The set up of your small group area is so important because it is where we spend a big part of our day in kindergarten! Organizing your small group area can help you maximize your time and set you up for success.
This blog post will walk you through how I organize my small group area and why. I use this area for guided reading, math small groups, and intervention groups.
My Small Group Table
This is my small group table. I love this table because some of my favorite times of day are working in small groups!
This is how my table looks when I am not using it (unless it’s covered in junk).
And this is how it looks when i’m set up for guided reading groups.
I used to have students bring their personal book boxes to the table. It would take so much time for them to grab it and make it to the table!
Now I keep everything that they might need at the guided reading table ready to go.
These book boxes stay out the entire literacy centers block because we don’t do rotations. Instead, students are completely independent in centers and I can just call groups over quickly and then send them back out.
You can read more about how I run literacy centers here.
Guided Reading Supplies for Kindergarten
Every book box contains the same guided reading supplies. I include everything they could possibly need so that they don’t have to go anywhere.
I also color code the supplies for each spot to match the pencil tray in the book box. That’s completely extra on my part!
What’s in the book boxes:
We use the alphabet chart in many of my groups for a quick warm up. I follow the same routine as during our morning meeting alphabet chart routine.
We use the whiteboard and dry erase marker for word work. This year I used socks as erasers, but in the past i’ve also used cut up felt squares and facial scrubbers from Dollar Tree.
I also keep writing supplies because we do guided writing on day 2 of our guided reading lesson plan.
When we are not using these book boxes, I keep them on top of my small group area bookshelf. That way they are out of the way but easily accessible.
Magnetic Letter Trays
I use these rainbow drawers from Micheal’s as magnetic letter trays. I can fit every group’s target sight word on one tray.
To make these, I just used magnetic tape! You can see some tape curling in this photo. I ended up having to buy thinner tape from Walmart. I purchased the kind that comes in a tape dispenser and I love it!
I told you I love color coding and organization! This is so extra, but I matched the trays to the trays in the book boxes:
It works great and saves me so much time! I can have all the words ready to go before the day begins.
My Small Group Area Supplies
I’ve gotten a lot of questions about this shelf behind my small group table!
This is my “command center” where I keep everything I could possibly need.
I am not an organized person naturally, so I needed a place where I could have bins and drawers dedicated to throwing things.
Here’s what’s on those shelves:
As you can see, I keep everything I could possibly need at this table. I have guided reading supplies, math group supplies, my sub tub, and papers.
Student Boxes – These hold all of our student materials for guided reading.
Math Trays – These are the same pencil trays as are in the book boxes. I keep individual manipulatives for math groups in these.
Toolbox – This has all of my small office supplies.
Sub Tub – I keep three days worth of emergency sub plans ready to go. I use my emergency sub packs for this.
My Book Box – I keep extra whiteboards, the books for my guided reading groups, and small sentence strips here. In the green box next to it are my magnetic letters.
Binders – I keep all of my writing units in one big binder and my math intervention binder to use for small groups.
Small Group Material Boxes – Like I said, I like to throw things into bins. These hold random things like pictures sorts.
My Papers – The top drawer contains extra activities for substitutes because you just never know. The next two drawers contain assessments and other papers I need.
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