Book Totes

My second grade cooperating teacher didn’t have any bookshelves in her room, and she has a ton of books. She helped with the reading adaptation and is a reading specialist. She has one shelf for the students, and that shelf is filled with little tubs, one for each student. Inside of these tubs are books, both her books as well as their own and library books. At the front of the classroom underneath of her whiteboard and smart board, she has layers of totes that are labeled by category. Inside of these totes are books. Every Monday morning, the kids return the books from their book tubs to the correct tote. They then proceed to get six new books from the variety of categories offered in the totes. I think that this is a great way to manage space, especially when you don’t have any bookshelves and oodles of books. And the kids love that they get to change out their books every week for new ones. It’s also easy for students to understand because each tote is categorized and labeled.