Miss Nagle, a first-year teacher, found that some of her biggest behavioral challenges occurred during times when students were expected to work independently. As she attempted to work with individual or small groups of students, she found that many of the students who were expected to work independently had a difficult time getting started on the assigned tasks and needed frequent adult support, asking such questions as “What do I do first?,” “How long will it take?,” “How do I do this work?,” “Am I done yet?,” and “What do I do when I’m finished?”. She decided that she needed to add some structure to independent work time and consulted with a fellow grade level teacher, Mrs. Lee. Mrs. Lee enthusiastically shared that, over the summer, she attended a staff development opportunity where she learned how to use file folder activities to engage students in completing tasks assigned during independent work time. She shared that she easily assembled a variety of file folder activities related to core curriculum content using materials available in her classroom. She started the school year using this strategy during independent work time and found that she was able to focus on individual and/or small group instruction without having to take time out to address behavioral concerns.

Miss Nagle was eager to use this strategy and got started by developing file folders around current math content, focusing on prior learning, so students would be able to successfully demonstrate knowledge of a learned skill. Her students were excited to have worksheets replaced as file folder activities and thought of these as “games”. She was amazed at how much more interested students were, and how they were able to stay on task without adult intervention. She has since partnered with Mrs. Lee to create an assortment of file folder activities centered around their grade level content, differentiating them to meet student needs, and they are pleased to see their students willingly completing these independently.

Decisions about which activities to teach to large groups, small groups, or individuals are crucial to every teacher’s lesson planning. One of the biggest challenges teachers face is providing activities that engage students during independent work time. The ability to function independently in a classroom requires on-task engagement in an activity in the absence of adult prompting. Well-designed instruction is also key to reducing behavior problems caused by boredom, task avoidance, or uncertainty regarding expectations or task specifics. One strategy that can be effective in increasing student engagement during independent work time is the use of file folder activities.

File folder activities are a terrific visual support strategy that can be used to organize activities across grade levels and subjects to increase engagement, differentiate instruction, and assist students in accessing core curriculum content while working independently. As an independent work time activity, they are useful for reinforcing previously mastered skills while providing students with opportunities for success.

File folder activities are easy to assemble and may be created for students of varying ages and developmental levels. Easy to store, they are durable and long lasting, remaining pertinent year after year. Materials for file folder activities are contained within defined boundaries (the file folder) and usually consist of a template and moveable pieces. These pieces could include math manipulatives or paper copies of images and/or text.

File folder activities related to core curriculum can be easily created using resources in your teaching environment. They are useful in general education as well as special education classrooms, preschool through high school, and related service providers find them to be a valuable tool as well. Additional resources can be found online for prepping file folder activities, but you can get started with these templates to support English Language Arts skills. Each one is labeled with related Common Core State Standards (California) and, when applicable, the Core Content Connector (alternate achievement standards).

ELA: Weather Words
ELA: Function of Objects
ELA: Alphabetical Order
ELA: Idioms

Materials:

• File folder
• Templates/Worksheets for one activity
• Glue stick for assembling pages
• Adhesive “coins” to place on the backs of the moveable pieces (i.e. Velcro®)
• Plastic bag or envelope to hold pieces
• Folder tab label
• Lamination – consider laminating the file folders for durability

Directions:

• Cut out pieces
• Assemble pages in folder
• Laminate pieces and folder
• Label file folder with activity name and core curriculum standard

File Folder activities that have a clear purpose and align with teaching objectives are useful resources in any classroom setting and can be highly beneficial for lifelong learning/working, engaging students as they work independently and demonstrate that they can follow through without adult intervention.