Folder Organization

One of my summer tasks this year was getting my folders organized.  A big part of being an effective Standards-Based Classroom is having your standards organized in such a way that you can make sure you are not only covering the standards but also displaying them in the classroom for easy reference.

I'm really excited about the way they turned out.  I think they are going to be so helpful this year.

The blue folder on the left is my units folder.  It contains the entire year!  It has the units, broken down into lesson plans, as well as all of the standards I need to post for each unit and all of the word wall words to be posted for each unit.

I found these great zipper pouches on Amazon. 

 (This is not an advertisement, I just really love them!)

They fit nicely in a 3 ring binder and are the perfect size for the standards.  

(I have Deanna Jump's adorable set of kid-friendly standards; purchased on TPT:)

So for each unit, I placed all the focus standards into one of these zipper pouches .  If the same standard is used in more than one unit, I made more copies so that I can just grab this pouch when I start a new unit, place them in my standards display area and boom!  I'm done.

Then at the end of the unit I gather them up, put them back and grab the next set. 

It's going to be soooo easy and organized!  I can't wait!

The next layer of organization is my word wall words.  I have also sorted them by unit and placed them into these little clear pencil pouches

 (purchased at Wal-Mart).

So, for each unit, I have the standards and the words in the binder with the actual unit.  Everything I need all in one place.  Here's what it looks like all together.

Here is my notebook open to the first unit of the year.  On the left are the pockets with the standards and word wall words, on the right is the first page of the unit itself.  The highlighted words are the verbs of the standards.  Each one is aligned to learning activities and assessments.

(Another post on creating great units will be coming soon:)

The completed notebook.  It's full but manageable.  I used a 3" binder from Staples.  It has rubber (the black parts) "hinges" that allow the binder to be very full and heavy but still open easily without cracking at the seams.  It also lays nice and flat and it easy to open and close.  These binders are a little pricey but I've had them for almost 2 years already and they are well worth it.

The other 3 binders contain my teaching materials.

The white one is my math materials.  Our grade level has not purchased a math program for the past two years.  I have been creating materials to meet the first grade Common Core standards and we have been using them primarily to teach our math.  All of the lesson plans and anchor charts and handouts and student practice pages are in the binder.

The pink binder on the right is my science and social studies binder.  Again, it contains units I have created to teach our standards in those areas.  My grade level friends and I decided we wanted to integrate our writing with our science and social studies so each unit is also aligned to the Common Core writing standards.

The last pink binder is my ELA supplemental materials.  Our school has a purchased phonics/reading program that we like pretty well.  That binder contains supplemental materials that I have created to "fill in the gaps" of the purchased program.

I like having all of my materials together like this.  It is going to be a real time-saver this year. 

My next project is to find a way to organize my centers materials.

How have you organized your standards and units?  I'd love to hear your ideas too!

If you're interested in seeing any of the materials I have created, they are available at my TPT store by clicking the link above.  Thank you!