Warning: This could be a very boring blog for non teachers!
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| Ta dahhh! |
First, I entered all of my books into Booksource: Classroom Organizer. After setting up an account, you can enter your books to create your library catalog. Some books can be scanned if you have a smartphone, which saves time! If your classroom has student computers, this website will allow your students to check books in and out just like a legitimate library. My classroom, unfortunately, will probably never have a spare computer. I'm mainly using the program to be able to track my book titles, genres, and lexiles. (I plan on eventually writing the lexile score on the inside cover of each book.)
Speaking of lexiles, Lexile.com is an invaluable source for leveling your books. I would say that 90% of my books were listed on this site.
Once I entered the books into Booksource, I was able to sort the books into 9 basic genres (General Fiction has 2 bins). I've heard that it's good to use clear bins so that kiddos can see the covers more easily, but I found these bad boys at Dollar Tree and couldn't resist! I sorted my books into these 9 genres. Of course, your library may have a different variety of books and therefore different genres.
General Fiction
Adventure Fiction
Realistic Fiction
Historical Fiction
Science Fiction
Fantasy
Mystery
Classics (I doubt this bin gets much action. Ha!)
Biography/Autobiography
Next, I created labels for the bins. I've seen where people have posted their versions on TPT, but I doubted that they would have my exact selection. I created them on Microsoft Word, and printed them on 3 1/2 x 5 Avery labels. Here's a sample!
After the bins were labeled, I still wanted to keep track of which books belonged to me personally, and which books belonged to the school. I used these same labels, but printed several little strips on each sticker, then cut them apart.
Finally, based on extensive personal experience with sixth graders, I know that they need very clear, easy procedures. It would be fantastic if they could recognize the genre and simply place it in the correct bin, but something told me they might need a little help. So I color coded the books and bins. At first I thought I needed 10 different colors of labels, and spent hours trying to find them online. Then I realized I was making too difficult. I ran to Staples and got a pack of basic colored circle stickers. Even though there are only four colors, I was able to make 10 colors OR color combinations. Check it out:
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| Red = General Fiction A-M |
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| Blue & Red = Historical Fiction |
Think they'll figure it out? The hope is that this library will run itself. Surely they can match the color on the book to the color on the bin. If not, reorganizing the library could be an easy classroom job for some brownie point seeking kiddo.
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| Final picture :) |
Now I have to actually plan actual lessons. School starts in 12 days!
-Mrs. Combs
I just stumbled across your blog (thankfully) through the comment section of the Grudgeball post. I absolutely love your library management system. I am a first year 8th grade ELA teacher and appreciate your ideas! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteGlad it helped you out! It was tedious to set up, but worth it. My wonderful librarian tracked down a student computer, so this system is working nearly flawlessly. They check them in and out and can even leave reviews!
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