Summer Organization

This summer has been a busy one for me! I have been busy working hard trying to organize my classroom. My goal for the year is to start and stay organized! Ha!

Well I have decided to do a few things this summer to help with that.

1. Clean out cupboards!

I should have taken a before and after picture of all the cupboards. I am very lucky to have many whole class books. The problem was they were taking up two shelves in my cupboard and I only used them once last year. The storage wasn't efficient at all. I decided to box them up and then label the boxes. I have the title, author and reading level of each book on the side of the box. I also took one book out from each set and put in my classroom library so the students have access to them.


I decided to use my file trays to organize my paper this year. I filled those up rather quickly.

I still had lots of odds and ends that needed a home. Reallygoodstuff.com to the rescue. I am in love with this site. I purchased my book boxes and mailboxes from them last year. They had green and pink plastic organizer bins on sale for $6 for 6 bins. I bought 3 sets and decided they would be a great way to organize my cupboard.

Aren't they super cute? I love that they are stacking. Also since they are in cupboards with doors the colors did not matter.

2. Classroom Library

My classroom library drove me crazy last year. I had white bins from the dollar store. It always looked messy. After some debating, I have decided to try having the books on the shelf. I went ahead and bought the garage sale stickers, I used the rectangle ones. I labeled the books by reading level and they are color coded. This should make finding the right level very easy.

I think I will add some bookends to help keep them looking nice. These books took up 3 shelves the old way, now they fit on one. I can't wait to finish the rest of my library and be able to add new books to my library. 

3. Have Units pre planned and ready to go!

I am still working on this. I have been able to start planning my launch and first units for reading and writing workshops. I am excited to show them to the other 3rd grade teacher and make some tweaks. 

I have found an amazing website that has both Reading and Writing Workshop ideas and lesson plans. Yes, I said Lesson Plans. They have a whole year plan with some lessons having links to lesson plans. If you haven't been to the site, you really should check it out. 

http://www.wrsd.net/literacy/launch.cfm

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