My Guided Reading Table {First Grade Centers and more}

Hi!  This is Jaymie from First Grade Centers and more.   

Today I am going to show you around my guided reading table and how I keep myself organized.

I love having a full-size easel at my guided reading table.  I have tried table-top size easels and find them difficult to use.  I keep magnetic letters handy to build words on the easel.  I also keep magnetic clips at the top so I can clip posters, graphic organizers, etc.  If you look to the right side of the picture, you can see a little of  my whole-group teaching area.  I can easily rotate my easel to face that section of my classroom, so my easel can do double-duty.

I keep this cart behind my table with all of my needed materials.  I have one drawer for each group to keep their books for the week in.  I also have a drawer for dry-erase supplies, word work materials, high frequency words, comprehension charts, and an intervention drawer.  

Here is a little peak inside my dry-erase drawer.  I love my sound box sheets that I keep inside a reusable sleeve.  We use them A LOT!

 Inside my Word Work drawer I keep some ready to use forms for writing sorts and a clipboard with word lists.  I love the lists at the back of the book The Next Step in Guided Reading by Jan Richardson.  This makes my planning for word work activities SO easy!  I just have to plan my phonics skill for the week and I am ready to go for the week.

Here is the top of the cart.  I have a small container for MY supplies: dry erase markers, pens, post-it notes, scissors, eraser, etc.  My guided reading binder with all of my plans and running record forms is right at my fingertips.  The blue basket is my "catch-all" basket.  It has charts, games, sight word cards, books that need put away, and any loose ends. 

I love this tray I found at Target.  It is designed for silverware, but works great for student supplies.  It has room for dry-erase markers, erasers (love these mini-erasers from the Dollar Spot at Target), pencils, and word cards.  

I also keep a set of magnetic letters at my table.  I love this set from Lakeshore.  It has lots of letters in it.  It also has little boxes for each letter, making the letters easy to find.  

We do a lot of writing about the guided reading stories we read.  I keep a container with each groups writing notebooks on a bookshelf close to my table.  This way I can quickly grab the materials for that group.  Usually, we start the writing together, and then I send students to their desks to complete the writing.  When they finish, they place their notebooks back in the correct container.

Thanks for checking out my guided reading table!