Thursday, July 21, 2011

Freebie: Book Bin Labels


 A little background: My first year teaching I taught 2nd grade and basically had my entire classroom lined with book bins. I loved this system, and I loved the fact that my kids had access to so many good books. However when I moved to kindergarten there was just so much other stuff filling my space that I just didn't quite know how to handle my massive collection of books. I also wasn't sure about trusting five year olds to handle putting books back in their proper places. So sadly for the first two years I taught kindergarten many of my books stayed on my teacher book shelf and only came out for read alouds.

So last summer I decided to bring my books back into the spotlight and give them the opportunity for much needed love they so badly deserved. I wanted a easy way for my students to access the books but also for them to keep them organized. I ended up sorting the books by categories and genres. I ended up with four main categories (fiction, non-fiction, favorite authors, favorite friends/characters) which were then divided into lots of other sub-categories.  Each of the big categories was assigned a bin color: red for non-fiction, blue for favorite friends (like Clifford, Spot, Curious George, etc), yellow for favorite authors, and blue for fiction. I labeled each box with a picture label and then each book within the box a small sticker. It was a lot of work but sooooo worth it! The kids did amazing at keeping the books in their designated bins (we called it the book's home).  Here's some pics from my classroom library (sorry if there's some repeats from my tour post!)

Update: I combined all the label documents into a single document and uploaded it to google documents. For some reason during the merging process an extra blank page was inserted between every page (boo!)...it was too frustrating to try and remove it so I just left it for my own sanity! Sorry! Hope you enjoy these labels and can put them to use in your own libraries!
Book Bin Labels in Google Docs

These are our favorite friends bins. They house our Clifford, Spot, Arthur, Franklin, Berenstein Bears, etc. collections.

These are the only bins that do not have sticker labels on the books or bins because the kids were able to match the characters really easier with their correct bins.


Our fiction section. These books are historical fiction, silly stories, animal characters, ABC books, etc.

The stickers on the upper right of the bin label are on each of the books in these bins. The kids loved matching the stickers to find the home of each book. I just used small reward stickers from the teacher supply store that I had lying around.

Non-Fiction Section: By far the most popular in my class. =)

Where ripped books go.

Another look at the non-fiction bins. See the sticker labels?

Favorite Authors Bins: Eric Carle, Dr. Seuss, Lois Ehlert, Jan Brett, Tedd Arnold....all live here.



So as a small token of thanks for all the wonderful ideas and printables I've "borrowed" from all the amazing teacher blogs out there I wanted to offer up my first (hopefully of many) printable to blog readers. I would love to hear your comments (or even better follow me!).  Not sure how these will post as pictures- let me know if you have trouble opening them!

Happy Organizing!
Jessie

PLEASE NOTE THE PICTURES BELOW ARE NOT THE ACTUAL DOCUMENTS!! IF YOU CLICK ON THEM THEY WILL OPEN AS A PICTURE FILE! CLICK ON THE LINK ABOVE TO DOWNLOAD THE PDF FILES!!
















27 comments:

  1. Great labels! I would love to print them out but they just open a picture! Could you upload them to google docs! This saved me from making mine!
    Really Roper

    ReplyDelete
  2. B. Roper: I'm working on figuring out the world of google docs. The labels should be available in the next few days! Thanks for the comment! =)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Can't wait for these to be uploaded!! I actually took a blog tour all around to find you and the labels after I saw them on the cluttered classroom's tour of your room. It looks great! I teach right outside of Athens, so we're not too far away from on another..Good luck with your blog~you're off to a good start.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks so much Jennifer! Working on it- check back soon!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I should have also said that if it is easier for you to email, by all means!! sejbcsmiller@yahoo.com
    I appreciate it,regardless.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you for posting your labels. Love them! I was wondering if you had them in a small size for the books. I would love to fisnish up my library using these cuties! Thanks much!

    ReplyDelete
  7. These are exactly what i need, spend most of today organizing my books and wanted to find some really cool labels for my tubs, have plenty of stickers for the books but no labels! Thanks so much :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love these labels and am currently using them in my classroom! Would you be able to send me the template so that I can create a few extra labels? I would appreciate it! ; ) My e-mail is Shiva1783@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. I came across your book labels and absolutely love them! There are a few labels that I would like to have that are not included. Would you mind sending me the template as well? My email is nolandjk@gmail.com. Thanks so much for sharing your hard work! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you for sharing these adorable labels! What size labels did you use to print them on?

    ReplyDelete
  11. I too wanted to use these neat labels, but find they are showing as a picture. Were you able to figure out an alternative way to do this? And what size labels did you use? Could you please email me at adeas28@gmail.com?

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow! Love these labels and I found them as I am beginning to set-up my Kindergarten class library. Thanks so much for sharing. Did you print these on labels or just cardstock and laminate? I do have a few more titles I would like to add would you mind sending me the template so I could add titles? My e-mail is laurie@curtsvideo.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. I just found your labels and can't wait to use them to organize my library! Is it possible to have the template sent to my email? Thank you SO much!
    kcahcrim@comcast.net

    ReplyDelete
  14. Great labels! What font did you use? It's nice and simple for my 1st graders to read and still fun. Would love to use if I can find it. Thanks for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. LOVE THESE!!!! I am just beginning my classroom library makeover and these will help tremendously!!! Would you be able to send me the template to add a few more??? Also, did anyone have any luck making them smalled to print out to actually stick on the book itself? I want to try that...
    THanks!
    treee1026@yahoo.com
    Teresa

    ReplyDelete
  16. These labels are fabulous - thanks for sharing! Would you mind sending me the template too? What kind of font did you use? Thanks so much! jaime.skarshaug@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. I LOVE these labels!!! I just created my own but came across yours...and like yours so much better! Would you mind sending me the blank template as well or the labels in a word document so that I could edit/add to them? My email is mmchale@ci.stamford.ct.us Thanks SO much! :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Where did you get your book bins. I would appreciate it if you could email me and let me know.
    Jonelle Bell
    jonellebell@mac.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. These are fabulous! Would you be able to send me your template so that I can create a few more? Thanks! lauren.ogara@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. These labels are SO adorable. I know you spent so much time making these, as I just made some for my math manipulatives as well as my word wall. Is there any way you could send the template to me as well so I can make a few more? Thank you so much! melissabirch2@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hi! We have used your book bin labels in the school library. We love them! However, there are more labels we would like to create (Scooby Doo, Barbie, Pete the Cat, etc). Would you be able to send me the template or tell me what program/font you used? My e-mail address is rachel.johnson@jessamine.kyschools.us Thanks so much!

    ReplyDelete
  22. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  23. These book bin labels are great! I have been transfered to kindergarten for the upcoming school year and these are perfect for my library. Would you be able to send me the template so I can create additional ones? Thank you!
    christine_molis@nbps.k12.nj.us

    ReplyDelete
  24. Love the bin labels!!! I am ready to start organizing my classroom library but I need to do it in Spanish since I work at a dual Immersion school, Is it possible to edit the names on the labels? or could you send me the templates?
    Thank you,
    mnory216@aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  25. I found your book bin labels via the ever popular Google search. I teach slightly older students and could use additional labels as well. I do love the font, too! Would you please send the template and/or font name to rbarr@wwusd.org? Thank you so much for sharing your efforts with all of us.

    ReplyDelete
  26. These are wonderful! Thank you! I especially like the author pictures with the book characters.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Would you please send the template to rebecca@carmelhillfund.org? Thank you so much for sharing your efforts with all of us.

    ReplyDelete