Hi everyone! I will be a new 4th grade teacher in the fall and I need advice about the library. I don't have a ton of books but am working on getting a collection going over the summer. I LOVE the idea of organizing them in bins by topic, I think that's so much better than alphabetical order. However, in 4th, I will have more chapter books than picture books so I don't think the bin idea will work? Maybe some bins with picture books and some chapter books in alphabetical order? I'm really not sure! Any advice would be great. Oh, and I love to see pics of classroom libraries so if you have any, please post them! Thanks.
I'm building my library up too, but I will tell you that bins do work for chapter books. I've subbed and been in classrooms 4th and 5th grade that have used bins for their chapter books. I've also been in alphabetical order ones, and I have to say they don't look as appealing.
I am working on organizing my chapter books this summer also. I have my picture books organized into bins by theme - I used Beth Newingham's site (ie. family, friends, animal characters, seasons/weather, holidays, nonfiction animals, etc). I am still tossing around ideas for my chapter books. I have several sets of books in a series (Magic Treehouse, Junie B, Jones, Series of Unfortunate Events, Judy Moody, Capt'n Underpants, etc) so I know that I can organize these but I am still a little lost as to what to do with the rest. I'll let you know if I have a brainstorm.
No brainstorm yet ... but I'm toying around with the idea of using some of the following - Mysteries, Fantasy, Realistic Fiction, Animal Characters, etc. This way maybe my miscellaneous bins won't be overflowing.
if i were you i would think in the long term. finally i have a system that i love, but i had to redo everything a few times to get it right. so, think it out first and just put "getting more books" as a part of your planning. it's okay if you put bins out that may be empty at first. if bins are empty then you will know that those are the types of books you need more of.
i used beth newingham's book bin labels (http://hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bne...ket_labels.htm), but the first thing i did was find colorful bins. of course, if you find one color, you can do different colors of book bin labels. my library has yellow bins for fiction, blue bins for favorite authors, and red bins for non-fiction. i do have quite a few more fiction books than anything else. i have some bins that are solely dedicated to a chapter book series, but i have other bins labeled as types of fiction...humorous, realistic, fantasy, mystery, etc.
I just found the book labels on her site and I love them! That should definitely help...she had so many ideas. And I love the different colored bins that you both have. Thanks for the pics. How did you attach the lables to your bins? Did you use disk sleeves like she did? I was thinking velcro would also be a good idea, then I could change them easily.
don't be scared when i tell you i used a power drill to put holes in my bins. a lot of my teacher friends can't believe i've used one before and i think they are possibly one of the best inventions.
the only changing of my library that i really do is adding more bins. i haven't actually switched any out.
the thing that i like about the drill is, if i hadn't found these bins i could have used dish pans from the dollar store, and just drilled the same type of hole in the front of the dish pan. i would have just printed the labels out on different colors based on fiction or non-fiction.
I just was at a conference and Franki Sibberson was a speaker. I would highly recommend her book "Beyond Leveled Books." The link below is 4 letters that she and another teacher exchanged last August while setting up their classroom libraries. Franki is a leader in the Reading World and an excellent coach. I think she makes several really good points. http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/124.cfm
Also-I just got some really nice baskets (they were available in blue and white) in a couple of different sizes. One for chapter books and one for picture books. I got them at Dollar General and I think they were a pretty good price...the smaller were two for $1 and the larger ones were $1.
I used velcro on my bins. I modified the labels from Beth Newingham's site to fit what I needed. Then I printed them on card stock and laminated them. I bought the velcro circles at Walmart and attached one circle to the bin and one to the back of the label. This way I can change out the labels at anytime.
teach4k -- i got the bins at dollar tree. i saw them on the shelf and i bought ALL of them. then i went to another dollar tree and bought theirs as well. lol. i have not seen them since then (last fall), BUT i have seen some great red and blue bins at Ikea in their children's department. my husband practically had to hold me back from buying them. the Ikea bins are 1.49 but are a little bigger than my bins. they are not available online.
rrbw -- i use the pocket charts on the back wall for students to recommend books that they liked. so if johnny knows that freddy reads sports books that look interesting, johnny can look in freddy's pocket to see what freddy recommends. i have been throwing another idea back and forth this summer. i'm thinking that i can have students put a book in someone else's pocket if they think they will like it...although then i run into whether or not that book is a good fit for that child. okay, i just talked myself out of that one. lol.
I purchased two of them in January from my Dollar Tree....I just wish that I had gotten more. I have checked all of the stores near me and none of them have any now. I am hoping that once they start getting things out for back to school that they might have them again.
I didn't check Ikea. We have one but it is a little bit of a drive for me to go there...and with gas the way it is....I am thinking I will just wait or get baskets instead.
i was at ikea today and they had a ton of the red and blue bins i wrote about earlier. they aren't available online, but they are similar looking to the Trofast bins (although $1.49) and only in red and blue. they aren't in their large checkout area...rather they are upstairs where the kids furniture is.
definitely wait to see if dollar tree gets bins again. since i bought mine for my library, i have barely seen any bins at my dollar tree...but i have seen other dollar trees with better stuff.
Now I know why I'm not able to find anymore of those bins at the Dollar Tree So, if Dollar Tree can ever get more of those bins ...shall I camp out there before you get a chance??? Ha!
Thanks for sharing the pictures and especially how you got the labels on! I used mailing tape, but it didn't hold up very well. I'm also interested in your checkout system. I could not believe how many books disappeared from my classroom this last year!
lol. no need to camp out...i've got back up bins if i need to add more. just an FYI, if dollar tree has something you like but you need more, they offer online ordering (in bulk) at www.dollartreedirect.com -- there is a 5 dollar processing fee, but you can get free shipping if you have it delivered to your local store. the online stock changes frequently.
as for my checkout system, it took a lot of prep, but only had 4 missing books last year and my kids were fined for them without arguing about it. i glued a library pocket in the back of every book (and had some students do this as well). then i put an index card in the back with the title and author's last name on it, and a space for the kids to write their name and the date.
when they finish or abandon a book, they come to me during checkout time and i check the book back in by writing the date and placing the card back. the books are organized so the kids can put them back in the right place. then they can shop for more books. when they find the books they want, they fill in each index card and bring them to me. i have a binder where each kid has their own ziploc bag punched inside. i place the index cards inside the bag. being clear, it makes it easy to see who has how many books checked out.
my kids carry the bags in ziploc bags to help contain them.
when i started the new checkout system, i sent home a letter with a form for the parents and students to sign, letting them know what was expected of them AND what to do if they lost a book.
Well this board has definitely helped me decide! I'm going to get some adorable bins and use Beth Newingham's labels on them, and attach with velcro. I'm excited!
While looking for library storage bin ideas I tried to access your photos on photobucket but got a logo saying the picture had been removed or moved. I would love to see your pictures. Thanks!
06-25-2008, 04:48 PM
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