Literacy Center Organization

Hey there, I am continuing to link up with Mrs. Patton over at Patton's Patch to post about classroom organization. Today's topic...literacy center organization.

At the start of the year I called my literacy centers "Daily 5",  which in my classroom consists of word work, spelling, work on writing, read to self, and listen to reading. But, as the year progressed I found myself making changes to the format and becoming a follower of Debbie Diller's Workstations. You can read more on that post here if interested.

Anywhoooo, I start by keeping a master copy of all of my word work and spelling activities in a binder organized by divider tabs. I didn't snap a pic of the binder but here is a freebie of the cover if you are interested in starting your own binder. I keep my masters in clear plastic page protectors in the various tabbed sections of my binder for easy copying and reference throughout the year. I am currently working on a table of contents for each section of the notebook.



I store each word work or spelling game/task/activity in a plastic envelope. You can purchase these durable envelopes form Target or Walmart in packs of five, or through a teacher supply store as well. They have held up over the years really nicely.

I label each envelope so that I can easily go through my stash of games and activities to find the ones I want. At first my labels weren't holding up well against the regular wear and tear of classroom use so I bought these clear label protectors from Demco and I haven't had any issues.

 Here are my tubs that I store work station materials in. I pull out the activities that I want and place them in the large clear tub drawers for kids to use throughout the week or month (depending on when I need to switch my games and activities).

This is a view of the inside of my word work drawer. You can see high frequency words and small doodle boards in a baggie, a Can Do! word skill (synonyms and antonyms) game and the game Banagrams on the left side of the drawer. On the right you can see about ten plastic envelopes stored neatly for kids to grab throughout our synonym/antonym study. These have lasted for three years now and make clean up a breeze for kids. I have a huge stash ( I bought out the aisle at Target when they were on sale) of the plastic envelopes so that I can always add new games I make, purchase, or grab from my blogger buddies.

Looking forward to seeing how you manage your materials. I love peeking into other classrooms!