Organizing Literacy Center Materials

Yesterday over at my other blog, Shut the Door and Teach, I wrote about how I set up my Literacy Centers.  My school has been using Journeys for a few years now, and I'm more familiar with common core this year than I was at the beginning of last year, so I felt ready to really delve in.  You can see how I set up my rotation topics and schedule here.

Today I thought I'd share how I organize my materials.  Let's face it; the best instructional activities will not engage students if the organization behind them doesn't work!  And if it's too complicated for us to manage, we're not going to want to use it either.  There was some trial and error when it came to different locations in the room and moving desks, which the kids HATED.  Who knew how nervous they would get about other people sitting at their desk!  

So I scrapped that first idea and instead created a file folder system.  It worked for my math games, so I shouldn't be surprised that it turned out to be the best solution for my literacy activities.  They know where to access the folders, how to distribute materials, and they can stay at their own desk.  There is only one activity in the course of the week that requires a single group to move to a separate spot in the room, and fortunately I have the space to accommodate that.

I keep the bin with 3 file folders right in the middle of my leveled readers.  My rotations are right above this set of bins as well, so everything is within reach.  Other than "read with the teacher," each of the other stations has its own file folder of activities.

Inside each file folder I can "preload" the activities for the week.  The Mentor Sentences page has 3 different activities in one, so it keeps them occupied in the "Editing" station for 3 days, and I load the spelling in on the final day.  The Vocabulary pages look different enough from one day to the next, so the kids don't mix up which one to do first, second and so on.  I clip the "not yet" pages to the folder as a gentle reminder, and their current pages are loose in the folder for them to take.  And finally, the Independent Reading Responsefolder has 3 separate envelopes.  These are clearly labeled for each Close Read slip they need to do, in order.  The kids know they need to tape the first into their notebook and complete it before they take the second.  This is the most time consuming center, so often they come back to it when they finish a different literacy center early. 

Considering that this is my first year running Literacy Stations since moving to fourth grade (and since Common Core began) I think they are going pretty well!  I plan to offer my Close Reads in my TPT store this summer, so if you are thinking about trying stations next year, stay tuned!

[Edit:  I've started to post my Mentor Sentences products in my TPT store.  There are a few freebies in the section I've linked to if you want to give them a try!]

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Get Comfy in the Classroom!

Students spend a great deal of time in the classroom each day.  They are usually positioned in their seats with a few movement breaks in-between.  This can become a bit monotonous which can lead to boredom with activities and a lack of interest in school in general.  To solve this problem, I use creative seating arrangements!  It adds a bit of fun to an otherwise "plain" day and if the students have great behavior, they may even get to choose where to sit!

 

The following are examples of seating arrangements I have used to allow for differentiated instruction:

 

Partner Group with Laptops

Students are able to talk quietly and to access the same websites or different ones.  This grouping allows for quiet discussion.

 

Triad with Paraeducator 

In this arrangement, the students are guided by an educator while leaving some time for a group-like discussion.  In this case, three boys are comfortably stretched out on the floor reading.  Yes, they can lay down...sometimes!

 

Triad with Moveable White Board 

This group of three girls is having fun!  One is guiding the discussion with Marzano's questioning wheels while the other two record the group's thinking.  All three are reading aloud!

 

 Triad with Large Rolling Whiteboard

These three boys are having a discussion about the text they are reading.  They have gathered around the board and have chosen to silently read first.  After, they will have one writer record their ideas and reasoning.

Independent at Desk

 This student is quite comfortable remaining at her desk.  She has the book on her lap and is turned away from the desk in order to stretch out her legs.  Clearly, she is enjoying reading silently!

Independent with Moveable Whiteboard

This student is reading alone as well.  He has chosen to use the large moveable whiteboard to record his thinking.  As the teacher, I document thinking by taking photographs or notes on a clipboard.  This way, the evidence of his learning is not erased along with the marker!

