Guest Blogger ~ Mitten Friend, Christina Bainbridge!

Yoo hoo!  It's me- Christina from *Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge*!  My pal Holly is out enjoying the last few weeks before we Michiganders head back to school next month... I'm sure she's having a great time with the fam!


If you are anything like me, then help us all... there are two of us!... but seriously... you have a HUGE collection of books that are no-nos for your students.  Not that we don't love to share, but these are special books, just perfect for teaching, that we have set aside for that perfect lesson or unit.

Please tell me I'm not the only one!

Well, I used to keep mine organized like this:

All shoved and stuffed and crammed and jammed into a crate.  I had three other crates looking just as unorganized as this one too!

But then I got a new job and I had to pack which led to unpacking which led to an overhaul in my organization.

I found these amazing little baskets at Target... where else but in the Dollar Spot (they were actually $2.50) so then I broke my books down into the comprehension skill I thought they worked best for...

And this is what happened.

That mess up there became this...

Eight of those baskets, each one containing the books that I will use to teach one (or two) different comprehension skills and strategies.

If a basket is featuring two types of skills, there is a divider between the two sets of books... like so:

 Inside each book, I have written the skill I plan to teach using that book.  And I have one basket labeled "Just for fun" which contains my books like Bear in Underwear and Bear in Pink Underwear... both of which you must find and buy immediately if you don't own them!

Then there is the matter of my personal books that I like to bring out only during certain times of the year...

When I taught 1st/2nd, they lived on a little bookshelf and I would do my best to remember to pull out the books and share them... but I think this will work *so* much better!  I got these bins at the Dollar Tree last summer.  I had been using them for my math workstations, but they are now my seasonal/holiday book holders!  And I think it will be *so* easy just to pull out the basket and then put it away at the end of the time/holiday/etc...

Wouldn't you know it... for some reason I didn't save either of those files.  Either.  None.  Zero.  NOT SAVED!  But I love you all so much that when I guest blog for the famous Holly from Crisscross Applesauce in First Grade I don't leave her followers with nothing... so, I have re-made the holiday/seasonal circles just a little differently and a little more "generic" for you... just in case you'd like to use them!

Click HERE or the pic below to download them... and leave a little comment love for me and my girl Holly too!

I hope ya'll will pop over to my blog and say hi too!

Thanks for having me Holly!!!

Thanks for stopping by, Christina, and for the awesome organizational tips! {And a freebie to boot!} Head on over to Christina's blog for more awesome ideas!!!!