You can use this area in the classroom to introduce the children to other types of books and authors that they might not yet have discovered. You can get the children to take an active role in developing their reading by getting them to select books to add to the shelves in the book corner from their favourite genres and authors. The class can also produce book reviews to display in the reading area to recommend books to other readers. You can also gather the children around the book corner at the end of the school day to share some stories and poems as part of the classroom routine. Get the class to participate actively in this activity by allowing them to read and share books with their classmates.

Corner Location
Try and choose a quiet area in the classroom to locate the book corner so that it is away from other distractions such as near the classroom sink or resource cupboard that the children use throughout the school day. You should try and display the books in different ways such as on a bookshelf or rack to make an intriguing area that the children would like to visit. Soften the area by adding some green plants or by placing a rug on floor. Place some cushions on stools or use beanbags to create a welcoming area for the children to read and share books. If you place the book corner near a display board then you can use this to pin up posters about different books to stimulate the children’s interests in other genres and authors.

Book Selection
You need to ensure that the corner is filled with books from different genres including poetry and non-fiction. It would also be advisable to structure the shelves in the book corner to match reading abilities in the class so that the children know where to browse to select a book at their reading level. Starting from the top you can display books for less able to more able readers at the bottom of the book shelf. It is important that the texts selected for the book corner are rotated frequently throughout the school year so that the children can discover other text types and genres. Choose some children to act as monitors for the book corner in charge of keeping the area clean and tidy and selecting and changing books.

Corner Activities
The book corner needs to become an integral part of classroom life which the children will be able to use in conjunction with the school library to support and develop their reading. Choose groups of children to work in the book corner during scheduled class reading times. They can select and share books to read together. You can also allow the class to access the book corner during lesson time if they need to research some work in other curriculum areas such as history or geography by reading some non-fiction texts. It would also be advisable to keep stacks of dictionaries and encyclopedias in this area so that it becomes a reading hub for all classroom activities.

Supporting Reading
The book corner can play an integral part in developing and supporting the children’s reading. It provides the children with an opportunity to select their reading material independently. Teach the class to use the five fault rule when selecting a text so that they should try reading the first page of the book and keep reading if they make less than five mistakes. You could also get some children to listen to audio books using a tablet computer. The children can then try following the text as they listen to the story. Leave out some teddy bears in the book corner which some reluctant readers can practise reading to which will help develop their confidence when reading aloud.

Book Reviews
Encourage the class to produce some reviews of books that they have read to display in the book corner area. Leave out some templates for book reviews to cover different reading and writing abilities. Encourage the children to complete a review which they have enjoyed reading and outline some of the reasons why they would recommend the text to another reader. You can compile the completed reviews in a special book to display in the book corner. Some of the reviews could be displayed around the area to make it a welcoming and exciting area for the class to visit.

Treasure Hunt
Another way of encouraging the children to explore different genres and texts is by providing them with a treasure hunt game to try and find answers to different questions about some of the books in the corner. For example, the children could find and list books that are fantasy or adventure stories or they could hunt for a book that contains poems about animals. You could provide some initial treasure hunts for the class to follow before getting the children to create their own hunts for their classmates to solve.