Writing Folders

Yeh, I know most of you probably have writing folders already implemented in your classroom seeing is how it's almost the 50th day of school (for us at least) but it's taken me a while to develop an easy system for my first graders to stay organized...Until now!


A few weeks ago a (wonderful) parent volunteer glued and taped all of the folders for the whole entire first grade class! (A monster thank you!) Each child has two different colored pocket folders that were glued together from the back of on folder to the front of the other folder. Scotch tape was placed around the edges for durability. Now students have four pockets to use for their writing!


In the first two pockets, students keep their writing "Tools". These are items like Topics I Can Write About, Words I Use When I Write, or our Vocabulary Dictionary that will help them generate ideas or work on writing conventions. These two sections are labeled with a toolbox (the link to print is below!)  


In the last two pockets, students keep "Work in Progress" and "My Completed Work". On the weekends, I will be able to take home their folders and assess the writing that students are working on...I have some rubrics I will post (soon) to show you how I can assess where a child is in their writing process. I'm also hoping these folders will be helpful when I pull kids back at the table for Writer's Workshop.  

Letter to Families

Writing Folder Labels (Avery 5163)

My kiddos took their folders home and "decorated" them with pictures and words that are meaningful to them that might "spark" some writing ideas. I think they turned out pretty fabulous...Although this pic would have been better if I would've used my camera! 

I'd really like to know how you organize writing folders for your kiddos...Please share!