My most favorite part of my classroom is always my classroom library. A classroom library should be inviting and FUN, but above all, purposeful. Pinterest is great, but lets face it, how many times have we tried something so completely unrealistic only to end up with something that is definitely not worth posting, and a box of supplies that we will never use again? My library is 4 years in the making, and it is the one thing in my classroom that I feel will ALWAYS be a work in progress. So do not stress. Do what works for you. Even if that does not involve hand stitching a circus tent or forming a tree trunk out of paper mache.
Now for the tour...
Display shelf
This is where I display books based on the unit we are studying. They are switched out every 3 weeks when we start a new unit.
AR Books
This is a great project to assign to your room parent, kind volunteer, PTA, passerby, anyone with a pulse, etc. Nothing, and I mean nothing, has consumed more of my time than leveling and labeling books. Nothing.
The buckets on this shelf are reserved for readers that have AR (Accelerated Reader) quizzes available online. My school participates in AR and has school-wide contests and incentives to get students to read. They love it, but this can be tricky to manage at such a young age.
To make things easier, I first find the book's level. I write the book's level on either a blue or red dot sticker. (Students know that blue dots mean the book is in English, and red dots mean the book is in Spanish.) I like to use the Accelerated Reader app, or type in the book title on their website. The following apps are also great to help with this:
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| Scholastic Book Wizard |
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| Accelerated Reader |
Then, I write the quiz number on the back of the book in Sharpie. This has saved me so many headaches. It is SO much easier for kinders to type the book's number instead of typing the entire title of a book.
I also stick a star sticker next to the book's level. The star signifies that the book they have chosen has a quiz available. In the event that my books do not get put back in the right bin (hard to believe, I know) the kids will still know that book has a quiz. I teach English language arts in the morning, while my partner teacher does the Spanish, so all of my bins on this shelf are blue (English). Kids choose a few on their level for their book bag during read-to-self.
The rest of my picture books are organized in white baskets. Here, they are organized by category. Those baskets may contain Spanish and English books, and books also labeled as AR quiz books.
My last and final tip: the clip system! Every student in my class is assigned a number at the beginning of the year. I use this number to label everything that is theirs, so they learn it pretty quickly.
When picking a book, students grab the clip with their number on it and clip it to the basket they have grabbed their book from. When they are done reading their book, they find the basket with their clip and place the book back. This also helps remind them to only have one book out at a time.
I would love to see your library and what you do to keep it organized!
Hasta la proxima,
Miss Torres
