*This blog was originally published on September 4, 2018.
As the school year begins, you will need places for students to store their work in progress as well as finished work that will be used to assess their progress. Some suggestions include:
- Writing folders for each child with resources fastened in the center brackets and work in progress in pockets. Store folders in a labeled tub or file in the writing center. Children should be able to easily find their names, clearly printed at the top. We suggest using four different colors for folders as children can find theirs easily, or four different children can distribute them at writing time.
- A plastic crate with hanging files for finished writing work and/or portfolios (or scan and keep electronically).
- A rack for storing personal poetry books so that the decorated covers can be displayed. (Students thoughtfully decorate the covers after they have collected and illustrated a few poems.)
- Students may have sketchbooks, handwriting books, or other small items. You can use covered cereal boxes, cut in half, as files, and they can be placed in the middle of tables.
- A personal box of books to read for each child. You can also use cereal boxes for these. Ask parents to send them in!
- A basket for reader’s notebooks. You might place four different color stickers on the upper-right corner and have students place them in four baskets. They can access them more quickly and you can review a pile with a particular color each day.
From Guiding Reading: Responsive Teaching Across the Grades by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell. Copyright (c) 2017 by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell. Published by Heinemann.