Partners Within a Table Group

These boys are working as partners within their table group.  The other students (which you cannot see in this picture) are working as partners on the other side of the table.  This allows for quiet discussion within a group.  After the partners complete their assignment, the two will pair up with the other two students to compare/contrast thinking.

Two Small Groups

Finally, this is the small group arrangement.  One small group is seated around a table while the other group is seated around a "table" of desks.  Small whiteboards and notebook paper are being used to record understanding.  Students must take turns listening and responding in this situation.

 

There are so many ways to allow students to be more comfortable in the classroom.  Sometimes, it is by integrating technology while other times, it is simply allowing them to stretch out.  Independent, partner, and group activities allow for variety of learning styles.  In the above pictures, we were doing an experiment to see how boys would work together and how girls would work together.  There were no mixed groups this day.  The students shared more and had more meaningful discussions when they were separated by gender in this case. 

 

Have you used a variety of groupings in your classroom?  Which worked/didn't work?  How do you infuse technology into the learning?  I'd love to have feedback and/or suggestions on how you made your classroom more comfortable!

 

That's it for now and as usual, if you want to chat with me even more, stop over to Leanne Baur's Creative Classroom!  Talk to you soon!

 

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Student Materials Shelf Upgrade: Tips and Questions!

Earlier this summer I wrote a blog post about each major summer project I planned to tackle in the realm of classroom decor and organization.  Now that summer is drawing to a close it's time to post some updates!

I made a few minor changes to the Students' Materials Shelfthis summer.  Since I decided the theme of my changes this year would be "consistency," I swapped out the few Sterilite shoeboxes to give my Math Manipulatives Area a cohesive look.  So I thought it would be a good idea to get more lime green and aqua containers for this shelf.  I love the little Unitz crates from Staples, so I thought I'd just get more of the same.

The Before Photo

Unfortunately, it appears they have been discontinued.  :(

My next dilemma was what to do with the larger items, like rulers, hole punchers, tape dispensers and staplers.  I've never been sure how to house these, and then I got a great idea:  paper trays.  I could create vertical storage and the kids could take a whole tray with them when it was time to distribute them to groups.

Unfortunately, that was not meant to be either.  They're not tall enough, the rulers fell out of them, and they sagged under the weight.  But other than that...

So I'm still not happy with my materials shelf situation.  If anyone could give me advice in the comments below I'd be grateful! 

On the other hand, I made a few positive changes.

I found some lime green baskets in Target's Dollar Spot.  They're not exactly what I wanted since I can't stack them, but they're a good size for my highlighters, Sharpies and scissors.  I also found some tiny striped boxes at Target that fit inside my wooden box to hold paper clips, staples and erasers.  That's a plus because the paper clips could slide under the dividers in the wooden box; hopefully this will contain them better.  And finally I found some cute pails, also in the Dollar Spot that I'm not sure what to do with; I only found a use for one of them (holding my chart paper markers).  That plus some Frixion pens on sale meant a successful shopping trip that day!

The next improvement I made was to my mini trash.  It fits in with the theme with the help of a bit of Duck Tape.  The mini trash was a real success last year when it came to reducing sticky note wrappers and the like being stuffed any old place on the shelf by kids who were too lazy to walk 15 feet to the barrel, haha.  Seriously, my class this past year was one of my neatest ever and I think organization tricks like this help.  Now it also fits in!

Another good use for the Duck Tape was to create a border on the lip of each shelf.  Like the bookshelf, this shelf is so old and worn it has given the kids and I splinters.  So not only does the border tie in with my color scheme, it will hopefully also prevent some nurse visits!

So this shelf is still a work in progress, unfortunately.  I'll check Pinterest, but if anyone can advise me on the ruler, stapler, hole punch and tape dispenser situation I'd be appreciative.  I'm sure they are not going to stay balanced on top of the paper trays as shown below once the kids arrive! 

