Happy Thursday, friends! Today marks the third week of our Reading in the Wild summer book study and we’re talking all about our classroom libraries! If you are just joining us and missed the first week (Wild Readers Dedicate Time to Read), second week (Creating a Workshop Schedule that Works for You), or third week (Building an Excitement for Reading) make sure to check them out!
This week’s hosts are Molly at Lessons with Laughter and Carrie at Being Ladylike!
board above the bookcase showcases genre posters that we reviewed the first week of school and referred to throughout the year as we read together and recommended books to one another. The posters acted as a visual reminder to students about the different categories of the books they should be reading throughout the year (based on The Book Whisperer), working our way to 40 books by May. On the far right you see running list of ‘Words to Know’ that we incorporated in our units. Through the year, I switched out the words so students had a “game plan” of what was to come!
writing on the side of my filing cabinet! No, I did not defile school property,
but I did cover the side in black butcher paper and purchased a silver sharpie and added a magnet to the cap.
This was our classroom’s “Favorite Book Quotes” area. As students enjoyed their books, they searched for the ‘just perfect’ quote to include on
the board. After finishing The One and Only Ivan, I added this thought.
graders do not go to library as a part of their specials schedule, it is SO important
that my library appeals to all of my readers. So, I wanted to make sure I have
different books on display. I picked up a magazine display from Staples, and
then, two plate holders from Hobby Lobby! The two picture frames that you see
were one of my spray paint projects a few weeks ago. We also use student-written book blurbs and monthly book displays to add interest to our reading area!
Lastly, I place my REALLY low books (Horrible Harry, Clementine Nancy Drew Clue Crew, Magic School Bus chapter books) in the bottom drawer of my black file cabinet. From there, I added containers to the bottom shelves of my fiction and nonfiction shelves for students to pick from. My students who read at grade-level or above never really paid attention to these books (although they were welcome to pick them up for a quick, fun read), but my below-grade level readers were able to pick books from the shelves just like everyone else!
And when you put it
altogether you get a nice little reading space. I would have loved to add a chair and other ‘warm
fuzzy’ items, but with limited space that was not in the cards this
year. Although there are no ‘extras’ my students have a well organized and appealing library
from which to choose! Hopefully, this will begin our adventure of reading 40 books by May!
For all my intermediate friends, you can find the labels I used here. Also, a sweet friend
requested a set of labels for Primary Land, so I whipped these out. I took out
the cursive ‘nonfiction’ ‘fiction’ section of each label and added more topics/categories.
There are over 55 labels in this pack, and I am always happy to edit/add labels
if you need them!
So, friends, how do you organize your classroom library? Work works for you or what does your school expect? I always love looking at pictures of classroom libraries, so please do share! 🙂
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Your separate area for the books in a series is brilliant! Thanks for sharing your library organization with us.
Love how you organized your library, and your labels are adorable! I am also envious of all the shelving you have!
This is amazing! You have motivated me to make some changes to my classroom library! Do you have a master list of the words you used under "Words to Know"? Thanks for sharing your ideas! amynick25@hotmail.com
Hi Amy! I have it in a PowerPoint and am a day or two away from posting it on TPT. I'll send it your way when I'm finished. 🙂
That sounds great! Thank you 🙂
I love your library! It's fantastic! Do you mind me asking what did you use for the actual "tubs"? The look like Sterlite, but wanted to know for sure. 🙂
Hi Agatha! I use the Bella tubs from Lowes. They are $1.27. They're a little bigger than the Dollar Tree clear tubs and are completely clear -no haze! 🙂
I have been looking for a new way to organize my library. I have the opportunity to redo it all now, so I think I shall take a page from you book {no pun intended} ; ) when I put it all back together again in August. Thanks for sharing your ideas!
Ali
Teaching Powered by Caffeine
I'm SO impressed that you were able to acquire and sort all those books in ONE YEAR! Nice job!!
