Station Organization

In a recent Instagram Reel, I shared some math station organization favorites.  I had many comments and questions about the baskets, bins, and bags, so I wanted to have a place to keep everything for easy links and sharing.  Let’s get into all things Station Organization!

Station Organization

This post will share all materials organization, but I have a special place in my heart for stations, and it rhymes…thus the name. So, let’s get into the items in the reel first, and then we can break down other ways to organize too!

First up, I shared these 9 × 12 clear baggies for holding stations in this reel below.  Unlike the standard-sized zipping baggie, these are long enough to hold an entire piece of laminated paper (just trimmed down one side) and all the cards and pieces without having any problem zipping up and holding everything inside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Reagan Tunstall (@reagtunstall)

These bags are on Amazon, and you can go up one more size to the 10 × 14, but they do start to crowd and bend, so I settled on these 9 × 12 bags. 

Containing Stations

Next, I shared the following containers I love, which fit the baggies perfectly. Each container is linked for you.

The shelf behind me is from Walmart online, and it can stand vertically or lay horizontally.  I have more than one, and I use them in both ways.

Finally, the Avery shipping labels used to label each station can be found on Amazon here. 

If you subscribe to our newsletter HERE, you’ll be directed to download the labels for math stations PreK-5th Grade.  These correspond to our Stations by Standard math stations.

Organization Favorites

Now for some of our favorite ways to organize and display materials.  First, the iris boxes linked above on Amazon are my favorite way to hold our Guided Math Instructional Materials for Grades K-5.  Each box contains a unit with the teacher’s guide, lesson materials, and teacher-led small group materials.  The boxes in this photo are ready-to-teach kits (available for grades K-5) found on hand2mind or Amazon. You can also print and prep them for a less expensive option found HERE and keep them in the same boxes!

The metal square tubs holding manipulatives in this photo are also from Walmart.  I found them in the store, but I have not been able to find them online to link for you. As I recall, it was in the laundry and home aisles. I wanted a square white bin for the shelf; these were perfect.

Likewise, the different containers in this photo were found on that same Walmart shopping trip.  The clear baskets inside of the larger white bins I liked at the top are also from the store’s home aisles and kitchen area.  If you want to find these free labels shown in the photo, you can find those here. In that download, you will also find links to the manipulatives by grade level.  You can search the “I Can” posters HERE by grade level.  The math vocabulary cards can be found HERE for the different grade levels.

40 Free Scrapbook Box Labels for Organization

We have even more free labels for you here in this scrapbook box organization download. I shared these last summer on Insta and you fell in love! If you didn’t know us then, be sure to grab them now.

More Organization Options

I love the photo case station idea.  These photo boxes are a fun option for making an engaging station.

My favorite way of using them was making our Writing Station Suitcase.  In the classroom, this one pops and continually draws interest.  Two boxes of writing topics mean 32 topics for students to use with the writing prompts. Pull in topic books and put out the writing paper and materials for an instant year-long writing center.

Below you can see how easily the two writing station suitcases store and sit on the shelf with the binder right beside the suitcases.

Another way we have used the photo boxes is for some math and literacy tub time.  These can be pulled out for morning tubs, fast finishers, or choice time options!

 

 

 

Intervention Solution Organization

Our Math Intervention Solution program is organized in Sterilite File Folder Boxes.  It makes grabbing the lesson probes, cards, and materials simple.  The downloads each come with the labels ready to print for you, so all you have to do is put them on the folders.  I also used the giant sticker labels to make the tub labels, and honestly, they work so well that I love turning the square covers for products into giant stickers by printing them on sticker labels.  You can find those sticker labels HERE.  One thing that’s great about them is that they peel off when you want to change the container.

The download also has smaller versions for the sides in case you want to store them like I did for more space!

More Free Labels and Organization Help

If you are still ready for more, these two posts below will bring you all the label love you can handle for classroom organization. The Free Folder Labels Post focuses on student folders.

Finally, let me leave you with another post where you can find even more ways to label and store all things math and stations!