Mission: Organization {Binder Storage Teacher Hacks}

WARNING: DISASTER AREA AHEAD 

Here is a view of the sad corner of my dining room:

Over the past several months I have been creating book studies and units to go with what I'm doing in class.

After doing a unit, I would set it aside and print out the next one.

 

Lessons, printables, laminated activities...everywhere!

I wanted everything in labeled binders, so it is easy to store and easy to find again when I need it next.

Since Monday turned out to be a SNOW DAY, I had some unexpected extra time on my hands to get some organizing done!

I bought these binders at Dollarama. I like how they look, and that they don't have a space for a cover page. What?! I know...I like keeping it looking clean and uniform.

I printed labels for the sides of the binders, so with one quick glance I know exactly what's inside.

Added tabs, to make things simple to find.

Cover pages in page protectors for durability.

 

AND THIS BINDER HACK:

 

These clear document holders zip up so you can't lose anything! I found them at Dollarama.

I have inserted them at the end of each unit/book study in the binder.

 

Each document holder contains ALL of the pieces needed for that unit or book study, including:

pocket chart cards

work station activities

game components

Now when I grab a binder, I have literally everything I need.

I am happy to have completed 5 binders so far...

Literacy Work Stations & FREE Syllable Sorting Activity

Here are the literacy work stations we have been doing lately:

SYLLABLE SORTING

Students are practicing their syllable skills...wearing 'clapping gloves'.

The gloves make the activity FUN, and keeps the clapping quiet :) 

They take turns drawing a card, clapping the word together as a group, then putting it on the correct syllable mat.

Because the cards don't have words for them to copy, students are choosing one picture per category & drawing it in the corresponding box.

Find the FREE download {here}

LISTENING CENTER

We are currently doing The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.

They listen to the story, then fill in a student response form:

WINTER WRITE THE ROOM

I 'hid' winter words around the classroom, numbered from 1-10.

 When they find a word, they print it beside the corresponding number.

Find the Winter Write the Room activity {here}

UPDATE: I have created bundles of month-long literacy centers, to make things easy for Kindergarten teachers!
The packs include literacy activities in these 5 areas of learning:
1)Writing 2)Listening to reading 3) Word work (sight words) 4) Phonics/alphabet 5) Phonemic awareness
The packs are laid out, week by week, for the entire month. They include 5 stations for students to rotate through per week, with all of the components you’ll need for each activity.
Assessment tools are included to help keep learning on track and to keep your students accountable.
Learning is spiraled throughout the month, to help students build on their prior learning. 

Check out the first pack in the series {here}

The Snowy Day {FREE mini book study}

This week our book study will be on The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.

I just wanted to share a mini book study that I have created to use in my classroom...and have posted to my TPT store for you to get for

FREE!

Here's a sneak peek:

You can find all of this and more by clicking the link below

 

I have posted several winter book studies in my store, including this FREEBIE:

The Snow Globe Family {here}

AND these winter favorites:

The Hat {here}

The Jacket I Wear In The Snow {here}

The Mitten {here}

I hope you can use the freebies! Happy winter :)

Classroom PEST...and a Penguin FREEBIE!

It was there on the carpet in our classroom:

What's inside?

I read off the page of clues that was conveniently attached to the box:

It is an animal.

It is black and white.

It has two feet.

It is a good swimmer.

My students filled out a form to show their guesses.

Here they are making sure that their guess makes sense with the given clues:

 

It was Pesty the Penguin!

{see him here}

  

A week later, I was turning over a new sheet of paper to do a Chit Chat Chart, when we saw this:

While we were out, Pesty had returned and had stolen some letters from our Chit Chat Chart!

What a pest.

It was unanimous. We would work together to fix our Chit Chat Chart. 

I wonder what trouble our classroom pest will bring next time?

 ~Penguin Freebie~

Give each player a copy of the Roll and Stamp game. They take turns rolling a die, then stamping the number they rolled with a bingo dauber. {They could also color in the numbers with markers or crayons, or cover them with small manipulatives.}

One page is for use with one die, the other is for use with 2 dice, where students will add the numbers on their dice together...this is to accommodate your class' ability levels.

All of the Pesty the Penguin activities can be found here:

Activities To Go With The Hat by Jan Brett

This week our book study is based on a winter favorite, The Hat by Jan Brett.

In this activity, students are sorting characters, if they are in the story or not in the story:

the 'hat' is actually a stocking in the story

We did a word search to review the characters in the story:

At the listening center, students are listening to the story, then are filling in a response page:

We made a class book, where students decided if animals should wear clothes, and what that would look like:

These activities and MANY MORE can be found {here}