Shut the Door and Teach:  This week's post is about trying a new way to cover my closet doors

My TPT Store:  Amber Thomas's Classroom Favorites

Update:  Thank you to Kim from Quintessential Lessons for a great solution to my ruler dilemma! Although a Pringles can is too tall to fit on my shelf, I could lay it flat if rolling wasn't such a problem.  However I had on hand a rectangular prism shaped can (Bentley tea tin) that now fits in well thanks to some Duck Tape!






Still looking for ideas on how to stack the tape dispensers, hole punchers and staplers.  Does anyone have a solution?

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Back-to-School Pinspiration

It's summer. The sun is hot, the beach is calling. It's reallllllllly hard to think about school. But even though my mind feels like it's a million miles away from school, the calendar disagrees. Luckily, over on Pinterest, the pinners keep on pinning! And it's a good thing, because if it weren't for all this Pinspiration, it would be EVEN harder to wrap my mind around the cruel fact that summer is not actually infinite.  

Today, I wanted to share a round up of 5 of my favorite Pinterest boards that are keeping me inspired this summer and helping me to prepare for back-to-school time! These boards are focused on organizing and managing the classroom....because I envision myself as a VERY organized teacher every year in July. Ha!

Click on the title of each board to check it out on Pinterest and follow along.

1) ATUE: Oraganization
This is one of our collaborative boards here at All Things Upper Elementary, and it is one of my favorites.

2) One Mess at a Time
This is my personal board where I pin all kinds of ideas that inspire me to clean up my big fat mess.

3) Classroom Management and Organization 
A collaborative blog owned by Rachel Lynette with tons of teachers contributing their own finds.

4) Organization
This is where our fearless leader, Jennifer Findley, pins her organizational finds!

5) ThirdGradeTroop
This collaborative board (owned by Charity Preston) isn't specific to organization and management, but there are tons of relevant ideas pinned to it all the time.

All that Pinspiration has helped me keep the creative juices flowing this summer and I've made some organizational products for my TpT store. Here are some freebies for you:

These Chevron Nameplates are a free item in my TpT store. Click the picture below to download a copy of your own.

These Paint Chip Inspired Calendars are FREE on my blog, One Lesson at a Time! Click the picture below to check out the blog post and download a copy of the calendars for free from Google Drive. 

Do you have a Pinterest board dedicated to organization? If so, leave a link in the comments and I'll come follow you! Because, let's face it, this girl needs all the help she can get.

Enjoy your summer, my friends!!

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Summer Classroom Finds

I don't know about you, but every summer I'm always on the look out for new things for my classroom. Most of the time it is things to organize the stuff that I accumulated over the previous year.  The following are just some of the things that I have found this summer.

I got these at Michaels for 44% off and then an additional 15% off. I'm going to be honest and tell you I have no idea what I am going to use them for, but they were too cute and such a good deal that I couldn't pass them up!

I got 2 of these next two containers (also at Michaels) for $11.99 - 44% off - 15% off = $5.70.

I'm going to hold my task cards in them.  I've seen many different ways that people store their task cards on Pinterest and the idea of putting them in pocket accordion files seemed to be the best way for me. I had originally wanted to use different colors for different subjects, but I couldn't find enough in each color.  Most of these are from Target's Dollar Spot. The ones with the black elastic are from Dollar Tree. The base of these are just a tad bigger than the Target files. I'm going to print out labels on the little address labels (the ones that fit about 80 to a sheet) and put the topic on the files.

I got some of the large accordion files to hold the answer sheets for the task cards.

Target had a good assortment of stickers in their Dollar Spot. The smilies and star stickers will go on the behavior clips and the larger stickers are for graded papers.

There is a pin floating around Pinterest about using creates to sort your colored paper. I got 3 of these to hold my colored copy paper and cardstock. ($3.99 at Target)

I can't decide if these are going in the prize drawer (the kiddos LOVE Post-It notes) or maybe using these for our interactive notebooks. They were a $1 at The Dollar Tree.

