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Classroom Tour

Classroom Overview

I'm still working on a few new projects for my room this year, but this is what I have so far.

Word Wall

I have a Word Wall in my classroom. It is actually an environmental print wall, but I call it a Word Wall since that is what the students will call it from Kindergarten up until 6th grade. I have words (usually with a picture) that I have cut out that I know that students are familar with. I also encourage students to cut out words at home (from cereal boxes, toy boxes, movie boxes, etc) and bring them in to put on the Word Wall. 

 

I start the Word Wall by first putting all of the students names on it. After everyone's name is on the wall, we switch to environmental print words.

Classroom Helpers

Everyday during opening circle time I pick the classroom helpers for the day. I purposely do not have enough jobs so that everyone can have a turn every day. I think it's good for kids to learn to take turns. I write all the students' names on a piece of construction paper (the same color as their class color). I write their front name on one side and their last name on the other side.

 

Picking classroom helpers is when I teach a lot of important literacy concepts. At this age, children are interested in names, so it helps to teach these concepts while using names because it is meaningful for the students. We work on letter recognition, letter sounds, syllables, blending, and rhyming. For example, I pull out a name and show it to the students and say, "Parker! Parker starts with the letter P! Can you say P?" As the weeks go on and the students start know each others names and recognize them on the paper, I would change and say, "This person is wearing pink. This person starts with the letter K. You're right, it's Katie!" Once the students start to learn the letters in their friends' name, I switch to letter sounds. I'll say, "This person starts with the 'mmm' sound. Yes, it's Madison!" I try to keep the students engaged and make it fun for them. 

 

My Classroom Helpers are:

 

  • Pointer Helper: This student uses a pointer (a wooden dowel with a hand on the end) to help us count the answers for Question of the Day.

 

  • Bell Ringer: Rings the bell to signal the end of recess

 

  • Door Holder: Holds the door open for everyone when we come in from recess.

 

  • Snack Helper: Helps set out the cups and napkins for snack. If we make kool aid that day, then they also get to pick the flavor of kool aid. 

 

  • Line Leader: First in line.

 

  • Word Wall: Every day we add a new word to our Word Wall (It's actually an environmental print wall, but I call it a word wall). I have a bucket by my rocking chair that I put familar words in that the students can recognize. The Word Wall Helper gets to pick a word from the bucket to put on the Word Wall. 

 

  • Head Tapper: This student lightly taps everyone's head at the end of the day. When their head gets tapped, they can go get their backpabk and line up to go home. 

 

 

  • Storytime Helper: Picks a book from the Classroom Library that we read for Storytime. 

 

  • Bike Helper: I have two of these helpers. They ride one of the tricycles out to recess. 

Classroom Rules

Quiet Games

After the students answer the Question of the Day, they can choose a game from the "Q Shelf" to play (Q stands for Quiet). These are games/toys that the students can mostly complete independently. I do this because the initial drop off to school can get a little crazy, so it's good to have some games/activities that will keep the students busy while I deal with the chaos.

 

As you can see, the shelf is labeled with Q's and all of the games on the shelf have Q's on them so the students know where they go when they are done.

Writing Names

The first month or so of school the students are working on recognizing their name, so all they have to do is find their name on the table and put it under their answer for the Question of the Day. In November we start tracing names to help the students learn how to draw lines and curves. In December we work on writing names from only using a model. So the students grab their name tag and use that as a model to help them write their names. In March, if the student seems ready, we do not let them use their name tag to write their name and work on writing names independently. A great resource that I discovered a few years ago is dry-erase sentence strips. It saves me a lot of money because I can just erase their name and use it again.

Question of the Day

My students write their name every day and use their name to answer the Question of the Day. I try to make the question relate to the lesson we are doing that day. (To see examples of my questions click here). Later in the day, during large group carpet time, we dicuss the Question of the Day and count how many people answered yes and how many answered no.

Name Tags

As you can see in the above pictures, my students wear name tags every day at school. The name tags are made out of placemats that I found at Walmart and Kmart. I cut the placemat into pencil shapes and write their names on them. I love using placemats because they are pretty durable and most kids only go through one name tag a year. I think it is important to wear name tags because names are the most important thing to kids at this age. It helps the other students learn letters if they can associate them with their friends' names. At the beginning of the year, some students CONSTANTLY take off their name tag and say they don't want to wear it. I am firm and always put the name tag back on. After a few weeks they don't fight me anymore.

Cubbies

Each student has a cubby. This is where I put notes that need to go home and the students put drawings or other projects that they have made during the day to take home. My students only come twice a week, so I actually have four differnet classes, so I color coordinate my classes to make it easier to organize. The cubby has a di-cut crayon with the student's name and picture on it.

Home to School Chart

The first thing my studnets do when they arrive at school is move their name from "Home" to "School." I went to a conference a few years ago where the speaker talked about how since the rules at home and school are so different from each other, that the students need a physical act to switch their brain from home to school mode. This helps the students know that they are at school now and must follow the school rules, and more importantly, the teacher! It also helps the students recognize who is not at school today. My students look at the chart every day and comment on who is still at home.

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