I’m super excited to slide down to first grade this year! I’ve waited seven years to go back to my favorite grade level! Today I’m taking you on a tour of my first grade classroom and the different things I have going on in the room. My theme this year is Outer Space, so everything centers around that and my color scheme. You can learn more about how to choose your own classroom by clicking here, but FIRST, let’s look at my room for this year!
So, just a few things as we “walk” through my classroom. As I said I’m teaching first grade this year. Another important note is that I’m also doing flexible seating.
FLEXIBLE SEATING
I know there are many questions around flexible seating and how it works. Everyone has a different approach and the bottom line is that you have to find the way that you are most comfortable with and the way it works best with your students. If you are a newer teacher, I would also recommend that you work on classroom management and have that down before adding flexible seating into the mix if you are not 100% sure how you would like to run it.
So what seats do I have in my room? I have balance balls, stools, crate seats, pillows, a heightened table, chairs, and carpet areas. I allow students to pick their seat for the day and we change it up daily. This is great incentive to get students to class on time.
For Kindergarten or for students who have trouble with self control, you may consider letting them choose their spot based on the task. For instance, Students A and Student B go to a spot, then send Student C and Student D and so on. Students get about ten seconds to choose their spot and get there or you choose for them. Also, once they have chosen they cannot change unless you change them because they are unable to handle that spot.
READING AREAS
The second thing to note is that I use reading areas. The places for students to collaborate and read are all around the room. I know there are many people who have amazing and elaborate libraries that I am always in awe of. That doesn’t work as well for me. My library is split up and placed around my room in tubs. The containers are (or will be – I’m still sorting and organizing with additions since the grade level switch) labeled based on leveling and subject.
Organizing books this way does two things for my kids. The first is that if they take a book and need to put it back its a little easier to remember where it goes because they can remember the section of the room it came from. Secondly, it helps to spread kids out when they are picking books because there aren’t ten of them clustered all in one spot. Instead they are in small clusters searching in their bins. I do have some bookshelves with books as well, but I will pull containers from these and systematically move them around the room based on my students’ needs as the year progresses.
The area above is the reading area with chairs in the corner of the room by my Brag Tag board. Below is another area near the window. Back in this area is where I house our class pet, math centers, and I also have my word wall on the cabinets.
This photo is of the back of my room.You can see more flexible seating here. There are stools at raised desks that are clustered. I also have another reading area/grouping of tire seats. These seats are clustered around my math center area, but will be used for math and reading.
You can click the image or click here for a quick “How To” on making these awesome tire chairs.
I also have a table with six balance balls. I set my balance balls on pool rings to hold them in place. The balance balls and rings came from Five Below. You can get 4 rings for $3 which will work for 4 of the balance balls. I also have two carpets that I put together for kids to lay on. Many students like to lay on their stomachs and work and this can actually prove good for handwriting for students who struggle as they can keep their arm level with the floor.
BLANK BOARDS
Let’s talk bulletin boards! I LOVE bulletin boards! The more creative the better, the more I can put on them to make them cute I love! However, I restrain myself in this area. I put up boards that will coordinate and work all year instead of changing them for seasons or events. On top of this kids come in to blank boards.
Why blank boards? I like to designate these areas and give students a place to know where things are going, but I also want them to be part of that process. Thus, I leave my boards blank and we add to them together as we work on things. By the end of the first week I will have student work on one of the boards above the computers. The board below actually.
Then the board above my lockers will hold anchor charts and other tools and things we are using for learning that are pertinent to our current content. You can see that board below here, and you will notice it has two sections so we can organize those anchor charts and learning tools.
Also, as I point out this board, I want to point out the bookshelves on the tops of the cubbies. One might ask, why do that? Well, I have a little problem…its called “Out of sight, out of mind” and on the same token I want things organized and out of reach until I’m ready for them to be reached. To combat these issues I put some shelves up high where I can reach things and I can see my resources that are boxed. It looks organized, and I have a visual reminder of the things I have to use instead of them being shoved in the back of a cabinet where I can’t see them.
My awesome husband also redid this coffee table for me. We sanded down the edges and rounded them due to some damage to the table and then I put pillows on the bottom shelf for students to pull out and sit on as they work. You’ll also note the carpet is taped to the floor. This was a great idea shared with me by a coworker. My rug had started to curl on the ends. I duct taped it to the floor and no more curl and it stays in place.
This is my last bulletin board. It is in the back of the room. The center section has pocket charts for our schedule and some rotations. I actually have three pocket charts up for rotations of different things including guided reading, guided math, and morning rotations for morning tubs.
Another fun thing I came across this year was a scarf ring holder at Ikea ($5). I am using it to hold my flip books and rings of cards etc. Right now it only has one short a book on it. As we cover more content and hone in on certain skills I will add and remove from it accordingly.
Here is a close up look at it.
The last area I want to show you is the front of the room. There is a lot going on at the front as it is where we will gather most of the time.
At the front we have the calendar up. I only have a small one here because I use a digital calendar to review math skills and other daily skills (SMART Kinder Kids is my go-to for my digital calendars.) I also have my objectives on laminated paper. Here is an up close of them.
And then I have an alphabet and numbers above the board. Here is a close up of the alphabet and number line.
You can find the numbers in multiple colors in my store online here. The alphabet came from a local teacher store. I also have star LED lights around the board that change color and light up. These can be over stimulating to some children and will not stay on all the time, but will be on for special occasions and as a reward depending on how students react to them.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the tour of my room this week! You can hop over to Facebook to my page Smart Puppy Learning to view the video tour as well.
Wishing everyone a great year!
