KinderGals: Classroom Library: Level, Organize, Sort and Shop

Search This Blog

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Classroom Library: Level, Organize, Sort and Shop

How organized is your classroom library? It's one of those things that we MEAN to get around to, but it always seems to get pushed to the back of the list.  This blog post gives you some easy tips to organize your library. It shares apps and free files that will help you out!
Yep! That’s what my kitchen has looked like for most of the summer. (Wondering how I cook? Well, no problem there….I NEVER cook! Either I eat cereal, my son cooks, or I eat out! Not the best health plan, right?) So why did it look like that? Megan and Ginnny (my daughter in law) BOTH have new libraries to organize.
Slide1
Megan changed schools AND grade level and Ginny changed grade level. I think we sorted, leveled, labeled and taped over 8,000 books!  (On Friday I did a periscope in Megan’s room about her library, hope you caught it.)
Here’s what we did…
  1. First, we found these two apps in our app store. Now the Level It app did cost, $3.99, but it’s a pretty good app, We were able to find levels on over half of our books by using these two apps. After downloading the apps, you just scan the barcode on the back of the books. It’s really pretty simple, just takes time.
Slide2
2 As we found the levels, we stacked the books into piles…all the A’s together, all the B’s together, etc. Any book without a level--we put them in a separate stack.
3. We took all of the Level A books and sorted them, fiction and nonfiction.  We did that for each level.
Slide4
3. Then, we organized all of our fiction books in these storage containers--by their level. You can get these free leveled tags in this blog post.
Slide34. Then, we did the same for our nonfiction books. Note to self: Look for more nonfiction leveled text! Each of the leveled books has a label that indicates the level.
Slide65. Then, we tackled that pile of books that we were unable to find the  level using either app. We sorted these books by their topic. We want our kids to be able to shop for books that are good fit because they are high interest, not just level! I always think about my little boys. They want so badly to read a book about dinosaurs or sharks or trains. But, there aren’t really any good non-fiction low level books on these topics. They can read these books by gaining information through the photographs, diagrams, and other illustrations.
Slide5
6. Then we took each topic stack and sorted them by fiction and nonfiction. On each book we put a label to match the hanging tag. This makes it super easy to put the books away! On the nonfiction books we added a yellow dot and wrote “NF”. This will help the kids know to which area they should return their books.
Slide7
Here’s what those labels look like. You can find the labels and tags here.
Slide8
7. Then we took the books that fit into categories like Nursery Rhymes, Math Books, Rhyming, Science, Art, etc and organized them into this section. Now, this section is still under construction. We have moved the favorite characters and authors out. We are resorting the math books by standards to make them easier to use. You can get the math labels here as a free download.
Slide9
8. This is the section where we organized our favorite characters and authors. Now, we know that this will probably change during the year as we get to know our kids. When we find someone that they are crazy about reading, we will move that collection into a tub and label them for ease.
Slide10
9. Our last section is the books that are related to what we will be teaching right NOW. So as we come to a new unit, we go to the fiction and nonfiction topic areas and bring those books to display on this shelf. After teaching the topic, we return the books back in the bins and return them to their shelf.
Slide11
Yes, we know….we are lucky to have SOOOOOO many books! I have collect books for 30 years and Megan has been collecting for 7! That’s a lot of books. On top of that, her school actually has a pretty good library for each room. As a matter of fact, we had more books than would fit. So we took the levels that we are thinking will be too easy or too hard and moved them to this hidden storage shelf. After the year begins and we complete our running records we will move books out as needed.
Slide12
How Do Our Kids Know What, How, Where, When to Shop?
  • Book shopping is part of our morning routine.
  • Each day 1/5 of our class shops.
  • When it is their day to shop, I put this “shopping” list on the spot where they find their other morning work.
  • The kids look at the list to determine which book areas to visit, how many books in each area they should find, and when applicable which level.
  • I’ve made several different tags so that I can determine how many books I am going to let them shop for.
  • Early on, I might select some books for them and let them shop for a few. This will greatly reduce the amount of time they spend shopping. It about drove me crazy when after 20 minutes they only had 2 books in their bag. So I start them with the “shopping” list with fewer selections. I can also adjust the number of books in each area by changing the numeral I write.
Slide13
You can grab the free shopping list below.
Pin It!

7 comments:

Mona Garner said...

Love your organization! Set up 5 libraries last year for k-students to rotate through a la Kim & Megan. No congestion what so ever. Student reading... independent and buddy...was focused and continued for longer periods of time.
You are so fortunate to have each other. Would love to have someone as crazy as me to tear apart their dining and family room with school stuff ..organizing for August start.
Can't wait to see Megan's new room! Don't forget us k-teachers!
Mona

Kim and Megan said...

Hey Mona,
Thanks! Assure yourself that my heart will always be in kindergarten! To be honest, I think my friends are secretly happy that Megan is out of k for next year. They know that means I will be knocking on their classroom doors looking for a place to play!

bridgi8 said...

You are so amazing! My dining room table looks like your kitchen but I am trying to organize all the units I bought after spending the day with you in Vegas. Going to try the orientation scavenger hunt this year and making lots of posters for writing! Is there a way I can make the font smaller to label the signs? My name doesn't fit in the box. Thank you so much for all you do.

Pam said...

Hi Kim and Megan: this is a great post!!! 2 questions: in the pictures, you show on some bins, there are more than one tag, does that mean you combined levels in that particular bin? Also, for the book shopping menu, do you write down which and how many books they are to pick for each of your kids? If so, when do you find the time to do this? Looking forward to hearing from you! Thanks so much!

Kim and Megan said...

Hey Pam,
Yes, several topics or levels are in one tub. Each book in the tub is labeled. The tubs are large and many books can fit. As far as shopping, yes we do. It only takes a few minutes by looking at their running records to fill out the cards for the week.

Creating Teaching Inspiring said...

I just watched your periscope--and had to take a look at how you organized. Will you come organize my room?! Lol. Awesome--I'm going to try--I have mine organized by animals, dinosaurs, clifford, curious george, dr suess, about school, and then everything else has the same color label. I just bought bins to get organized....so here goes nothing! It's my goal this week :) Thanks for the inspiration.

Kim and Megan said...

I think it is one of those jobs that we all dread, but once it is done it sure feels good! Happy sorting. :)

 
Pin It button on image hover

Receive All Free Updates Via Facebook.