Pinterest Projects Day 4 and a guided reading tip!

This was today’s daily Pinterest post, but I thought it may be relevant to others, too!
Here’s what I pinned: It’s from Jodi at Clutter-Free Classrooms. Have you been following her redecoration summer? I do not do themes in my room, just color schemes. This year my focus colors are “wicked witch green”, teal, and accented with browns.

I picked up a throw away shelf my son’s kinder teacher used as a listening center. The top 2 shelves are open backed which is where I will store magazine boxes labeled with Fountas and Pinnell levels and fill with readers from Reading A to Z. The bottom 2 shelves are back with tile board. That had to be hidden!
What I did
Spray painted the whole thing green
Found a style of scrapbook paper with the same green in the design. Since it was double sided, I used one color on the top shelves and the alternate backside on the bottom shelves. This was the tricky part for me. I had to use an Xacto knife to trim off the bottom, I then used that piece as my guide. I used Elmer’s spray adhesive on the tile board backing then carefully lined up each piece. I am happy with the overall look I think. The group baskets will cover some uh-ohs I made.
Now for a little tip on labeling baskets for your guided reading groups. A few years ago I found adhesive floppy disc holders at Office Max. {I can l no longer find them, but these business card ones would serve the same purpose}I planned to use them for labeling my library baskets, but I knew I would not need to ever change out those labels. That’s when it hit me! I slapped the label on sideways so the opening would be at the side and easy to change out. I added a piece of scrapbook paper to match the new shelves. Then I put my kiddos names and F&P level on cards that I can slide in and out as groups change! SO easy!

Here are the bottom 2 shelves I backed with paper. This is where my groups notebooks, resources, and books I have pulled for GR with be. On the top 2 open shelves that you cannot really see with be magazine files filled with leveled readers.

I think it will work nicely! I still have to pull out leveled readers from our basal series, our old basal series, and A to Z books I use!
Tomorrow: Pinteresting Bulletin Boards! Cause I am almost done with my versions!