Classroom Reveal 2015!

It's my favorite kind of post... the annual classroom reveal!

 

 

I'm linking up with the awesome teacher authors over at blog hoppin' for classroom tour Wednesday!

 

The last couple of years my classroom has looked pretty much the same. The layout has been very similar, the colors were the same, etc. This year I updated my colors, added some new things, and moved some things around!

 

Before I start the tour, here are a few of the before shots:

 

 

We had to take everything down for painting, so it was a big undertaking this year!

 

Well, without further ado, let the tour begin!

 

 

Here is the inside of the front door. The crates hold the books for when the kids are waiting outside in the morning as well as the bins for them to put their guided reading books in when they get unpacked. Above the bubbies I have the compliment jar and the classroom community frame where I post pictures from around the classroom. The kids LOVE to show their parents the pictures when they come in!

 

 

Moving further along the back wall, we have my student work display and student cubbies. The student work displays are made with fadeless paper and corkboard circles that I painted green. I use the green tubs for task cards, sorts, puzzles, etc.

 

 

 Here is where I store regularly used supplies and paper. The pocket chart serves double duty as a poetry center and a phonics sorting center.

 

 

This is the listening center with the crate seats my mom and I made a few years ago. They have held up really well!

 

 

This is my absolute favorite spot! I love my library!

 

I got the marquee letters on clearance at Joann's and added the pom-poms and quotes to make it feel more homey.

 



 

I use the tall bookshelf to store leveled readers, magazines, dictionaries, and chapter books.

 The canvases on the far left are some of our favorite characters. I plan on making an Elephant and Piggie one to add to the collection this year!

Here is the other side of the library. Books are numbered and kept in these bins. I also have little rugs the kids can take for a reading spot, whisper phones, fluency strips, and some nonfiction books that I wrote.

 

 

Just on the other side of the library is the door to the pod I share with the best pod-mate ever, Jen!

 

On the door is my birthday display. Student birthdays go on gift tags that I attach to the month presents.

 

On the wall is my comprehension challenge board. The kids can earn points for completing reading comprehension activities. This is the first year that I have done this, so I'm not 100% sure on the details yet, but I think they will enjoy the challenge!

 

 

I rescued this unclaimed glider on the last day of school last year and my mom was kind enough to recover it for me. I don't use it all the time (mainly for read-alouds), but I love it all the same!

 

Behind my chair is the basket where we keep the scoop rockers. I picked them up at Walmart over the summer for less than $5 each and the kids LOVE them! I figured that they would always be secondary to the library seating, but they seem to be the favorite spot to read so far!

 

 

This is the front of the room. The black rug is new and I got the blue and green spots from Sit Spots. I love that they are functional and look like polka dots!

 

 

Just in front of the rug is the bulletin board where I keep the center chart and calendar. The share chair got a bit of a makeover this year!

 

 

I store supplies for quick phonemic awareness and math activities on this black table. I also have the jar I use for calling on students (the star jar, each student's cubby number is on a star) :)

 

 

This is my teacher corner, complete with flamingo desk skirt and collection!

 

 

This is my guided reading area. I made the bucket seats this year. They were pretty short, so I had to lower the table quite a bit. It makes me feel very short when I sit there!

 

 

 

 

Here is my bulletin board for classroom rules and school expectations.

 

 

This is the word work center-

 

 

-all supplies they may need for word work are kept here. I wanted to try to reduce the amount of time it took for students to transition between centers, so I keep crayons, pencils, etc. here.

 

 

I added lanterns this year as table signs.

 

 Each table has a bookshelf for supplies that we use a lot. They have really reduced transition times!

 Well, that's it for my tour this year! I hope you have enjoyed the peek into my classroom. Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Monday Made-it: Bucket seats, fluency strips, and a back to school freebie!

Well, the time has come... the first teacher work day! Based on the schedule we received last week, it looks like we will have quite a bit of time to work in our classrooms before met the teacher on Friday.

 

 I was hoping to have my classroom finished for my post today, but I clearly underestimated the amount of time it would take. It will definitely be ready for next Monday's post though!

Before I show you my made-its, I have to mention what I got in the mail last week...

 

this beautiful sign from TallahasseeSunday! They customized it to match my classroom colors and it looks absolutely amazing on my classroom door!

 

 

 

 

I just finished putting together the gifts that I am giving my students as a welcome present.

 

 

 

I made a couple of cute tags to go with the bubbles and the glow bracelets and put them in these pretty bags.

 

 

Naturally, the bags had to match my classroom colors!

 

You can grab the gift tags freebie here!

 

Next up, I have my new way to store the fluency strips I bought from the Moffatt Girls last year.

 

I originally had them hanging on magnetic hooks on the side of a metal bookshelf, but that was when I only had 10 sets made. There was no way all 30 were going to fit!

 

I ended up cutting some foam board to fit in my library windows, adding some cork board to the front, and covering both with felt.

 

 

I added some pushpin hooks and voila! I love how bright and colorful they look!

 

 

This next made-it was a quick update to an old project.

 

 

I made this ribbon wreath a few years ago (see the original how-to post here), but it didn't really match my colors any more.

