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Classroom Tour 2009-2010 This chart is on the inside of our classroom door so the students could see it anytime.
The students earned scoops for good behavior. When the chart was filled, we had a class party. Some of the parties we had were Outdoor Classroom, ice cream sundae, games and stuffed animals, Movie and popcorn, Invite a Friend, and Free Choice Activities.  Calendar Wall
* See my Math Workshop page for our routine.
The Tooth Tally chart was one of the best investments I've made. Each time a student lost a tooth, I added a tooth with their name to the chart and we then used it as a graph during our calendar time. It was very full at the end of the year!  ABC Sound Tubs
Spelling/Word Work & Math Tubs This pic was taken in August ('09) before school began.
 Each tub contains 6 items that begin with the letter of the tub.
 Spelling/Word Work & Math Tubs
 **updated ABC Sound Boxes and Math Tubs** The 2nd shelf holds spelling tubs filled with various letter manipulatives. The 3rd and 4th shelves hold the Math Tubs. These contain items for patterning, sorting, number cards and foam pieces for counting, mini pocket chart activity cards for counting, addition/subtraction, flash cards and Wrap-Ups. I will be rearranging for the 2010-2011 school year and will update info. as soon as I'm able.  Math Station *new* winter 2010 It seems we never have enough time to spend on much-needed skills, so I scoured the internet and racked my brain to come up with math games my kids could play with a partner each day. They LOVE it. They are free to choose who to work with and what game to play each morning. There is a shoe organizer on the back of the stand that houses all of the game pieces. **new** Spring 2010 I have begun using Math KITs to give students even more practice of skills. These are take-home math games for students to play with an adult or older child at home. Students check them out 1 or 2 times per week and keep them for 2-3 days. I adapted my Math KITs from the wonderful Ms. Powell, now Mrs. Watson (I  her!)11-1-12 Unfortunately someone has posted Mrs. Watson's and my Math Kits as her own on Teachers Pay Teachers so I have had to remove the links.  ABC foam magnets
 Word Family Drawers
 Word Family Drawer Contents
 Classroom Library
Science/Social Studies
 This bookshelf has changed a little. I now have a Featured Author Shelf. This month our author is Eric Carle, so it has our featured titles and creatures to go with the books. We read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", "The Grouchy Ladybug", and "The Very Busy Spider"  Cheesy Web snack This idea came from Christina Bainbridge's "Snazzy Snacks". http://teacherweb.com/MI/CentralElementarySchool/MrsBainbridge/ap7.stm It goes with "The Very Busy Spider" and is made from string cheese, a grape, and pretzel sticks. I came up with a special snack to go with our featured author books each Friday. This was our final snack before school was out.  Classroom Library and Listening Station
I also have a Listening Station set up in a Library/Centers pocket chart, just like the Math Station. Underneath are crates which house individual cd players with headphones. The students each have a day of the week when it is their turn to use these. They can take a beanbag chair and a cd player around the room to listen and read along with the stories.  Classroom Library
The pink bin houses animal books. I recently added a non-fiction animal basket
to our science and social studies area. The blue bin houses chapter books and I Can Read books.
 Classroom Library
The pink bin houses whisper phones.
The blue bin houses class sets of books.
The green butterfly and yellow sunshine are "word-swatters".
They are used when reading the word wall.
My classroom library set-up was inspired by Jessica Meacham. Here is a link to her fabulous library ideas: http://www.jmeacham.com/book.bins.htm **new** Winter 2010
I replaced the whisper phones basket with a partner reading basket for our Daily Five choice "Read to Someone". This basket houses double copies of books. The whisper phones are now stored in the Leveled Library cart behind my small group table.  Featured Author Drawers These drawers house books and activities to go with each author that we study throughout the year. I begin with Kevin Henkes and end with Eric Carle. The kids really enjoy learning about the different authors and illustrators. These are great for teaching about writing styles and genres. They are also very FUN! We recently studied Laura Joffe Numeroff and of course had to have special snacks each week to fit the theme of the books! Please check out the new Author Studies page for info.  Classroom Supply Bins
crayons, lost and found, kleenex
dry erase markers, erasers, boards
scrap paper, markers, erasers
glue sticks, scissors, glue
 Classroom bookshelves
These units are double-sided. The front side will house materials for the kids to use. The back side will be for storage of materials not being used at the time. I will update this pic as I change things around. I have so many ideas floating around in my head! My plan is to have ALL math tubs/games in this area and ALL Daily 5 Word Work activities housed by the ABC tubs on the tall bookshelf.
