Indiana Goes Back to School Blog Hop +FREEBIE!!

Hi there!!! Thanks so much for joining in on our "Indiana Goes Back to School Blog Hop" today!!! I have to admit, I'm still in disbelief that we're already going back THIS MONDAY!!! The kids come Tuesday which means it's been a very busy couple of weeks! You know how you sometimes feel like there is no way on this earth that you will get everything done, but somehow you do?!? That's how I feel! haha However, after today, I'm feeling great and ready to go!!! 

As a way to kick off the new school year, some of us Indiana bloggers wanted to do a fun back to school blog hop!! Don't forget to read through all of them for your chance to win a $75 Winner's Choice Gift Card at the end!!!!! You don't want to miss that!!!

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Now on to Back to School Ideas!!!

Aside from my BRAND NEW THEME, COMMUNITY, this year (click on the picture to check it out!!)...I've been working on many, many other activities and materials to get my students learning!! 

Click here to read about my blog post on my new theme above!

One of my projects was creating new genre posters with matching book bin labels minus the definitions!! I wanted these reference posters to be written in simple terms that could be understood by anyone who read them.  I also wanted to make the poster relatable to my students by putting scenes that they recognized! I love to find ways to integrate subjects so these posters can easily spark discussions and conversations of the stories/text/events that they portray and lead to background knowledge, connections, etc. I am so proud of these posters and so excited to start using them!!! I would show you a picture of them on my windows in my classroom, but the lighting wouldn't allow that to happen (I'm definitely not a professional photographer either to problem solve that!).  

Continuing on...last year, I changed my library by buying awesome plastic colored bins from Lakeshore Learning to hold my books. However, not only did they hold my books, they also represented different genres. So all of my red tubs went with fiction genres, orange tubs with nonfiction, and yellow tubs with poetry. 

Here is a picture of my book bins at the beginning of last year.

Organized but not at the same time!

Here's how it looked by the end of last year!

Ahhhh...now that's organized! :) The extra colors of tubs were for other categories like books in Spanish, class books, math books, etc. I will be putting on the rest of my new book bin labels onto these bins this weekend!! I can't wait!! :)

So to take it a step further this year, I created my own genre posters that align with the color system of my library! Since my fiction genres (realistic fiction, fantasy, traditional literature, mystery, historical fiction and science fiction) are in red tubs, the poster frames for these genres were also red along with the letter corresponding with the genre. The orange tubs are nonfiction so informational, biography, and autobiography have orange frames. The yellow tubs go for poetry so that poster has a yellow frame. (I also sticker the books with the same colors for the genres along with the letter representing each genre.)

 Click on any of the genre posters or book bin labels to go to my TPT store to get a closer look!

This way when students are looking for books and figuring out which genre they are, they can use this system as a resource to help them! 

I've also created exact replicas of these posters minus the definitions for book bin labels so everything coordinates! 

The posters and system that I have for my library really help my students to start making connections with the literature they read. One other activity our genre studies lead us to in Room 402 is "The Genre's Court."  I ABSOLUTELY LOVE "The Genre's Court," and my students literally BEG to have it!!! It is my rendition of The People's Court but in literature with genres!! We even set up the room as a court room! I wear my college gown and have an official gavel!!

You know as well as I do that you want to KEEP those activities around when they mean so much to the kids, and they learn soooo much!! So definitely check that out!! :)

Click on the picture below to learn more about "The Genre's Court!"

FREEBIE TIME!!!!!!!!! As a little back to school gift, download my freebie which includes 2 products in one exclusively for you all!! Click here to download your freebies!!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog on our Indiana Back to School Blog Hop!!! Have a great school year!!!

Now, click on our logo below to head over to Learning in Progress to meet Krea and learn about her back to school ideas!! Happy hopping!!

Don't forget to hop through to the end of our blog hop for your chance to win a $75 Winner's Choice Gift Card!!!!!!! You don't want to miss out on that!!! :) Thanks for such a great blog hop!! :)