Devouring books when I was a child was a passion of mine, so of course, I LOVE watching my little learners share that same passion! Let's face it, we spend hundreds of dollars (and thousands of Scholastic Book points) to ensure that our students have access to books they want to read. How do I manage that investment, using the least amount of time? I have enlisted the help of these two apps, which have totally saved my sanity when it comes to keeping my classroom library organized and readily available for my students.
To help keep students accountable for the books they checkout from my classroom library, I use the FREE app: Booksource Classroom Organizer.
Booksource Classroom Organizer is a free web-based program that helps you organize and inventory your classroom library. The most time consuming part of using this app is the set up. To catalog your books in the system, you must scan each bar code found on the back of each book in your library (a great job for parent volunteers or older students who want to "help"). The next step is to create a classroom roster. Once these two steps are complete it is super easy to check books in and out to students! Simply scan the bar code to check out the books, and when students are ready to return their books, students show you their book. With a click of their name and a click of the book title, the book is checked back in.
To quickly access a book's Accelerated Reader level and point value, I use the app: BookScanner.
Our school uses Accelerated Reader to monitor students' reading levels and independent practice. By using the BookScanner App, you can quickly and easily scan the bar code off the back a book to find any books' AR quiz number, reading level, point value, word count, and interest level. This app has been a total time saver when I get a large book order. It's also super useful when I'm at a book store looking for books, because with a quick scan, I can easily tell if a certain book is appropriate for my students' reading levels. This app is $1.99 and in my opinion, totally worth the small investment.
The last thing I do to help keep my books from disappearing is: I stick a label on each book, with my name on it. No app required for this! Countless books have been returned to me because of these labels.
And there you have it: a few ways to help you keep your growing classroom library manageable and easily accessible to your students.
Kelie, thanks so much for sharing! I know that these apps are going to help a lot of teachers organize & manage their classroom libraries like a well-oiled machine! Woot. :) Karen
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