Organizing Math Materials

I had a nice 4 day weekend! Not spring break...that is in April...this was just a random 4 day break!

This week will be short, not only because of the 4 days, but also because Wednesday is an early out!

I wanted to blog a lot more last week, but it was my birthday Wednesday and I just had lots going on!

Today I wanted to let you know how I recently organized my math materials. This is my 1st year in 3rd grade, and the district got a new math textbook. Pearson enVision Math Common Core. Each chapter, or "topic" is color coded to fit into one of the 5 domains under 3rd grade Common Core, Bright Blue is Numbers and Operations in Base Ten, Orange is Measurement and Data, Pink is Operations and Algebraic Thinking, Light Blue is Numbers and Operations Fractions, and Purple is Geometry.

Now, as someone who makes a lot of supplemental activities and purchases a lot from TpT, I really needed something to help me organize all of my stuff. Especially when I create a TON of new things this summer.

Recently, I was contacted by Creative Teaching Press to try out some of their products. One of the things I chose to try was their Book Buddy Bags. I had no intention of using them for their purpose though...

I have built in closets that have double doors. I started by opening a door and placing 16 small Command hooks in the center with about 2 inches between each one.

I then labeled 16 of my bags, one for each topic, in the given color.

I realized my handles were too thick to hang on the hooks, so I simply looped a rubber band around the handle. Perfect!

I then started putting task cards, games, center activities, in each of their designated bags.

VOILA! Organized!

Now, I can't see each of the labels, since they overlap, but I could easily add little notes on the side. However, since I'm not going to be hopping topics every day, it will still be pretty easy to locate what I need. I'm curious to see how the bags will hold up when I add more and more to it. I love that the bags are clear and large enough to hold full size papers. If I have a lot of things for a chapter, I can easily add more bags to other doors. 

BIG thank you to CTP for letting me try out the bags! I have a lot more of their products to try out and blog about!

Tomorrow...all about homework and how I'm motivating my 3rd graders!

Feel free to pin the image below!