Steal My Simple Teacher Cart Organization System | 3 Tier Cart Classroom Organization

I’ll be honest… organization does NOT come easily for me. I’m a type B teacher, so my classroom is what I like to call, “organized chaos.” However, one thing that really helps me stay organized is my 3 tier cart! In this blog post, I’m sharing my super simple teacher cart organization system that you can absolutely steal for your classroom too! 

This post contains affiliate links. You can see my disclosure here.

My small group area is probably my favorite area in my classroom. I firmly believe that’s where the real magic happens in a classroom, and I love all of the hands-on activities we do there. That’s why my 3 tier cart is an absolute lifesaver!

Just think about all the times you’ve sat down and are ready to teach a small group lesson and realize you forgot something like dry erase markers, number cards, or another type of manipulative. Then you have to pause what you’re doing, go find it across the room, and reset your small group and get them back on track and ready to learn. While it might not seem like much, this can add up to a lot of wasted instructional time. 

Want to see exactly what’s in my 3 tier cart and how I use it for classroom organization? Check out my full YouTube video below!

What I Love About My 3 Tier Cart

This 3 tier cart is one of my most-loved tools for classroom organization. I got this one off of Amazon and it holds all of my small group supplies. You can also find them at Michael’s.

What I love about this particular teacher cart is that the wheels lock, so while I’m at the small group table or restocking it with supplies, I can lock it down to prevent everything from flying all over if it gets bumped.

I also love the little movable plastic hooks that came with it that hook right on the side of the cart. I like to put a tin of blue dry-erase markers on one hook, my math comprehension question stems on another, and other frequently used supplies that can fit on a binder ring or in dollar store tins, like fluency strips, flashcards, etc.  

Teacher tip: We ONLY use blue colored dry-erase markers at our small group table, so if my students find a blue marker around the room, they know that it goes back to the small group table. 

My Teacher Cart Organization System

My teacher cart organization system is super simple, but trust me, it works! Since it has 3 tiers, I have mine set up with the top tier holding my teacher supplies, the middle tier holding my small group math materials for guided math, and the bottom tier holding our commonly used reading group materials. 

Tier 1

On the top tier, I have a table caddy with 3 compartments that holds pencils and highlighters for students to use (so they never have to worry about bringing their own), crayons, my hand clapper and wireless doorbell for transitions, a notepad, glue stick, and a set of grading stamps. 

I also keep my guided math basket on the first tier, which holds a lot of the key things I need for guided math groups, as well as some things for reading groups. I got this tub at Michaels and I love that it clips, has a tray on the inside, and holds a lot of items without being too big and bulky. 

Inside of this guided math basket is where I keep dice that we use for math as well as reading games, lots of sticky notes, and little dry-erase board erasers for my students.

Under the tray, I have 6 sets of number cards to use for different concepts, 10 frame pop-its (that are also handy for counting the number of sounds or syllables in a word), and clear spinners for games.

Tier 2

My second tier holds more of my guided math materials. I keep a white basket from Dollar Tree on this tier with a ton of my most-used guided math items. I love these blank dice cubes with clear pockets because I can slide sticky notes or index cards in them with different review questions, making them great for reading or math. 

One of the most important things that we need to be doing at the small group table is having mathematical conversations and asking our students meaningful questions to help them understand what they’ve learned. This helps them make connections with concepts and encourages higher order thinking.

These math comprehension question stems allow you to have meaningful questions at your fingertips at all times. There are open-ended questions and questions for group discussion, predicting, retelling, sharing representations, student reflections, and making connections. These are so easy to grab and use without thinking about what type of questions you should ask. 

I also keep these double-sided hundred chart pop-its to use for tons of different math warm ups and activities. One side goes to 100 and the other goes to 200, making it easy to differentiate.

Of course I have a container of mini erasers to use for various things such as manipulatives, counters, game pieces, and more. 

My container of Wiz Dice is also on this tier. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know these are my saving grace. You can get these Wiz Dice on Amazon in a giant bag of around 200 random, assorted dice. They come in all different numbers, making it easy to differentiate the same activity, but with different numbers.

Tier 3

In the third tier of my cart, I keep all of my small  group reading materials organized in the white baskets from Dollar Tree. In my reading basket, I keep a class set of magnetic letters (that are already organized by letter for me… thanks Amazon!). 

I also keep my reading comprehension question stems, which are one of my top sellers on TPT. I always want to have those meaningful questions ready to go at my fingertips, and this set gives you questions for summarizing, making predictions, making connections, inferring, determining importance, asking questions, and synthesizing. I also have a set of questions that I can ask before we read our story,  during the story, and after the story. I have a set of questions for nonfiction as well. 

Other items included on this tier is a teacher prompt guide from Mrs. Richardson’s class that goes along with her small group decodable materials, slinkies and stretchy bands for stretching and sounding out words, eyeball rings for tracking what they’re reading, fluency strips from This Reading Mama, and word builder cards that we use based on the skill we’re practicing.

Classroom Organization With My 3 Tier Cart

I keep my 3 tier teacher cart behind my desk so I can always restock it and get it ready for the next day. Since it’s on wheels, it’s super easy to move around wherever I need it. When I’m at my small group table, I pull it right up next to my table, but simply tuck it away in a nook when we’re not using it. 

I love how simple, affordable, and space-saving this teacher cart organization system is! If you’re looking to start using your own 3 tier cart for organization, you can find this cart and all of my favorite items that I stock it with in my Amazon storefront as well as in my TPT store and website store below!

Do you use a 3 tier cart in your classroom? Let me know what creative ways you use it in the comments below!