Classroom Updates 2013

We started back to school on Monday! I tried to start off full speed, but I was quickly reminded that pregnant ladies can't move desks, totes full of books, or a 15' x 30' rug. I was glad to have the whole week to get things pulled back together. It was great to have a strong helper to come move all the big things and put together the new student mailboxes I ordered! Thanks hubby! 

My teacher desk. We moved it so that I have more room at the calendar & carpet. 

Fun teacher binder cover that I made this summer, the wonderful mint green binder is from our school. Each wing has its own color K-2 is mint green, 3-5 baby blue and 6-8 lavender.

 View from my desk into the room. My rainbow table is cover with my left over to-do items & giant poster paper. 

My love corner with all my teacher gifts & family pics. 

 The rest of my room from my desk. So happy I can see almost EVERYTHING this year. 

 Behind the rainbow table- Sight Word/Turtle Word drawers with games, flashcards, and other materials. More room to put out the rest of my Intervention & small group materials. 

Sight Word Tracker- Each student will track his/her own progress as they master pages of our Sight Word/Turtle Word packet. I haven't written in student names yet, because my class list usually changes for the first month or month and a half of school. 

 Inspirational wall- this is where we put up our Daily 5 poster, but it will be a few months before we get to that. 

 

 Daily schedule (so far)- We are still working on some details as a Kindergarten team. Excited to have lunch & recess coverage this year! 

Schedule cards from Firstgradeparade.blogspot.com  

 ELA materials- mostly used during Daily 5 and will be rotated throughout the year. 

Shelves are from Target $40-50 each. 

Cookie sheets from Dollar Tree $1 each. 

Math materials- same as ELA shelves. Lots of math manipulatives from the ThinkMath! program. 

 Our school uses CHAMPS as a classroom management tool. I LOVE CHAMPS, it really helps anchor the kiddos. 

C- Conversation- what is the voice level? 

H- Help- how will I get help? 

A- Activity- what am I working on? 

M- Movement- how will we move, or where will we be? 

P- Participation - I write the I can statement here. 

S- Social Contract- what are we working on this week? (Each week the students pick one thing of the Social Contract to practice) 

For more on CHAMPS or Social Contract visit Capturing Kids Hearts with the Flippen Group

Another view of CHAMPS, our Open Court letter cards and the American Sign Language Alphabet. The Kindergarteners really LOVE learning the signs for each letter. It is AWESOME when we start sounding out words I can just hold up the sign for the letter and the kids can check the alphabet cards. 

Classroom jobs-  I used clip-art from different documents that I have downloaded from TPT, like the schedule cards or other job charts. We will use clothespins to show who has what job each week. 

 The start of my paper lanterns. I bought the rest from Party City this weekend :) The one's hanging are a great garage sale find! Yes, the green floof-floof will be coming down. 

 Calendar- So happy with the rainbow boarder!

- Hundreds chart 

- Number of the day 

- Daily Depositor 

- Calendar 

- Today's weather 

- Clock

 - Just finished the months of the year 

to post at the top of the calendar in the empty yellow space.

- Touch Point & Ten Frame posters to fill in the rest of my calendar & number-line area above the yellow counting by 5's number-line. 

 Word Wall- This is one of my favorite areas in my classroom. The wall is covered in felt (bought from Joann). Each sight word that is added to the word wall has Velcro on the back, that way the students can go to the word wall, get the word they need, take it to their seat, then put it back when they're done. It really helps 5 & 6 year-olds use the word wall instead of looking up and down and trying to keep track of where they are. 

Writing Center- This is currently what I have set up as our Writing Center. I had a table here before with a shelving unit/ paper sorter on top. The table was taken for use elsewhere in the building and the shelving unit/ paper sorter was damaged over the summer. I'm still working with this to see how to make it the most functional. 

 Cubbies- Each student gets a cubby and 1 hook underneath. It gets kinda messy underneath because the kids backpacks, coats, sweaters, lunchboxes etc., get tangled together. At the beginning of the year I write the student's names on their cubby tags, later on the students will write their own names. Each cubby also has a blue pencil box to hold the student's reward coupons or Taylor Tokens (which are used at the school store). 

 

 Beginning of the Year Goals- As part of our curriculum students must make, track and reflect on personal goals. Each student will choose one goal at a time to work on. When then master the goal they will earn a sticker on their name card/tag that is displayed on the goal chart. (Again I haven't written out name cards because my class list isn't finalized yet). 

Goals: 

- Follow Social Contract 

- Write Name & Date on papers 

- Use SLANT (Sit-up, Listen, Ask questions, Nod, Track the speaker)... basically.. sit up and look at the teacher/presenter while he/she is talking. 

- Remember Morning Routine (Hang up Backpack, put away Folder, tell Lunch choice, start Do-Now)

- Independence 

- Keep materials and space neat 

Daily Folders- these tubs will be put on the floor each morning in front of the mailboxes so the students can reach to file their folders into a hanging green file. I didn't think the kids would be able to do this, but they can! It makes pack up so much better, faster, and if a kid has to leave they can quickly grab their folder without digging through 28 others. 

Mailboxes- I used hand-me-down cardboard mailboxes last year to test out this idea. I LOVE the MAILBOXES!!!! Way easier for me and the kiddos and no lost papers in the great abyss of cubbies. 

* How is your classroom coming along? 

* When do your kiddos show up? 

* Am I the only one that doesn't feel ready?!?