One Book Basket At A Time

There is no question about it--my books are my most prized classroom resource!  I've worked hard in my 8 years of teaching to build a collection of books to supplement my teaching. 

I began my collection during my later years of high school and throughout college.  Yard Sales were the best place to look...and sometimes still are! When I started teaching I used Scholastic as much as I could for multiple copies of picture books and big books.  Then, when I got into grant writing, I was able to purchase multiple sets of books by specific author, genre, and topic.

I have my books organized in several ways.  As you can see, I am NOT a  fancy label making teacher.  Give me an index card and a permanent marker and I am good to go.  I always put a matching label on the back of each book so the children will know exactly where each book lives. 

Some baskets are organized by AUTHOR.

Some baskets are organized by FAMILIAR CHARACTER.

Some books are organized by GENRE.

Some books are organized by SUBJECT/THEME.

Some books are organized by TEXT STRUCTURE.

So my question is, how and when do you introduce these baskets to your students? In the past I have had them all out on shelves when the students start school.  They are off limits and we "open" one basket at a time as we discuss it.  I've never had a problem with this. The children understand very well which baskets they can choose from and which ones they can't. 

This year, I actually have the closet space to store them all away from plain sight.  I can physically bring them out one at a time.  I feel like this would build excitement like a big surprise!  

I think I will "hide" them away for now.  It might make for some empty shelf space in my classroom, but the excitement will be worth it when I bring out a new basket of books for little hands to hold and little eyes to read.

Extreme Makeover: Kindergarten Closet Edition

So, I was a tiny bit spoiled in my move to Kindergarten last year. 

You see, every two Kindergarten teachers share a very large storage closet between their rooms.  Last year, there was not a classroom beside me and I kind of, well, sort of, "spread out" a little in the closet. 

And, although I couldn't be happier to welcome my friend into the classroom "through the closet", I have been less than eager to get it cleaned up.  Sweet Harding has been so patient with me! 

So, I began today with the help of Supermom, Mrs. Claire B!

Here are some closet before pictures:

What a mess!

This would be the OTHER side of the closet that I have taken over!

I could lie and say that I have no idea how it got like this, but let's be honest, I do.

And it's called: The Life of a Busy Kindergarten Teacher!  I plan on doing a better job of staying organized throughout the year next year and by putting things back in their place right away! 

Claire and I worked for hours!!  I had to turn my head as she did what was best for me and the closet- threw lots of useless and old and ratty junk away.  Why do we have this nagging feeling to cling to the weirdest things and say to ourselves, "But, I might use this one day......"  

We ended up with a very large bag of trash, piles of old workbooks left by the teacher in my room the year before, 4 loads of stuff to donate and a table full of odds and ends for the new teacher on our team!  I feel so much better! 

There is still work to be done, but now, it's not so overwhelming to go into my closet.  I can actually see and know what's in there! 

Here are a few pics from after:

All my thematic tablecloths are on one shelf!

All my letter tubs, together at last!

Books on the bottom shelf.  These still need to be organized in some way.  However, now I can reach them all!

It may not look like much to you, but this closet has come a LONG way, baby!