 

 

I ended up adding some new turquoise loops so that it would tie in better with the new color scheme. Nothing big, just a quick fix. :) 

 

I am VERY excited about this made-it... bucket seats!

 

I started with some plain 5 gallon paint buckets from Home Depot.

 

The first (and hardest!) part was to get these gigantic safety labels off the sides.

 

 

I used nail polish remover to get the top layer off, then got the remaining adhesive goo off with WD-40. It took a big chunk of one afternoon and was a pretty smelly process!

 

 

My mom was kind enough to cover the paint bucket lids with the foam, batting, and fabric.

 

Naturally, a bucket with a fabric top wasn't enough for me, so I added a band of the fabric with a flower.

 

 

 What do you think?!

 

 

 

That's it for this week! Make sure you check out the made-its at the 4th grade frolics link-up!

 



Classroom Tour 2014!

Well, here it is! I have FINALLY finished my classroom and have the pictures to prove it! For some strange reason it took me longer this year than it ever has before, even though this is the first year I am returning to both the same grade level and same room!

Here we go!

This is the inside view of the front door.

Last year we read a story in our reading series where the characters were decorating their classroom and the writing prompt that came with it was- "What could you do to make your classroom a brighter place?" For the most part, my poor little friends were at a loss! I did have one student who came up with the idea for adding border around the front door and he was SO excited when he came in the next day to see that I had added it!

 

Here we have my hall/media center passes, guided reading baskets, snack basket and turn-in bins.

This is the back wall of my classroom. I have three "bulletin boards" I created out of fadeless paper with scrapbook paper and clothespins for hanging work. I have the pocket chart that my mom made me a couple of years ago for content area vocabulary and our supply station.

 

 

This is a close-up of the cubbies, I used ribbon along the edges to fancy them up a bit. The back of the cubbies is covered with black wrapping paper that I added polka dots to.

 

 

I keep textbooks and our reading series materials in the extra cubbies. I covered them with the wrapping paper so that it looks a bit neater.

 

 

 

Here is our supply area. I am very picky about how we keep supplies, especially extra crayons! They are organized by color into the small drawers so they are easy to find.

 

 

This is our writing/notebooking area. We keep our portfolios here too.

 

 

Right by my writing center I have my listening center set up. I use the crate seats to store extra supplies and listening center stories. The black on the table is a vinyl table cover my mom made for me last year. We also display our sight word scoops on the wall here. The flower is something I made last year- once I get the mini stickers of my student's yearbook pictures, I add them to the wreath.

 

 

Here are my supply cabinets. I use them to display classroom jobs, behavior chart, table points, homework club, brownie points, hall of fame, student of the month, related arts schedule, and my noise level chart. We also have our mailboxes here.

 

 

I added the bathmat under our behavior chart because I was tired of the magnets falling apart whenever a student dropped one on the floor. It works wonders!

 

 

This is my pride and joy, my library! The rug, ottoman, and green bean bag are all new this year. The tree is our reading tree, we add a leaf with the title of every book we read together throughout the year. It is pretty full by June!

 

 

 

This is my birthday display. Students get their name and birthdate on a tag on the present for their month. Below that we have my classroom community display. We add pictures throughout the year. That is probably one of the most popular things that kids show their parents on student led conference nights!

 

 

 

I will need to get a better picture of this, it came out pretty blurry. This is my word work station and word wall.

 

 

I used scrapbook paper for the back and black giftwrap ribbon to section them off.

 

 

 This is the front board. I display my activity direction cards on the far left and the learning goal/scale on the right.

 

 

Here we have my center board and center group display. I also have my share chair (which needs a few minor repairs) and my brag tag display.

 

 

 

I keep my brag tags organized in the drawers. The students are responsible for hanging their brag tag back up on their number at the end of the day.

 

 
This is my desk area. I keep my teacher stool right next to my desk so that it is close to the rug and perfectly positioned for using the document camera. The white drawers by the window are going to be for our classroom tablets.

Here is my guided reading area. I have the gigantic science kits covered with the green felt to form a table of sorts. My TEs/materials are stored on the bookshelf behind the felt curtain.

 

 
Here are my student computers. Please excuse the mess of wires, I can't stand setting them up every year so I always leave them until last... :)  I have my classroom and school rules on the bulletin board overhead. I like it there because it is something I will never have to change!

The baskets are something new this year. I attached them to the felt-covered foam board to store student headphones. I have my mystery walker poster/chart on the wall as well as my new reminder board.

 

 

 
This is the group table. It is most often used for guided reading extension. My center groups are not the same as my guided reading group, so I just send my guided reading group here to work on their extension activity. I also use it on those days when we have to split a class and I end up with extra students. The pocket chart stand (laundry rack!) holds chart paper on one side and our 120 pocket chart on the other.


Last, but certainly not least, I have my table supply shelves. I have made some modifications to them this year (including a removal of the polka dots/fresh coat of paint), but you can read about how I use them here .

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

Well, there it is! I am really happy with my classroom this year. It was a TON of work to get set up, but the kids and parents have all seemed to like it so far!

 

 Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

 

Victoria