Readers Toolboxes

Hello my fellow teachers! I'm Kristen blogging from Loving Teaching Inspiring.

I'm so excited to be a part of this fabulous group of bloggers on The Primary Pack. I will be blogging and sharing all about my Kindergarten classroom on the 25th of every month!

This month I am sharing with you how we use Reader's Toolboxes in our classroom. I learned a variation of this in a district training from a fabulous teacher who should be a blogger for sure!! I tweaked it and added to make it work for my kiddos and I really hope it works for yours!

I don't know about you but sticky notes are a BIG DEAL in my classroom. The kids love them. I love them. It's truly a win-win. We use sticky notes for a lot of things in the classroom but these toolboxes are a favorite!

Let me show you how it works. I start with a plain file folder and chop it in half.

Then I add a variety of bright covers.

Who doesn't love Astrobrights??? I'm kind of obsessed. Then I print out the sticky notes. This is the best part because they look sooooooooo perfect!!!!

I got these codes from this adorable poster that my fellow Primary Pack"er" Amy from Learning Lessons with Mrs. Labrasciano made! You can snag your copy by clicking the picture below!

Next up I added the sticky notes to the file folder and laminated it. This helps the students to easily match their sticky notes and keep track of them.

Ta-da! Super cute right?

Okay so now for how to actually use these toolboxes! While my students are independently reading during "Read to Self" they are tracking their thoughts by sticking these notes into the books. Then later in the week or even that day when they choose "Work on Writing" they simply open a book, find the sticky note and respond. We have reader's response journals that they just glue the matching response sheet into.

At this point in Kindergarten we have only introduced the heart and the smiley face. However, I have a group who LOVES non-fiction. So I'm very excited to introduce that exclamation mark next week!!! If you'd like to snag the full product you can click here. The best part is I've put it on sale for today to celebrate my first post on the Primary Pack!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope this helps to give your kiddos lots of tools for reading!!! I'll see you all again next month on the 25th!