Classroom Library & Labels

Today I worked on labeling things around my classroom. I spent some time on Monday and Tuesday making labels, cutting them out, laminating, and then cutting again. I labeled my student book bins first:

A little info about how I manage book bins: every student has their own book bin, which I purchased from Really Good Stuff. They are allowed to keep up to 7 books in their bins, only one of which can be a chapter book. When they arrive in the morning, they have a few simple "jobs" to complete, and then they are free to shop for books until the bell rings. When they are finished, they read silently at their tables. They are also allowed to book shop at recess time. I used to have assigned days for students to book shop, but I found that the more control I hand over to the kids, the more smoothly my classroom runs. I also tried many different "bell work" routines throughout my first 4 years of teaching, and I finally figured out that just letting them read works the best for me.

This is the first summer that I have not re-organized my classroom library! I did do a quick weeding out of books that were not read very often, or were falling apart. My library is organized by genre, author, topic, and series. Each bin is numbered, and all books in that bin contain a sticker with the matching number. I used to organize my library with pictures printed out on address labels, or different colored stickers. I found that numbers work best, because the bins are in numerical order on the shelves, so students can find them more quickly. I have used this system for the past 3 years, and I very rarely find a book out of place (maybe 5 per year).

My bins were purchased through Discount School Supply during my first year of teaching (they have nearly doubled in price-yikes!). I decided to re-organize my library over winter break, and I spent all of my Christmas money on these sturdy bins. When looking for bins I wanted ones that were clear, and allowed the covers to be facing out. Both of these features allow students to browse books more easily.

Here is a picture of my whole library:

Picture books:

Chapter books, magazines, and dictionaries:

Here is my finished teacher toolbox:

And, finally, my baskets that contain teaching materials for every day of the week:

I am so glad to have this tedious task finished! All of the labels I used were made by Kristen Doyle (edited by myself). Visit her Teachers Pay Teachers store here.

Time spent working on room this week (including cutting, laminating, etc.): 14
Cumulative hours: 59