Friday, June 24, 2011

Organizing My Classroom Library

 I absolutely love children's books - what kindergarten teacher doesn't! As a result my classroom library is overflowing with books. A few years ago I got them all sorted into categories and put them into colorful baskets on my bookshelves. Here are some photos of what my classroom library looked like last year.

 It took so much energy to organize the books that I got lazy when it came to making labels. I just took out a sharpie and a stack of notecards and slapped a quick handwritten label onto each basket. Well, now that it's summer break, I've finally gotten around to making much nicer labels on the computer. The best part is that each label has a picture on it to help my kinders that are still learning to read. I can't wait to get into my classroom and add these labels to spruce up my classroom library.

Click here to grab my book basket labels from google docs. I'm interested in hearing what types of classroom organizing projects you're working on this summer. Please share!

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12 comments:

  1. Sweet P's BoutiqueJune 25, 2011 at 11:26 AM

    Love your library! I really need to do something with mine. It is very sad. I don't know how to organize it. How did you organize? Where did you get your ABC mat?

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  2. MeredithJune 25, 2011 at 11:46 AM

    Thanks! I organized several of my baskets by character (Arthur, Clifford, Biscuit, etc.) but then I also had categories for alphabet books,counting books, rhyming books, animal books, nonfiction books, etc. There are also some baskets by author, like Eric Carle and Dr. Seuss. I also have one shelf that's not in the picture that's organized by guided reading level (A, B, C, etc.). So, I didn't pick just one way to organize! I got my ABC mat at Lowe's a few years ago and it has held up very well-I love that I can just wipe it off if it gets dirty.

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  3. Little PrioritiesJuly 1, 2011 at 11:32 PM

    Very nice library! Welcome to blogging!!

    Lori
    Little Priorities

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  4. MeredithJuly 3, 2011 at 9:36 PM

    Thanks Lori! It's so fun having my own blog now!

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  5. ToddJuly 5, 2011 at 5:34 PM

    Loving the labels! I have a JILLION books and so may just hang out in boxes in my storage room. You've inspired me to get them out and put them in the classroom library. I think I'll make small labels that match and put them in the corner of the books. Maybe my sweeties will keep the books in the correct bins!!

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  6. weetyJuly 17, 2011 at 12:22 PM

    Love the library and ABC mat/rug! Do the kids try to take the ABC mat apart? I have seen these and would love to put it in my room, but I was afraid it would come apart too easily?????

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  7. MeredithJuly 17, 2011 at 2:21 PM

    Hi Weety,
    I've never had a kid try to take the ABC mat apart (of course some day I probably will get that student!!). The mat really looks like one piece-like a rug, so I don't think it has occurred to the kids that it all comes apart-but if they started to play with it I would probably just make a class rule about it or something. I've had the mat for 5 years now and have loved how durable it is! Really it is better than a rug in some ways because you can put it together in whatever configuration you want to fit the size of the space you have.

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  8. TeachinginKšŸ˜August 8, 2012 at 7:17 AM

    Thanks for sharing your labels, your a life saver!!!

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  9. TiffAnnAugust 18, 2012 at 8:11 PM

    Love this!! You just saved me so much time. But I am curious as to how you make sure the books get back in the right place?

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  10. Mandy @ Polka Dotted ForestMay 2, 2013 at 2:10 PM

    Hi! I found this post through Pinterest over a year ago and just did finally get around to printing out the labels and using them today! I am not a teacher, but we are using this system at home in my son's library. My son is 5 and adores reading, but has a hard time keeping his books neat and picked up. I am also a new blogger, and am going to post about using these later or tomorrow on my blog. I will of course give you credit with a link back to your blog and where others can get the labels. :)

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  11. Umm SulaymanSeptember 2, 2013 at 8:25 PM

    thank you SO much for sharing your book bin labels

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  12. Umm SulaymanSeptember 2, 2013 at 8:26 PM

    Thank you SO much for sharing your book bin labels. You saved me hours

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