I have known for a while that this year I wanted to organize my classroom library. You can see all posts about my classroom library, how I have acquired books for it, and how I use it in all posts labeled classroom library here. Mostly I use it for free reading at the beginning of class on Tuesdays & Thursdays for 5-15 minutes depending on the class level. I plan to start free reading 2nd trimester of Spanish 1 for 5 minutes and it builds in length as the levels progress. The only accountability is students recording what they read for their own use ona basic form log. If you have been considering starting an extensive reading program watch this episode of the Black Box Podcast to solidify the NEED for free reading in a language class. I also used my classroom library for individual novel study in Spanish IV.
To organize my library I started by downloading these labels from Brianna Dill in English. I updated them to Spanish and to fit the specific series of books that have in my classroom library, and re sized them to 3×5 to fit the containers I was planing on using. You can download the editable version here. It is a mix of series labels, genres, and other categories specific to what I happen to have. You can either print the black and white labels on colored card stock to fit your classroom decor. I also personally like to laminate everything so it lasts and looks nice.
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| some of the book labels download here |
For the book containers I have been looking around for a while, but most things I liked were so darn expensive. I ended up buying a bunch of these plastic containers for books that retail for about $1 at dollar stores and big box stores, that I will use without the lid. I also already had these magazine holders from Ikea that are only $1.99 for 5. The magazine labels below will go sideways on the front the the boxes.
Now comes the hard part, actually organizing the books! I went through them to get an idea of what labels to make but once I start sorting them in boxes, I know I will find out that some are not needed and others that I will need to add, or get a larger container for. I also wish that I had a tall bookshelf like in my last classroom, but my two short ones will have to do for now. I would love to have a couch, but settled for buying two small saucer chairs and bringing a rug I had at home for the reading area. I will post pictures once it is finished, since right now it is just a vision in my head. It is time to get to work!
Update: Once I started organizing, I realized there were many labels I could combine or that I needed. Here is the final version I ended up printing. I organized it by non-fiction, magazines, picture books and chapter books, so I could print them on separate colors of paper.
Update: Once I started organizing, I realized there were many labels I could combine or that I needed. Here is the final version I ended up printing. I organized it by non-fiction, magazines, picture books and chapter books, so I could print them on separate colors of paper.
Update Here are more up to date posts about my Spanish classroom library
