Book Bin Labels

My teacher friends and I have talked quite a bit about how to label our book boxes. Do we label the boxes by Guided Reading levels or genre? I've tried both and I've found that a combination of the two is what has worked best for me.

Here's what happened in my classroom this year. I was a 4th grade special education inclusion teacher. (Now I'm a 5th grade gen. ed inclusion teacher.)  The kids on my caseload were reading well below grade level. At the beginning of the year they ranged from a level F for my two lowest to a level J for my highest. By the end of December they had made very little growth even though I was individually conferring with them daily as well as meeting with level groups and strategy groups daily. Something had to changes! I started book box inspections to reward the kids who were reading "good fit" books.

Parent Letter

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The students were required to read 20 minutes each night and complete a brief reader's response sheet but I found that they were not reading good fit books at home. So, I started sending home books on their level to read each night. I communicated with the parents to let them know what level their child was reading on as well as the grade level equivalent. I also included ideas on how they could help their child at home with the reading accuracy and comprehension. That's when BIG changes started to happen. The kids began to make HUGE strides in their reading progress.

Get the labels HERE!

By the end of the year my lowest readers were reading on a level M! Each time the kids would move up a level, I'd pull out the boxes on their level and let them select new books. The excitement spread as the kids would see their friends move up and get new books to put in their boxes. Usually within a few minutes I would have several students asking me if they could read for me because they thought they were ready to move up. Their enthusiasm was contagious! So next year I plan to keep my book boxes labeled by level. I also have a large collection of books that cannot be leveled and those are sorted by genre. I also usually let my kids go up or down a level from where they are when they're choosing books if they're really excited about attempting a more challenging book or have a real interest with an easier book.