I have ordered some storage drawers and will post a pic as soon as they are set up!   Daily Lesson Plan Organizer
I absolutely LOVE this thing. I purchased it at Lowe's in the summer of 2009. It holds all of the lesson materials (manipulatives, worksheets, games, books, teacher manuals) for each day for 1 whole week. Each Wednesday and Thursday I make copies of lesson materials for the following week and then on Friday I pull all of the necessary materials to place into the drawers. Then I am all set to go! It's also great if I have a guest teacher. All that's needed is to type up some plans and then I'm set!
 Teacher desk area (before organization!)
I have organized a LOT since this photo was taken. I will post a new pic!
 My desk is hiding behind our NEW cubbies. (2009)
The slotted area at the top will hold the kids' reading folders.
The bottom has cubicles for plastic bins which will be used
for individual reading group boxes. **I will add a picture of these in use!** Check out the new pic below  Reading Cubbies The slots are labeled with each student's name. These house their reading folders. The tubs are also labeled with names and they hold the students' Royal Reading crowns and familiar books. **update for 2010-2011** I am planning to have kids keep their Dolch word cards, study booklets, and lists in their reading tubs for working on during small group time. You can find all of these materials here: http://theschoolbell.com/Links/Dolch/Contents.html  Monthly Teaching Drawers
When this pic was posted I hadn't used them yet. Now, after using them, I can honestly say I LOVE THEM DEARLY! No more looking for that leprechaun hat project or the mitten patterns, etc. Everything needed is in its own special drawer, including books to read for that month's theme or holiday! I also just finished cleaning out all of my extra copies of worksheets, etc. I used Debbie Diller's idea of keeping 1 master copy and marking it with a yellow highlighter. (The mark doesn't show when copied! Who knew?? I also just discovered that you can copy through those little clear plastic page protectors! WOW! No more pulling papers in and out of those things.) I have DRASTICALLY reduced the paper clutter in my room and will be feverishly working to get it all OUT before school ends.
**update** Well, I got MOST of the stuff organized before school ended. I was blessed to have files left for me from the previous tenant of this room who retired. However, I then faced the task of weeding through everything. I decided to become ruthless in my quest for my own file space and donated boxes of stuff to the teacher's lounge in the hopes that someone else would benefit as well. I will be spending time over the 2010 summer finishing my organization of materials. Oh, how I organization! The mess that is my room when beginning set-up! August 2009  Guided Reading Area
I will post a new pic as soon as I can get back into my room. So much has changed in this area it's just plain ridiculous! (This photo was taken in August before we got our new furniture.) Our grade level was fortunate to be able to order Leveled Reading carts in 2009. I LOVE mine! There is a pic posted below.  Guided Reading Leveled Library Cart This houses levels A-0, plus whisper phones (in P-R). The bins are guaranteed for LIFE! (In case you're interested, the letters I attached to each bin were purchased from Staples. I punched them out, laminated and attached with tape.) Here's a link: http://www.callowayhouse.com/proddetail.asp?sku=65011&sgrade=-1&egrade=12&search=leveled+book+cart&selection=search&selectcat=&multi_skus=&skip=1  My storage tubs
I sold my primary colored tubs to a wonderful 1st grade colleague and replaced them with clear tubs which are labeled. There is a new pic below.
