Magnetic Letter Organization!

Hi friends
I have had so many friends ask me to share my Magnetic Letter Organization with you!

This post contains affiliate links for Amazon. By purchasing an item on the Amazon site using these links, I will receive a small commission on your purchase. 

Do you use magnetic letters in your classroom? I use magnetic letters in my class A LOT. I mean, a lot.  I use them during morning work for some students. I have some students use them during center time or stations. I have my students use them daily during guided reading time. Magnetic letters are something that are used multiple times a day - EVERYDAY in my classroom.

One of the downfalls with magnetic letters, is returning them. The younger the kiddos, the harder this is. (Well, I suppose there are still third graders that don't put them back correctly)

I noticed that my students spent a lot of time figuring out where to put the letters when they are done. Or, they just throw them back in a bucket and spend a ton of time looking for the letters they need for the activity. This slows them WAY down and cuts the amount of time working in half. It was getting so bad, that during guided reading, I was taking letters out of kids' hands and putting them back because it was MAKING.ME.NUTS. I needed a solution!!!!

I thought, ok what can I do to make this more effective? Well, here is my solution! Magnetic letter return sheets!
Click the picture below to go to my TPT store to see the sheets.

I use these during guided reading group times. My students each grab a board that has the letters already on it.  When I do my lesson plan, I spend about 4 minutes with them building words. 4 minutes out of 20-25 minute lesson. That is not a ton of time. What's worse - when it takes students 5 minutes to return the letters. This makes that part of my lesson take up almost 10 minutes. I either had to give them all of the letters I wanted them to use, or I needed a way for them to find the letters they needed and return them FAST!

If you click HERE it will take you to where I got the clear picture frames to my reading strategy posters. If you click on the picture below - it will take you to the Reading Strategy Posters pictured. 

This letter return board has saved SO much time. My kids are actually getting better at letter identification, AND they are getting FAST at it. With special needs students, pre-k and kinder babies - this is HUGE! 

During my guided reading time, I use this pack. It tells the students what letters to grab. Then, we build between 4-7 words. It is based on their guided reading (or DRA) level. You can click on the picture to check out the pack. 

If you click on the image below, it is going to take you to where you can get the magnetic boards that they go on.  These boards are double sided dry erase and magnetic. The best part is that they are PRIME on amazon, so you don't need to wait weeks to get them, like I did! 

I have had SO many people ask where I got my letters for the boards. I got my letters from Lakeshore Learning, and they took about two weeks to get to my school. I found these letters from Amazon, and bonus again THEY ARE PRIME! Can you tell how much I love Amazon? You can get an entire tray completed with one container, with a few left over. They end up being the same price as the Lakeshore ones, but they are prime, so two days, folks, two days!

Click the picture below to find the letters on Amazon.

I have had many people ask, what else do I use these letters for to make the purchase of boards and letters worth it? 

I use them for interactive sight word stations in my classroom. Students scan the QR code and then they watch, listen and learn. They build their sight words with me interactively. They need magnetic letters for it. I have students do this activity during morning work time and centers. 

Click the picture to see all the different interactive sight word stations that you can use these letters with. 

I also use these magnetic letters for students to build word families. Students have four cards. One is to put together a puzzle, then read the card, write the word, then build the word. 

Click on the picture below to see my word family task cards. 

My students also play puzzler. This is another sight word game. Students pick a picture card, then, they look at the chart for the secret letter (they really can be confusing), then they have a bunch of mixed up letters. They must fix them to become a new word. 

Click below to see my differentiated puzzler sight word game. 

Some people have used cookie trays to put their magnetic letters on. I can't share where to find exact ones that are magnetic. I have heard some people have used the dollar tree. My dollar tree didn't have the right size, and they weren't magnetic. Other people found perfect ones at their dollar tree! Check them out!

Stuck on teaching found hers at the dollar tree! 

I kept my boards on this holder at first. It works well, and I liked it. You can click the picture to grab it. 

BUT

There was something about this sleek, white, pull out tray that just makes my heart skip a beat. You can click any of the pictures to grab it. I LOVE that it comes literally the SAME DAY with Amazon!!!! I don't have the patience to wait ten business days for Ikea. The nearest IKEA is not close, so going to get it is an all day trip. So, thanks amazon for selling this for me! 

Isn't it just beautiful!? The trays slide in and out. It only has four trays, but there is enough room to put one on the bottom. It works perfect for me. 

Plus, it fits the boards exactly. It also fits into my cube organizer! TEACHER HEART HAPPY.

So again, here is a recap of what I use with my magnetic letters.
Tray to hold them.

Magnetic letters (1 box per board)

Magnetic boards. 

I promise  you will NOT regret buying the magnetic letters, the magnetic boards, the tray holder and my magnetic return sheet! It will make your life so much easier. 

I am going to give away 1 magnetic board, 1 set of letters, my magnetic return sheet and my Set 1 Primer Interactive Sight Words to try! 

All you have to do is leave a comment on my Facebook post on how YOU would use the letters, boards, and letter sheet. I would also love you forever if you shared the post on your facebook page! :)

I will pick a winner on Sunday January 8th at 9pm

xoxo