Classroom Reveal ~ First Grade

Wow! We are over a week into school and I am totally exhausted!  This is a great group of kids and we have had a ton of fun this first week.  We've had a fun time getting back into the routine and we have pretty much hit the ground running!

Here is a tour of our classroom this year.  My theme was stars last year and I decided after all the money and energy I put into it last summer that I would keep it the same and just add to what I already had.  I just try to focus on having a room that is bright and homey... somewhere they kids want to be considering how much time they are there each day!

View from the door.

The flowers on the window blocks are going to be our dead words for the year.  The dead word is in the middle and the petals will have our interesting words.  As we find new words to use, I will write the words on the petals.

To the left is where I keep all of my "teacher" stuff.  All of my files, manuals, books, and materials are kept back here.   We don't really have traditional teacher desks in our primary building. Below is the word work station.  There are NWF word sorts, stamps, CVC and word family activities to start off the year.                                                                     

The writing center below has whole class writing journals and the little trashcan has writing prompts in it.  They kids just pull out a writing prompt from the little trashcan.  There is a cabinet behind this area that holds all sorts of writing paper, pre-made books, scrap paper and writing utensils.

The rug area below is where we gather.  I keep the Venn Diagram pocket chart hung up all year.  The student book boxes are in the window.  Once we get our rules down, they will all pick books in their level to keep in their boxes and their pictures will be on their boxes.

 This board is for our vocabulary we are working on this week.  Once we have studied it, it either moves to the word wall or the math vocabulary wall.

Our jobs board for this year.

Our classroom library... I have some rugs in the tub to the right that kids can take around the room to sit and read on.  The white shelf with Clifford on top is all organized by character (Clifford, Pigeon, Biscuit, etc.) the shelf to the left is organized by AR reading level.  I have other books that I don't let the kids get into because I want them kept where I can find them easily and I know they won't get torn up or accidentally taken home.

 The "BRAVO" board is right above the library/cubby area.  This is where we display work that deserves a BRAVO! 

Common Core Math Graphs for this Quarter

Transportation Clip Chart

Guided Reading & Math Area.  Materials are kept on the shelf behind the table.

Math Center... just a few materials to start off the year.

End of the Year Goals with star graphs and Daily Learning Objectives.

There are 22 kids in our class this year.  I saw this idea on Pinterest to out down the  student's numbers on the floor to mark where they line up.  Everyone has a personal spot, no fighting over "cutting", no standing on top of each other, no rushing to be first.  It has worked wonders this year!  I just took stars, wrote the numbers on them and put them down with packing tape.  I left a space for line leader and caboose and you can see the line actually turns to an l and goes the other way.  This has taken care of a lot of problems!

Listening Center... I keep the books with CD's/Tapes in the crate under the table.  I switch them around throughout the year and put them in file folders that match their Guided Reading group's color.  They know to pick out books that are in folders that match their groups color.  The folders on the table also match their group colors.  They have graphic organizers that can be used with any book and are on the level of that group.

Here is the lunch choice board.  You can click on the picture above and it will take you to Stephanie's lunch choice pictures which are seriously one of my favorite things ever.  We have 5 lunch choices this year and this has saved me a ton of time.  I just clip the pictures to the box and they put their sticks in whatever their choice for the day is.

I am excited about this year.  Thanks for checking out our room!  We are ready for a great year!

Stephany

Essential Vocabulary

Explicit! Essential! Challenging! Interesting!  All of these are terms used to describe the vocabulary we are teaching in our classrooms.  If you are like me, I just don't know what words to teach and when to teach them.  Well, not anymore.  I found the Essential Vocabulary list for Kindergarten Common Core.  I created a color-coded packet of these vocabulary words for Language Arts and Math.  (These links will take you to the Indiana Department of Education... Scroll to the bottom to view the list.)  This doesn't mean that I will only teach these words.  This will be my "guide" when determining what vocabulary words my students must know.  Click any of the pictures below to go directly to my TpT store.  These are just a few samples.  There are a total of 49 pages in the purchased packet.

Endless Possibilities,
Stephanie

Kindergarten Classroom

I like visiting other blogs to see how primary teachers display student work in their classrooms.  I have included some pictures of my classroom in this post.  The palm tree in the picture was inspired from Mrs. Jump's Blog.  Click here to view the directions from her site.  I use the palm tree to display student vocabulary.  You may notice the Frayer model chart next to the tree.  The Frayer model is used to introduce vocabulary.

The rainbow behavior chart was inspired from Mrs. Lee's Kindergarten.  Click here to see how she uses it in her classroom.  I use it with our school-wide PBIS system.  It is a positive visual for my kiddos to view behavior.  When students complete their rainbow, they get to visit the "pot of gold".  The pot of gold is what I call the prize box.

Learning Objectives

I created this posterboard to display my daily learning objectives.  The sentence strips are dry-erase.  It makes it easy to change daily.

Neato-Cheeto

The "Neato-Cheeto" board is used to display student work.  Before I begin, I tell my kiddos, "This paper is for a Neato-Cheeto".  If a student does his/her best work, I stamp it with a NEATO.  (I had the stamp custom made.)  The student then gets to display his/her work on the Neato board.  Lastly, the student gets to visit the Cheeto canister to get 2 Cheetos to eat!  What child wouldn't be motivated for Cheetos?
Endless Possibilities, Stephanie

Volcanoes

In kindergarten, we teach Saxon Phonics.  Last week was letter V week.  In the past, we have planted vegetables and studied plants.  This year, I decided to teach a unit on volcanoes.  The kids were so excited.  We created an explosion with Diet Coke and Mentos.  We also made a volcano erupt with baking soda and vinegar.  After creating the two eruptions, students created a Venn diagram comparing the two eruptions.  I have included a few photos from our volcano week.  If you are interested you can find the unit here.

Label a Volcano

Venn Diagram Comparing Experiments

Vocabulary

Explosive Explicit Vocabulary


If you purchase this unit, be sure to leave feedback and a comment.

Endless Possibilities, Stephanie