 Manipulative storage tubs Each tub is labeled using Avery 8160 labels. These hold pattern blocks, linking cubes, colored sticks, Wrap-Ups, Hot Dots, rulers, playing cards for games, Bingo chips, etc. I will be adding to these in the fall of 2010. (Have you noticed how much I containers?)  Daily 5 Choice Charts These are our 2 charts organized by reading group. Each group makes 2-3 choices for Daily 5 Reading and Writing time while I meet with my Guided Reading Groups. 1 choice is Meet with Teacher, which I place into each group's choice chart. The students make their choices around the Meet with Teacher card when they come in the morning. The choice cards are housed in a little organizer. The choices are: Read to Self, Read to Someone, Listen to Reading, Work on Words, Work on Writing, Meet with Teacher, Work on Computer, and Free Choice. The first 5 choices are the Daily 5 standards, the other 3 are ones that were added. To learn more about Daily 5, follow this link: http://www.thedailycafe.com/public/department38.cfm  Daily 5 Choice Cards Holders This is what I use to hold the individual cards for each Daily 5 Choice. I got mine from Highlights Magazine for FREE (who doesn't love that???), but you can order the one above from Lakeshore Learning. It works great! Each container holds a class set of 1 of the choices. I printed the choice cards from Christina Bainbridge's site. You can purchase the cards at: http://www.teachingoasis.com/languagearts.htm#dailyfive  Our birthday chart
 Word Work Pocket Chart
Underneath are crates with different activities.
These include: ABC order Sequence pictures Upper and Lowercase matching Match the picture and the beginning sound Build 3-letter words What Goes Together The activities are stored in vinyl zippered pencil pouches and have a color picture showing the activity in the window of each pouch. The kids can easily see how to do the activity and where to put it back. Some of these ideas were taken from Jessica Meacham. I her too! Here is a link to her site: http://www.jmeacham.com/Writing Station Pocket Chart This station houses all of the papers needed
for our Daily Five "Work on Writing" choice. It includes: 3 different types of writing paper Make a list Write a poem Write the Room Write directions Write a story Make a book Make a card Make a postcard Write a letter There is also a pocket for writing ideas flipbooks Each pocket has a card labeled with the activity. The icon on the card matches the icon on the paper.  Student Book Boxes
These are ice bins which house our reproducible color and cut books.
Students take the books home in a gallon Ziploc bag at Christmas and in May.
 Student Cubby
Each cubby houses a book bin, a pictionary and the student's B.E.E. Book.
 Weekly Student Jobs
 Library Cards Chart
 Lunch Choice/Attendance Chart
As students enter the room each morning, they move their card to hot or cold lunch. Later, I go over and count up the cards and send the info. to the office.
 Word Wall
  The Word Wall begins with students' names, teacher's name,
and school activity names (library, art, music, p.e., lunch, recess)
I make my word wall cards on Avery pull-apart business cards.
Then I laminate and attach sticky-back magnets. The kids take home their name cards at the end of the year.
 Our reading incentive bugs These hold individual incentive charts. Students took home reproducible books, read them to their parents, had the parents sign the books and then returned them to earn stickers on their charts. When the chart was filled, students chose a prize from the treasure chest. Some of the choices were free computer time coupons, special pencils or erasers, stencils, and bookmarks.  Cooperative Learning with math games These girls are playing "Bump", a popular choice during math games time. Students compute the sum of 2 dice and then find that sum on the gameboard. If that number has been covered by another player's piece, it can be "bumped" off by the opponent. If the other player has 2 pieces on the number, their playing pieces are safe and the opponent can't place one of their pieces. The kids really enjoy bumping each other off and I enjoy hearing the giggles when someone gets bumped! Here is a link to where I found a lot of useful games: http://kidscount1234.com/  Our room in action The class is working on their 100 Days Journal writing prompt, shown on the Promethean (Pro) Board (just got the board a few days before school began - the board!). We did this each morning as students entered the room. At the end of 100 days, they took their journals home. They make a nice keepsake. Spring bulletin board - Spring Has Sprung We made coffee filter butterflies. Below the bulletin board is our Classroom quilt in the middle (Each student made a block about themselves at the beginning of the year and then I hole-punched and tied each block together. My block is in the middle.) and to the sides are the plant diagrams we made during our unit on plants. More photos to come as I set up for next year. I can hardly wait to get started! |
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