Guided Reading and Literacy Centers

I said in a previous post that I would describe my guided reading and literacy centers.  As the beginning of school is getting closer, I thought this would be a good time to do so, as well as to explain some of my organizational tools.  After all, I would go crazy without good organization in my classroom!
I have five different reading groups in my classroom.  They do change frequently and are organized based on reading level or reading skills that different students need to work on.  I meet with four groups a day.  I see the red an orange groups every day, while the yellow, green, and blue groups meet with me 2 out of 3 days.  The red and orange groups are usually my struggling readers, although if I have a group reading a chapter book, they will often be in the orange group so that there is less disruption to the book.  While I am meeting with my guided reading groups, the rest of the class is in literacy stations.  I have a variety of different stations, from journals, to reading to self, to listening, word work, or spelling practice.  They also have some seat work that makes one of their daily stations.  My students have a pocket chart they use to figure out which station to go to next.

My students use the Spelling City program on the computer for their spelling work.  I have a separate tables in my classroom for the listening and word work stations.  Students do seat work and journals at their desks.  I have several comfy spots in my classroom for them to use for reading.  Each student has a bag of books to use during this time.  The books are at the appropriate level for each student.  Students do have some choice.  Each group has a drawer of books to choose from.  When they finish a book, they can pick another one from their drawer.

 Since I meet with four guided reading groups a day, I have to keep myself organized.  I have two ways of doing this.  I have an organizer by my guided reading table.  I have one basket for each group and one basket for the items I use for every group (white boards, paper, etc.).  I keep my guided reading binders on top.

Finally, I need a way to keep my guided reading books organized.  While I keep chapter books separately, I use Reading A-Z for much of my guided reading texts.  I keep them in bins organized by level (or decodables).  I do not keep these in my classroom but in the Title I room so that the Title I teacher can easily review books with students.  

Of course, I could talk forever about my literacy block, but, alas, that would be too much for a blog post.

How do you keep your reading groups organized?  Let me know in the comments.