Classroom Library

Well my little obsession of a classroom library finally found its permanent home, hooray! I was so excited to finally put all of my preparation and hard work into my very own classroom! Here is a little taste of what I have going so far... of course, things are likely to change by Monday. :)

A cozy reading area for the kiddos. I heard from parents that the pillows were a big hit. ;)

All of my books are leveled. On the outside corner, there is a colored sticker indicating the level. Written on the sticker, I have the specific letter (i.e. a book would have a green sticker with D written on it). I have given all of my children a notecard with their sticker level. So, the children know to only look for books with a "Green E" on it. So far, it has worked well. The kiddos even like to correct me when I give them different level books, hehe. :)

I organized my books into four sections: Nonfiction (red bins), Fiction (blue bins), Chapter Books (tall bookcase in the purple and blue bins), and Favorite Authors/Caldecott (yellow bins).

Fiction and Nonfiction

Favorite Author and Caldecotts

Chapter Books

Each book bin has a label with the category name and a picture. As you can see, I have several "Animal" bins. I leveled categories that had many books (like, "Animals" and "Kids Like You"). For example, the Animals bin with the cat will have books with only levels A-D.

 To help children locate books of their level, I placed small stickers on the labels to indicate what levels are in the bin. Children who are on a "Green" sticker level, will find bins with green stickers on it. For some bins which only contain one level, I write the letter on the sticker.

Also, I have begun training "Librarians" to help me in my classroom. Inside each book, I have placed a label which indicates which bin it belongs in. If the children have trouble reading the words, they can simply look at the picture on the label and match it to the bin. I will add pictures of this soon.

Yes, I realize this is a complicated system, but it is working fairly well so far. My main intention is that children are able to find those Just Right books, which are not only on their level but that they have a desire to read. My library still needs a lot of tweaking, but I am learning all the time and taking it day by day. :)

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick

So I have been pretty bad about blogging lately. The holidays can get so busy! But I thought I'd add a quick entry about my great thrift store finds today! As usual, I couldn't stop myself from digging through the books and I was so excited to find some of my favorite authors and illustrators! (It's like a treasure hunt!) :)

I was so excited to stumble upon Trupp by Janell Cannon. Janell Cannon is the author of the popular book Stellaluna. I've never actually seen Trupp before, but the story was absolutely adorable and I was eager to add it to my collection of her books (which now includes Stellaluna, Verdi, Pindulli, Crickwing, and now Trupp). She's an amazing illutrator and author and I can't wait to share these books with my kids! I also found June 29, 1999, an intriging book by David Wiesner. It's my first book of his and I'm excited to finally add him to my collection.

I also found two books by my favorite children' nonfiction writer, Aliki. She is wonderful at writing child-friendly explanations about non-fiction topics.

I found several other books from great authors such as Margaret Wise Brown, David Shannon (love!), and Gail Gibbons. Adorable stories with great illustrations!

My last find was by far the most exciting for me, though. I found The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg, a book which I have been looking for since I was introduced to it last year during my internship. This is a captivating book which consists of only 14 illustrations, each with a title and a caption. This book is wonderful for creative writing. Though it would probably be too advanced for first grade, my second graders last year were given this creative writing assignment by the gifted teacher. The children were asked to choose a picture and write a story about it. I absolutely LOVED this lesson, and I'm so happy I now have this amazing book! If you are an avid book collector, I would definitely recommend adding it to your collection.

99 Cents for that... pipe?

I visited my local thrift store today and left with some good finds. About $5.00 for these books and... what's that? A whisper phone?? Also known as a Phonics Phone these little buddies are great to help children with their reading fluency. Unfortunately it was unpriced, so a lady threw out "99 cents for the pipe..." I'm sure she thought I was crazy buying a... pipe? But I knew better! 

I also made a visit to my new best friend, Hobby Lobby. I picked up some little crafties to make a personalized picture frame. Haven't decided if I'm going to make it yet, but we will see. 

Thanks for reading!

My not so small obsession...

Well if I am going to be blogging about becoming a teacher, I may as well admit to my little... not so little obsession... of collecting books. I began collecting when I was accepted into the Education program at Auburn. Yes, I realize that is early. And yes, I also realize I still have no classroom nor any idea of what grade I will be teaching. But my rationale was that children can be such a wide range of levels that I can have a wide range in my library. Also I told myself that I would save the extra unused books for when I have kids (which who knows when that will be, hehe).

So, I have been buying books for my book collection for the past two years. I have limited myself to only buying books from the thrift store that are in great condition or favorites from Second and Charles. I have found that after shopping for thrift store books I have become a BIG cheapo!! Yes... $1.00 is a SPLURGE. It's AMAZING the wonderful finds there are though!

I am embarrassed to admit that I now have almost 900 books. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. :)

Since I began collecting, I began recording the books I have in a template on my computer. I have organized them into genres as well as reading level. It makes it easier to keep track of which books I already own when they are stuffed away in whatever nooks and crannies I can find in my closet!

So long story short: I love books and reading! I can't WAIT to share this love (cough, cough obsession) with my students one day! It is my hope that I can ignite a passion for reading in every child in my classroom by helping them find the perfect reading material to suit their style! If children don't have the opportunity to read something they love how will they ever love reading??