Keep a Consistent Word Work Center

Hello friends and future friends! I am THRILLED that you have visited the iTeach Third website! 

When I was first asked to blog on this site, I literally shrieked with excitement. 3rd grade can be such a challenging year for kids, parents, AND teachers. Especially when you account for the new content and structure of the grade. I am so glad you are here to join us!  If you have any ideas to share, please share in the comments below. 

We are a 3rd grade family, so let's keep it that way! :)

In addition to my bio above let me share a little about ME ;) 

I am originally from Houston, TX and miss it terribly! I LOVE all that a big city entails. My wonderful job, amazing long term boyfriend, and Waco friends keep me sane in this small town. 

My long term boyfriend is an offensive football coach for Baylor University. I LOVE me some football! I apologize in advance if you follow me on instagram because fall has a tad more football pics than normal. It's my life and it's a tad abnormal but I couldn't imagine it any other way. His busy schedule is perfect since it gives me time to lesson plan, write blog posts, and create teaching resources! 

Let's get started to why I'm here! 

I LOVE me some Daily 5. Some days I am a better follower of the sisters than other days. One organizational tip that has saved my sanity is having a hub in my classroom for all things word work. 

As the year progresses, things tend to get a crazy and my centers start looking a little pieced together (it happens don't lie! At least I'm pulling groups ha!). Having one center designated for word work has been one less thing for me to worry about and the fact that it was organized ahead of time really helps me when I'm scraping for time. 

SUPPLIES! 

What drove me NUTS was when children rotated to the word work station and spent 952903309710927120 minutes searching for a red crayon. Here I was trying to work with guided reading and ol' Johnny boy NEEDS that red crayon. 

To make it easier, I created a bin of pencil pouches. Each pencil pouch has crayons, map pencils, markers, AND a sharpener so they don't have to get up. It is SO NICE to see kids just grab a bag and go sit anywhere in the room. To clean up they just put in all back in the bag and can quickly move to their next station .

For some word work activities that involve supplies, I use table caddies to keep the supplies organized. Kids take the caddy and go. If there are no more caddies, they must choose that word work activity next time. This idea can work if you use play-doh, stamps, etc. 

To shake things up, I change out these task cards weekly. Beginning of the year, I create examples with the class. Each week after, I will slowly change one or two task cards after they have been introduced to the class. You can create your own cards by using dry erase pockets, or snag my freebie at the end of this post! ;)

If you follow my blog, then you know that in grades k-4, EVERY student has an individualized spelling list. CRAZY I know, but I have definitely seen the benefits of this since children are being pushed at their own level. To read more about the craziness click {HERE}

If you don't want to create your own, snag this freebie by clicking the button below! 

I hope this gets your gears turning for next year!

How do YOU set of your word work center?

Any tips and tricks I need to know?

Comment below and/or take a picture of your word work center and TWEET it to me (@ambercldrn). 

Or post it on instagram and tag @iteachthirdblog and @ambercldrn

I would LOVE to see it! :)