Take Home Folder or Binder

     Every Year, I usually use a system where I send home a daily folder with the newsletter, behavior caledar (where students color the color they received for the day and get it initialed), any notes fromt the school, reading book bag, and any other homework.  On Tuesdays, I would send home a separate colored "Graded Papers" Folder, where I could make sure the parents signed, and helped students redo failing grades.  This separate system allowed me to make sure the students did not mix graded papers with homework,etc. and the feedback over the years has been very positive for having graded papers come home in an organized way. 
     If having two folders seems difficult to manage, or you would rather use a system where all your papers are together and you have more room, I would go with the M.O.O.S.E or F.I.S.H. ( or whatever binder will match your theme).  I only used these binders one year when my school paid for the binders and I liked them with Second Grade, because I was able to teach the kids which divider we put certain things in and to put notes in the front zipper pocket.  There are many ways to set these binders up and allow for a lot of individual creativity.  The important this I would say is to ENCOURAGE and EXPECT organization and to TEACH these skills, using the binder.  If you just send the binder home and back, you will have many students who dont take care of theirs and are constantly needed certain parts of the binder replaced.  This is the main reason I have heard for teachers who do not like the binder.  One other complaint is that the binders are heavy, but I did not find them to be particularly heavier than anything else these kids carry in their backpacks! :)

See the website below for more binder ideas. She has great organization ideas and theme acronyms for using a binder in the classroom:

Binder Ideas