows or clusters of students you could use pictures of book covers or even just names of familiar books.) Then when I call tables I say "the Park table" or "the Barbara Park table" (or even just "Park," in a rush).

Doing this helps children draw connections with books. It also gives students a working vocabulary of names so when they decide they like a certain series of books (many first graders and kindergartners LOVE Junie B. Jones) or find that they love books by a particular author (my daughter loves Maurice Sendak books) they have more language to effectively express to their parents or librarians which books they are looking for. I have found that when students connect with an author, they in turn want to read more from that author, which helps increase their desire to read.

Below are several pages that you might find helpful in choosing authors. Select those appropriate for your grade levels. It also helps to choose authors you, the teacher, personally enjoy!

Primary Grades:

Sandra Boynton
Jan Brett
Eric Carle
Ian Falconer
Mem Fox
Crockett Johnson
Ezra Jack Keats
Jonathan London
Mercer Mayer
Barbara Park
Todd Parr
Beatrix Potter
Richard Scarry
Maurice Sendak
Dr. Seuss

Upper Grades:

Judy Blume
Matt Christopher
Beverly Cleary
Christopher Paul Curtis
Roald Dahl
Kate DiCamillo
Jean Fritz
C. S. Lewis
Lois Lowry
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
J. K. Rowling
Louis Sachar
Shel Silverstein
E. B. White
Laura Ingalls Wilder