The kiddos are ALWAYS bring back erasers from the Scholastic Book Fairs, so when I saw these I knew they would be perfect for our prize drawer.  I think I got these at Target's Dollar Spot.

 
The next three pictures are cute little notebooks, erasers and stickers for the prize drawer. They were all in the clearance section at Walmart for $0.50 a piece.

I saw these tubs at Big Lots and went back and forth about getting them.  But I decided to get them because they are the perfect size for storing our interactive notebooks. I have milk crates that I use now, but these will take up less space and the notebooks will be neater because they will be standing up instead of going every which way laying down in the crate.

Half price flip chart markers at Staples.  If you check out their coupon section, you can usually get a good deal.  

These tabs that I got at Staples will be used in our interactive notebooks to divide the sections. The top row I got for $2 a piece (1/2 price with coupon) and the botton row were on clearance for $1 each.  

What goodies have you found over your summer break? Please share in the comments so we can all check them out!

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Ahhh.... summmer! Getting organized and getting refreshed (freebies included!)

I don't know if you have seen this comic or not, but I feel it is SUPER appropriate to post right now.  We all put in so much time, hard work, and yes, even tears... we deserve a break!   It's so exciting to get a month or two to relax, refresh, and grow!

I think, though, if I made the comic, the June would be me looking worn down and ragged, possibly lay in bed trying to sleep, the July would have me spending money and/or crafting, and the August would have me working on last minute organization.

I had my time to relax, currently I'm in that weird panic mode where I feel like nothing will actually get accomplished.  I feel like Santa... making lists, checking them twice...

A few weeks ago I posted about changing classrooms and trying to get organized.  Since then, I have created a few items for my classroom.  The past three weeks have been full of me creating stuff for my classroom.  Michael's has been my friend (also my husband has been overly patient with the HUGE mess I'm making in the dining room! Thanks, hon!))

This is my project for Wednesday and Thursday of this week.... 4 words.... black chalkboard contact paper!  I can't wait to see how this turns out!

I ended up making those clothespin!  And, made matching letters to go along with them!! LOVE how they turned out!  They will go great with my color scheme this year!

Sent my "How to be a Good Mathematician" Posters to Office Max to have them professionally printed.  I ABSOLUTELY cannot WAIT to hang these around the room!!

Want your own?  You can grab them in my TpT store AND if you just aren't sure how awesome they are, check out the TpT preview and you might just find 4 of them for FREE!!

 This week was spent with more color coding in my room.  I constantly use the rainbow to help keep me organized.  This year, my room will be MMD colors!  Magenta, Citrus, Lime, Teal and Purple!  

I'm currently using these awesome colors to create Behavior Incentive Boards.... Hoping to get those finished up this week so that I can post them!  Make sure to check out my blog to see more updates there!

Here's what they look like so far!  LOVE how the color turned out on the canvas!

And, to top that off, I've been creating more planners to help everyone else get organized! I made quite a few this past week... I'm learning that creating fun organization tools might be my new calling... maybe now I can convince myself to use them!

Okay enough with how I'm getting myself organized!  Here are some ways you can get yourself organized!

First, FREE editable labels to help bring some fun pops of color to your classroom! 

Then, because so many of you are working with the CCSS this year, FREE Common Core Checklists for MATH Common Core Standards. Click each picture below to go directly to the download!

   

Remember to leave some love if you download these freebies!

I sincerely hope that each of you is taking some time for yourself over this summer break!  Leave a comment telling me what you are doing to refresh yourself for the upcoming year!  

Don't forget to download, not 1, but 5 freebies!! AND.... a ONE lucky commenter will receive a FULL How to Be a Good Mathematician Poster set (winner to be chosen on Friday 7/19!)  Make sure to leave your email in order to be eligible to receive the Posters!

 

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