Your classroom library is wonderful! I understand your space issues… :0) My Reading in the Wild text just came in the mail yesterday, and I am excited to get started reading…
Smiles,
Sarah
Catherine you library looks great! I like your idea about having the kids track scholastic points and so forth. Those scholastic points are like gold! Just like you those points and Donor's Choose have funded my classroom library. Lovin your genre posters, I have them on my wish list.
Chelsea
Fifth Grade Wit and
Whimsy
Your library looks great and WOW do you have a lot of books. 🙂 Hopefully your kiddos are really motivated to read when they see how much you care about it! Thanks for sharing!
Cassie
Funky in Fourth
I have definitely spent a lot of resources on books this year….good thing I'm not married and don't have kids-ha! 🙂
I love this!! I love your idea of putting paper over the filing cabinet and having the kids write their favorite quotes from their books!! What a fun idea!!
Mrs. 3rd Grade
I love the word cloud/subway art genre posters! You should totally sell those in your TPT store…because I would buy them. 🙂 Also, where did you get your book tubs? Thanks for sharing such great pictures and telling us all about your library. I need to update mine for sure and yours serves as inspiration.
being-ladylike.blogspot.com
Hi Carrie! The posters are in my store along with coordinating reading comprehension posters and classroom expectation posters. 🙂 The tubs are from Lowes. They are the Bella tubs that sell for $1.27. They are a little bigger than the Dollar Tree tubs and completely clear!!
I love the organization of your library. The genre posters and book bin labels are headed to my wishlist!
Chelsea
Flip Floppin' Through…3rd Grade
This is exactly what I needed to find at exactly this time. Thanks for sharing and please forgive me while I copy this layout for my library this year! 🙂
I have been thinking about my classroom library, so this was a timely post! Do you label your books at all (colored stickers or something like that)? I have my books separated by genre as well, but I am considering whether to label them (subtly) or not.
I love your classroom library! One question… how do you have your students check out/in your books?
You're classroom library is awesome! Where did you get your large black shelves?
I would like to purchase your labels, but if there is a catagory that I would like to use as apposed to one you chose will I be able to go in and change it?
Hi Nanette! Due to clipart copyright, these labels aren't editable at this time. Sorry!
I love your library and purchased the labels and subway art. Where did you get the longer shelves?
I see that you have different classes. When a child picks a chapter book that takes them a few days to read where do they put it? I have a major problem with a child from my first class picking a book and a different child from my second class takes that book. I have about 60 children so individual book bins don't work well because of space.
Hi Catherine,
Is the "Words to Know" part of the "Word Wall Headers" on TPT? If it's not, is there a way I can find it? Rutherfordv85@gmail.com.
Thanks!
You are amazing!! Thanks for sharing these wonderful ideas.
I teach 5th grade and library organization gives me the hives! I want allofthebooks in the proper bin right now, thankyouverymuch lol! I the idea of students replacing books in the category that THEY think it belongs is brilliant. It’ll release responsibility to them and make sure they understand genres. As soon as break is over I’m implementing this idea right away.
This is fabulous! I teach 3rd – 5th Gifted Ed and I’ve been trying to find something to find my 1,000+ books more accessible to my students.
Thank you!
I love this article and your primary labels. The links above do not connect to the intermediate labels. I’m unable to find them anywhere. Please help, because I’d like to buy them!
Great post! It is evident how much time you spent curating your library. Your library is well organized and your labels are awesome! What I enjoyed most about your post was how you guided us through each of your steps, detailing how you designed it and the reasons behind doing it the way you did. Then, you posted photos from your library and room. I also love how you have the word wall aligned to the unit words. The butcher paper for quotes is a great way for students to interact with their library. I really like how you have your books sorted, especially the fiction and non-fiction parts. Currently, I only have my library sorted by AR levels, as we use STAR Reading data for reading levels. It makes book shopping much easier, ensuring that students are choosing their ‘just right for you books’. Finally, I really liked seeing how you displayed some books on top of your shelf. This is one of many ideas that you have inspired me to adopt. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience!