(More) Guided Reading Organization

A few people have e-mailed me about the binders that I use for my guided reading groups...I've always found it easiest to label my reading groups by color. The old versions of my binders that I have on my website look something like this...Eeekkk!

Last year I purchased binders from Staples (and because they are packed somewhere in the stacks of boxes in my room, I can't take a pic for you at this time)...

I created a blank cover sheet for each colored reading group in which I printed on white card stock and laminated. In the square that's on the bottom right-hand corner I place a Post-It with the names of the students in that group. When the groups change, I can take the Post-It off and easily replace it with the new names! You can print off this template by clicking on the link below.

Guided Reading Binder Covers 

So, inside the binders I keep record of what I do with each group. I rarely ever make lesson plans the day before...unless I am gathering materials that I know I will need. I am able to look at the notes I took the day before and begin from there. I created a generic template that I still find helpful today...


You can take a peek and download it or if you look at my Guided Reading Page on ReadingResource you may find some others you'd prefer to use. I know there's a lot of different lesson plans out there, if you have any others, I'd love to hear about them!

Super Centers

By keeping a music box at your guided reading table, you can manage the children who are working at literacy centers when you are working with a small group without having to interupt the reading going on. If it gets too loud, turn the music box on until it's quiet again. If the music box was not used during the day, one letter of "Super Centers" gets colored in. When all of the letters have been colored, the children will receive a reward (extra recess, movie, new classroom book, etc.) 

If there is music in the box at the end of the week, the children will receive a special "treat" inside the music box!

Book Room

So somehow I managed to get myself into another project! (That typically happens when I'm around Steve during the summer). He's been working on setting up a book room for a school in our district and asked for my help organizing it. Don't get me wrong, I love to organize...But this is a huge undertaking!  


This is what I walked into...

This school is very fortunate to have a classroom available for a book room. Most schools have a small closet, if any! Steve ordered bookshelves, hundreds of book bins, and...

MORE BOOKS!

Did I mention that teachers have donated their own books to the room too?

That's Steve pretending to work!  Only kidding. 

We decided to group the bins by color so that teachers could easily distinguish between each different reading level.  Sorting the bins by color and moving them around took quite a bit of time! That's about all we accomplished on Day One.  

We are going to be placing leveled books in plastic bags.  On the outside of each bag will be a sticker that has the reading level, the title of the book, and the number of copies.  Use Avery 8163 labels for this template!  On the outside of each book we will also place a sticker that tells what level the book is...Use Avery 5176 labels for this template.  


We'll keep adding the progress of this room. Keep checking back!