Library Binders

When I first started teaching, I was sorely lacking reading materials for my library.  I think this is an obstacle that most teachers face.  We were particularly in need of books that were on my students' reading level -- the books in my first classroom were a mishmash of K-3 storybooks, so a lot of the material was way over my students' heads.

We use the Treasures series, and it came with some student resource books.  It would have been too cumbersome to make copies of each poem and story, but then I realized that all of our resource books are on disc!  I popped the disc into the PC, pressed print once, and I had a wealth of new reading material for my students!  I put each page in a sheet protector and the sheet protectors in a binder.

Since then, I've procured many books for our classroom library, but the Library Binders are a favorite among students, so I still use them.  I think that the short poems and stories are less intimidating than a full storybook to some struggling readers.

We have about a dozen different Library Binders from various things that I've collected.  I even put fluency charts and sight word sentences into the binders for students who want to practice their sight words.

If you decide to try this, sheet protectors are cheapest at warehouse stores like Sam's Club and Costco. You can also get cheap binders there, but you might do better to check out all the school supply clearance going on right now!

xo, Ally