Reading File Organization

     So I have spent a lot of time this year organizing my reading files and making it easier and quicker for me to plan and gather materials.  I have my files organized by reading story in a hanging file folder.  I bought large, plastic envelops with string closures to keep all of my masters so I do not accidentally hand them out.  I really wanted the envelops that close with Velcro, but Office Max did not have them.  Here is what my envelops look like:

     Notice on the outside of the envelop I have a label in the middle and in the upper, left corner.  I printed the larger label from Mrs. Lewis's Cyber Classroom.  This is a great site if you use Scott Foresman Reading Street in your classroom.  She has resources for K-5 on her site.  I love the large label because it tells me the unit, the name of the story, and all the skills for the week.  I printed the labels off, cut them out, and ran them through my sticker maker so that they would stick like mailing labels.  In addition to the large label, I used my label maker to make a smaller label that can be spotted from the top of the file cabinet.  See...

     Now you are probably wonder what all of the manila envelops and baggies are.  Well, these are my station activities that students complete independently and each one is based on the skills for the week and some are for period review.  Many of my stations fit in a Ziploc baggie or a large envelop that I have laminated, such as this one

 and this one

A few of my stations are file folder games like this

     Where do I get my stations?  I sometimes buy my station games like the ones shown above, but I also make them or find them online and print them out.  There are a lot of great ideas on the web and at places such as Teachers Notebook and Teachers Pay Teachers.  For every story, I have at least 5 stations and many of my station games and activities are in multiple copies.  This allows for more than one student to enjoy the same game or activity at the same time.  Also, I include some type of product with many of my station games and activities.  I have a few students this year that would not complete their stations if I did not require them to do something written.  Sometimes I will find a worksheet that goes with the skill or I will create a response sheet.  Overall, it has been easier to gather my materials for the week since I have started organizing my reading materials this way.  I hope to start organizing my math materials soon.