Do you ever feel like you ask for 1,000,000 school supplies and don't utilize them? In the way of notebooks, binders, and folders, what do you ask for every year? How do you use them? My explanations will come soon.
I don't get to put together my own school supply list. The school puts it out, which I hate, but I make use of what they have. This is what they request for the kids to bring in: binder (2-inch. I would've only requested a 1-inch) 4 pocket folders (I would've requested the colors, since I hate when the kids bring in all those Bratz/Harry Potter decorated folders) 4 black/white composition books (I would've requested 5) Last year we barely used the binders at all since I really had no use for them in 3rd grade. This year for 4th grade I'm going to use them as their reading and writing notebooks. I will put 3 dividers inside. One section will be their reader's responses from independent reading. The other section will be the graphic organizers they complete during reading strategy instruction. The last section will be for writing. For their pocket folders 1 of them will be a homework folder, 1 will be a free time folder, and the last 2 will be privacy folders. The privacy folders they keep in their desk and put up as shields for when we take tests. I don't care what these folders look like, which is why I let them use the ones they bring in. For the folders that I want to look all the same (Take Home, Catch Up, Centers), I buy those myself. For the composition books, one will be their reading journal for reading classwork, one a math journal for math classwork, one a science journal for science classwork, and one a homework journal for...you guessed it, homework! I always like for them to have an extra one for when they run out, so I bought them when they were on sale for 25 cents at Office Depot. The school also puts steno pads on the supply list and I've yet to come up with a reason for using them. I usually tell the kids to take them back home.
Steno pads?? How about vocab term on the left, definition on the right? When I was a teenager, I used them as assignment books; tonight's homework on the left, long term projects (Science test Friday) on the right, so I could keep them in mind...theoretically.
The teacher across the hall from me uses steno pads for spelling tests. Maybe that's an idea for you. Our 5th grade uses binders, so 4th grade decided to try it. We will be putting the kids' agendas (daily calendar), subject dividers, and notes from each subject in there. One of our teachers had a GREAT idea. She has them keep their notes in a running sequence and asks 2-3 questions from previous notes on each test of that same subject. Her achievement test scores are always high and she thinks it's due to all of that review. I plan to try this in my room this year.
My son needed steno pads in 3rd last year. His teacher had them write their spelling words in them so they could take them home to study.
No I'm not. The steno pads are too small and the pages rip out too easily for daily classwork. I like for my students to keep their classwork in their composition books so that they will be able to go back and refer to it when they need to study for tests.
The steno pads are a neat idea. Yet I use those for my good old staff. The newspaper staff. I ask for a composition notebook, yet there's 5 or 6 folders or notebooks on our fourth grade list... and I keep some as well as have them utilize some from the very beginning. I also already have some binders I use for writing, and they have to bring in another one for reading.
We request the basics: binders, dividers, pens/pencils/erasers etc, glue, crayons, etc., paper We use the binder on a daily basis. That is where they keep all of their work, any handouts I give them, it has their agenda in it, blank paper, etc. It takes a while in the beginning but they start to get the hang of them.
