Themed Non-Fiction Books

Last week I undertook the task of cleaning through the massive amount of books left in the new classroom I moved into. It was much more intense than I anticipated. I will post more on that later. The great thing about combing through the book selection was all the great new books I could add to my student library!

In fifth grade we go through American history from the time of the Native Americans and the Explorers  to WWII. As we begin each new era, I go to the public library and pick up some non-fiction texts to accompany the unit to have in our room for the students to look through. As I was organizing my personal classroom library, I realized I wanted to hold onto these themed books and put them out as we got to each new unit. This way, I could have my books and the library books for the students to look through during silent reading time. Here's how I organized them:

I found an empty crate and some unused hanging file folders. I labeled each folder with the name of the unit.

The smaller books or magazines I was able to put right into the hanging file. Most units had more resources and bigger books, so I just put them behind the folder in the crate. Obviously I need some more resources for this unit....

 Here's a picture of the units and the folders with the books behind them. Ooh! Ah!

This is me showing you some books. (I apologize for the crummy iPhone pics. I do not have the funds for a better camera.)

And this is the crate all finished! It's pretty full, but there is still some room for a few more. I stuck this crate into an easily accessible cabinet so I will remember to put them out (fingers crossed.)

I did the same thing for our science units! We have WAY more non-fiction science texts, but they are class sets that I share with another teacher. They will be available for the kids, but since I share them I didn't want to store them in the same place.

I also sorted and stored themed historical fiction novels and picture books. I didn't snap a picture, but I'm going back to the classroom today, so I'll try to remember to grab one. I like having certain books out at certain times. It helps to supplement our units, but it also makes it more exciting when you change books out periodically.

Thanks for taking a look!