Storage Crate Seating How-To

As many of you, I get a good deal of my inspiration from Pinterest.  I have been dying to try the storage crate seating for my classroom.  I have very minimal storage in my room and have a lot boxes stacked up around the edges of the room as a result.  It looks awful and has become a visual distraction to my students.

I gathered up all of my supplies and got started.  It took just a few hours to complete 6 crates from beginning to finish.

What you'll need:

• Milk Crates in your choice of color and size (I got mine from Target for $3.99 each)
• Plywood (You can cut this at home or ask someone at your local hardware store)
• Batting or some sort of filler/foam for the cushion
• Staple Gun/Staples
• Hammer
• Sharpie
• Scissors
• Cloth of your choice (I used pre-cut fabric squares from Joann's Fabric Store.  They were the perfect size for the crates that I picked.  They were 18x21 inches.)

Step One:  Measure the inside of the crate and cut your plywood to fit so that it sits on the inside lip (where the files would hang on the inside of the crate.)  My crate had slightly rounded edges so I cut the edges to match.  If you purchase the same size crate as I did, here are the cutting measurements (but I would double check to make sure it works for your individual brand of crates).  I purchased the storage crate from Target with the measurements of 15 and 5/8 x 13 and 3/4 x 10 and 1/2 inches.  After measuring the inside of the crate, the pieces of plywood needed to be cut to 14 and 5/8 inches x 12 and 7/8 inches. 

Step Two:  Unroll the batting.  I then folded it in half so that my seats had a little more cushioning.  I traced the plywood pieces onto my batting using the sharpie.  I was able to get all 6 pieces out of this one roll of batting.  I cut out the batting pieces on the inside of the sharpie line so that when I began stapling, the batting was only on the top of the plywood--none folding/spilling over the edges. This will be important for Step Three.

Step Three:  I laid down the fabric, good side towards the floor, put my batting piece in the middle, and then the plywood piece.  I started by stapling the long sides down first.  After this, I stapled the corners down like you would wrap a present. The staples did not go entirely into the plywood so I had to hammer many of them down.  You don't want any of those sticking out.  :)  Make sure that when you are stapling that the batting does not spill over the edges.  If it does, push it back onto the top or trim it.  If not, the seat might not fit into your crate anymore.

Step Four:  Place the finished seat into your crate.  I've seen a few crates on Pinterest that added a ribbon to act as a way to open the crate.  I chose not to add anything because I did not want my kids to have easy access to whatever I stored inside my crates.  To get the seat out of the crate, simply stick your fingers/hand in through the handle and push the seat upwards.

Enjoy!  I know that this will make my room more organized and I know the kids will love the new seating.  I think I will use them in my reading corner to store my books when they are not in rotation and give the kids some soft reading spots to use throughout the day.

Whole Class Running Record Recording Form

As my mind gets back into the swing of all things school, I have been recreating documents and trying to find ways to get better at documenting student data.    This one is a form that collects class data on one page so I can see my student's scores at a glance.  I hope it is helpful to someone else as well.

Just a snapshot of the document

Click here for my Running Record Recording Form.

How often do I take a Running Record?

(Taken from ReadingA-Z.com)

Running records are taken most often at the earlier stages of reading. Students who are not progressing at the expected rate should be assessed even more frequently than the schedule suggested below. 

• Early Emergent readers (Levels AA–C): every 2 to 4 weeks
• Emergent readers (Levels D–J): every 4 to 6 weeks
• Early fluent readers (Levels K–P): every 6 to 8 weeks
• Fluent readers (Levels Q–Z): every 8 to 10 weeks

Calculating Accuracy Rate

Accuracy rate is expressed as a percentage. You can calculate the accuracy rate using the following formula:

(Total words read – Total errors) / Total words read x 100 = Accuracy rate


Independent = 95 – 100%
Instructional = 90 – 94%
Frustration = 89% and below

Summer Happenings

Many people have commented over the years, "You should start a blog! You are so creative!" and I have just never had the gumption to do so.  This has been one of the first summers that I haven't been working the entire summer so I thought now would be a fun time to explore and follow through on my, "Yeah, maybe someday!" response to blogging. 

As every teacher knows, it is very difficult to turn off the teacher within us; summers included.  I have spent my summer thinking ahead and getting excited for the upcoming school year.  We got new carpet at our school over the summer so we had to completely pack our rooms so that everything could be moved out.  With this de-cluttering experience, I thought it would be a good time to change the decor and color scheme to my classroom.  I can't wait until we are allowed back in (yes, they took our keys!) to unpack and then I can begin to decorate my new space.  Since I am an outdoorsy person, I picked very earthy tones that will also provide an environment that has a calming feeling. 

Here is a picture of all of the different fabrics that I will use in my room.  I will be using the bolt of chocolate brown fabric as all of my bulletin boards with a ribbon border that matches the other fabric colors.