Today I wanted to spend some time on the classroom library and more specifically, how to organize it. The classroom library can be one of your greatest assets to your class! It can very easily become your student's favorite spot to go to and spend time, and that is exactly what we want! In order to achieve this though, you have to make sure your library is set up properly. So let's get started!

One of the things I personally like to do when organizing my library is to create a space that makes a U shape. I then put a beautiful carpet in that space and make this amazing little spot for my library. I collect all my books in bins! So I’ll get some plastic bins and I’ll use index cards to label each bin! I’ll label the bins based on the types of books that are in them. So I might have a bin that's labeled “Adventure”. Some other bins that are labeled might be “record books”, “fairy-tale”, “sports”, “silly”, “informational”, “scary”, “drama”, or “classics”. I may even label a bin based on the author. If have a lot of books by Beverley Cleary, I’ll label one bin Beverly Cleary. 

A lot of times I'll do a book talk before my reading workshop and I’ll tell the kids about all the books that are available in the bins just to get them thinking about what's available in our classroom library. As the year goes on and the more I learn about my students and their interests, the more I'll be able to add different bins to my library. For example, if I have a class of kids who are really into horses this year guess what I'm going to do? I'm going to look for as many books as I can that talk about horses. This allows me to start a couple different bins about horses. Maybe I'll start a realistic fiction bin or an informational bin all about horses. For some years I had kids that really got into big-foot and the Bermuda Triangle so I made bins relating to those topics. I then filled them up with as many books, magazine articles, or any material related to those topics. When you cater to the needs of your kids you know your kids will enjoy reading the books! 

I want my kids leaving the year we had together knowing that they enjoy reading, are excited to read, their confidence in reading was built, and they have fun when reading! Reading is something we can enjoy for the rest of our lives! So hopefully you can begin filling up your bins with things that are interesting to your students each year as well. If you're in the search for reading materials for your class check our all my Interactive Read Aloud's.

If you enjoyed today’s lesson you can find this post and many more on iTunes, Spotify, or Alexa Briefings. Click here to listen

*Clipart from A Sketchy Guy. View his store at https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/A-Sketchy-Guy

Happy teaching!
Jen

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Today I would like to talk to you about some classroom library do’s and don’ts. I've got a few things that you should not do in your classroom library as well as some things you SHOULD do in your classroom library. Let's get started. 

First thing I always say is, do NOT level the books in your classroom library. I am a firm believer in keeping the books leveled behind the scenes. I only use book levels for my direct instruction with students, like in guided reading. I want the classroom library to be a place where there is no leveling. I don’t want to tell my kids you can only read books that are a level “G” or that are the color red. So I keep the levels behinds the scenes. Instead of organizing them by level, I organize them by either genre, author, or by interest. 

Another thing to keep in mind is to not have “open” classroom library time. Instead, establish library times in advance. At the beginning of the year, and sometimes in the middle, as a refresher, I will do a mini-lesson in my reading workshop about the classroom library. In this mini-lesson, I will establish the times that are appropriate for students to be visiting the classroom library. We will come up with rules and expectations and make an anchor chart. Then, I'll take that anchor chart and display that right there in the classroom library. That way, there will be no excuses for a student to be in the library at the wrong time. For me personally, I like the times to be either before school, after school, between class, or maybe right before recess. Whatever is an appropriate time in the day for your class to be visiting the classroom library, set that up and make that plan together. 

Do not limit the students book choices in your classroom library, instead, teach students how to choose books that are appropriate for them. Teach them to choose books not only appropriate for their ability, but for their interest as well. Not every book will be interesting to every reader. So, teach students how to find books that are a good fit for them. 

Another thing to keep in mind is don’t depend on students to organize and label your book. This is a big one. I've done this in the past and its gotten me into trouble. Instead of having your students help you, use your best judgment to group and label books on your own. As your library grows, of course, you’ll be adding more bins, books, and labels. Just make sure you are the overseer of that because even with the most trusted students, it can get messy. 

Also, I recommend having someone on library duty. At the end of the day, this student will go to the library and make sure that everything is right. All the books made it back to their bins, and that the library is clean. That's another great mini-lesson you can do. Talk to your kids about how to check out books and how to put them back correctly so that everyone can enjoy the library for the entire year. 

I hope this chat helps you to think about how to organize your classroom library and to think about some things to do and not to do with it. If you enjoyed today’s lesson you can find this post and many more on iTunes, Spotify, or Alexa Briefings. Click here to listen

*CLIPART FROM A SKETCHY GUY. VIEW HIS STORE AT HTTPS://WWW.TEACHERSPAYTEACHERS.COM/STORE/A-SKETCHY-GUY

Happy teaching!
Jen

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Have you ever struggled with building your classroom library? Don't worry, we've all been there. Today I want to talk to you about how you can build your personal classroom library. I've got some ideas to share with you about how you can fill up your classroom library with books. I know as teachers we are all on a tight budget and sometimes it feels a little overwhelming to come up with your own classroom library. However, it is a super powerful resource for your kids to have in the classroom. So here are some ideas I have for you on how you can get more books in your classroom library. 

The first thing to check is if there are any second-hand books stores near you or in your area. Go check those out. Often times those thrift bookstores have amazing resources for you and are 99 cents to purchase. You can feel up your classroom library quickly doing that. So check out your local library! I know my library has a Saturday morning book sale once a month where they sell books that they don't need in there library anymore for really cheap. Try calling your local library and see if they do something like that. 

You can also do a Donors Choose Project where people can choose to sponsor the books you’d like to choose on Amazon.  And, don't be afraid to ask the parents of the kids in your classroom. Often times kids at school have bookshelves of books at home that they're not going to read anymore. They're just sitting on the shelves. Write a letter, or an email, to the parent asking them if they have any books they don't mind donating to the classroom library. You will get some amazing resources by doing this.

You can also try putting out a Facebook or Instagram post to your friends in your local area and set up a little box outside the front door of your house and get people to donate to your classroom library that way. Its pretty fun to see books that come in on your front porch. Although it may seem a little “old-school”, book club deals are still a great resource to help build your classroom library. Use those book club deals to get 99 cent deals and you stock up on guided reading books that way too by buying multiple copies at a discount. Check out some local garage sales as well. You can sometimes find some great deals there too. 

I hope all of these tips are great ideas for you to help fill up your classroom library and I'm really excited about watching your library grow as well! It was my pleasure to share this with you today. Please know I’m the biggest fan of the work you and your students are doing. If you enjoyed today’s lesson you can find this post and many more on iTunes, Spotify, or Alexa Briefings. Click here to listen!

Happy teaching!
Jen

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To see more literacy support visit jenbengel.com