Monday Made It

I am linking up to my first official Monday Made It! I have read and viewed tons of these but this is my first time posting. Yeah! If you want to link up go to 4th Grade Frolics HERE.

I have a love of chevron and want to incorporate it in my classroom this year. I have these bins that I currently use at my student supply tables and I needed to make them cuter.

Here is the before. 

The top bin is the one I'm redoing. The bottom left bin will be changed to another bin that I just purchased and the thin clear bin will get a new label. 

So here is the after bin. 

I think it will look cute next to my supply bins. 

I am going to make bins for each table group color to match my bins. Here are three completed bins. 

My theme this year is changing to lizards/chameleons so I have been working on new bin labels. My theme last year was owls. Here is a look at last year's table group bins. 

The ribbon can be purchased at Hobby Lobby. The bins I have purchased in the past from Walmart and Big Lots. There was plenty of ribbon left after the one bin. There would probably be enough to do three baskets. 

Step 1: Push one end of the ribbon through one of the middle holes on the second row of holes. 

Step 2: Wrap the ribbon around the edges and then tie the two ends together.

Step 3: Create a bow and attach to the center of the container.

That's it. Quick and easy! I love the colors and I can't wait to finish the other colors. The rest of my bins are unfortunately at school so I'll have to wait.

Bloglovin Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Kelsey G. for winning the $10 Target card!! I have emailed you with the news!

Thank you to all who entered and became a bloglovin follower. I am sad to see Google Reader leave but have embraced the change and I am ready to move on.

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Classroom Organization Part 1: Guided Reading Books

This is the first of a series of posts about classroom organization. Today I will explain how I organize my guided reading books. 

I use my filing cabinet for organizing my guided reading books and I love it. I have tried many systems including large totes, small bins that were stacked on shelves to save space, placing them in a closed cabinet (the one to the left of the filing cabinet) but, this one is my favorite. I just changed to this method in the middle of this school year and as you can see I haven't had a chance to cutesify them yet. This will be a summer project! So, let me tell you the reasons why this is my favorite way to organize my books.

1. It is so easy to get books out and more importantly put them away when I'm done with them. This is a big one because I'm not so good with the returning part. I tend to get busy and just shove the bags somewhere.
2. It is so easy to organize. Grade levels get their own drawer. 
3. It is close to my Guided Reading table which makes for quick and easy access. My filing cabinet also  fits in this unique little hole in the wall that makes it seem like it is just part of the wall. Filing cabinets can seem big and bulky sometimes but, location is the important thing to make sure that it looks visually appealing. 

Each drawer then has the books organized by level within that grade level band. For example all of the 1st grade books are at the front of the drawer and the 2nd grade books are in the back of the drawer. Third grade has their own drawer because I have the most of those books. Since during guided reading we are reading books on the students instructional level we are are typically reading a 3rd grade text with the majority of my groups. The books are also organized in order from easier to more difficult text within that grade level band. So, DRA 14 books, then DRA 16 books, 18, etc. 

Each drawer then has sets of books in a labeled ziplock bag with the title and information about the book and if it is an AR book then I have also written the level on the bag. I let my students take an AR test after we have read the book in small groups. 

That's it. A quick post on guided reading book organization!

AppleGirlAmber

Fractions and Partitioning

We have been working on fractions and partitioning and I quickly made this sheet to help my students review. I noticed that they needed extra practice with partitioning a circle into three equal parts. Students benefited from the extra practice that this sheet provided. So just a quick freebie in my TPT shop for those who want some extra fractions practice! Click HERE to get this freebie!