Classroom Reveal 2016-2017

Classroom Reveal 2016-2017

This is now my 4th year teaching, and I finally feel like I *somewhat* know what I am doing most of the time. I am no longer in the survival mode and drowning in the exhaustion from my first year, and after a few years of tweaking I have finally figured out a layout and system for my classroom that works! 

I love, love, love my classroom this year and its thanks to so many other bloggers and teacher friends for sharing their ideas. Hope you enjoy!

This is my favorite place to teach at and we spend most of our day on our class carpet for mini lessons. I am in *LOVE* with how these blackboards turned out with the fabric border. Since last year I had a vision of sprucing up my blackboards and I am so glad I did!

On the left, the green side, I have my reading focus board. The Journeys focus wall display is from Teaching Kids 1st and it is perfect. Each section is on a ring and can easily be changed throughout the year. It will soon be a students job to change the focus board information. 

On the right, the pink side, I have my Whole Brain teaching 5 rules, my morning message and anchor chart display, Whole Brain teaching scoreboard, and my "I'm done.. Now what" bubbles. My computer cart is kept to the right side and I frequently use my laptop that is connected to the smart board with my students. 

To the left of my smart board is my library. The pink books are sorted by level. Currently levels A-O are out in their corresponding bins. The blue and green Really Good Stuff bins below are sorted by genre and/or author. These are just about half of my library collection... I am slightly obsessed with children's books. Throughout the years, I have come to realize that having TOO MUCH choice with the little ones can be overwhelming. So I now have a rotation schedule with the genre buckets, and plan to rotate with seasons, holidays, etc.


Our tent is from Target and both my kids and I are obsessed with it. It fits perfectly next to our library and currently everyone is anxiously waiting for our tent to be "open". Our class pet lives in our tent now too!

My letter labels are from Brown Bag Teacher, and the small white labels are perfect for these baskets, and from Ladybug's Teacher Files.

Next to our tent is our bookshelf display with all of my favorite read aloud for the current unit/season/month etc. Right now these are all my favorite back to school books! The laundry basket to the left is full of big books! 

This is my math focus wall where I keep my Math Workshop rotation board that I adapted from Teaching Kids 1st and my Reflex Math Wall of Fame. You can read more about my Math Workshop here or about how I LOVE Reflex math here. Below the bulletin board is my cubbies that are filled with math manipulatives, centers, and more. The labels are adapted from Brown Bag Teachers Word Wall Labels.

These blue book bins are again labeled using the same labels... can you tell that I like consistency and things to be uniform? HAHA! Each student is assigned a number and they are allowed to choose 6 books for their book boxes, from Really Good Stuff. I utilize book boxes daily during read to self, free time, and more. The big blue box is filled with books that I use for listening to reading. These are all books on CD. 

 If we keep traveling around past the book bins, you get to our writing center table. This space is perfect for little writers! In the white drawers I keep different types of paper. In the black milk crate there are file folders with students numbers on it, where they can "file" their work. This is similar to a mailbox system. If they want to take their writing home they can, if not they will file it under their number and I will look at it periodically. The rolling drawer cart holds lots and lots of math games that we utilize during our workshop time. 

On the back wall, there is our number line, and our Chevron Numbers from Amy Lemons that students use for number words. Additionally, this space is also our word wall, holds our mailbox/cubbies, and four computers. 

 Are you still with me?!?! Were almost done! This is the opposite corner and holds my file cabinet, word work drawers, refrigerator, and social studies focus wall. I was SO excited to find these dry erase maps from the Target Dollar spot this summer. 

 And last but not least.. my favorite space of the room! I love small group time and it is a staple in my classroom. 

I transformed the board behind the table this year, as it use to be a black chalkboard and I used white board paint and I am so pleased with how it turned out! I keep my "I can" statements, calendar, days in school, schedule, and reading strategy cards on the whiteboard. To the right of my table is a bookshelf full of resources including Journeys Guided Reading books, my teacher toolbox, and an older set of Rigby Guided Reading books. To the left of my table is my small while cube shelves, and on the wall is my Phonics Dance display. 

Well thats it friends! I hope you enjoyed the tour of my room. Any questions, please comment or email me. I'd love to hear and see how you all set up your room too! 

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A Day in 2nd Grade!

Welcome to 2nd grade! We have a jam-packed day but we always find room for some fun. 

 8:55-9:10- Arrive + Morning Journals

At 8:30 students are allowed to go from carpool, buses etc. and grab breakfast. They then eat and wait until the first bell rings. Before entering our room all backpacks and jackets are put away and students know to come in quietly, drop off their homework folders in the turn in bin and get started working. I get to stay at the door and greet them all individually as they come in, this is one of my favorite parts of the day! It really can set the tone and mood for the littles. On the smart board I have a morning message and a prompt for each day. 

Below is an example of what would be on the board for students to read and write about. This particular week we were reading a story in out Journeys book about how to make a kite, so this tied into our learning! 

 

9:10-9:25- Morning Meeting

Once students start finishing, they are given the chance to either draw a picture to their writing or come to the carpet and practice sight word cards with a partner. They know that once they see me coming to the carpet that they need to clean up and find their spot. 

Yes, I display a morning message on the smart board, but I also do a WEEKLY morning message that we edit daily as a class. This is honestly one of my favorite things and incorporates so many skills! The kids love it, and by about Christmas time students can "be the teacher" and run this on their own. It's AMAZING! I started this my first year teaching (now I'm in year 4!), and it's just something I can't get rid of and refuse to switch to using technology. I originally found it from Fabulous in First, and modify it to fit the needs of my class. 

Source; Fabulous in First

Every Friday after school, I write a message on anchor chart paper in preparation for the coming week. I purposely spell things wrong, misuse punctuation, leave blanks, and incorporate spelling words and/or chunks for the following week. Using a weekly message saves SO MUCH TIME and it also gives students practice with editing and revising, as well as models the friendly letter template. {insert all the heart eyes here because I love it so much}

Here is the weekly breakdown:

Monday- fix all the mistakes (I use sticky notes or white tape to cover up and write overtop with a marker) 

Tuesday- circle/identify capital letters

Wednesday- circle/identify punctuation marks

Thursday- circle/identify weekly spelling words and/or chunks (to start out we do sight words) 

Friday- {THE BEST DAY} we circle the heading, greeting, body, and closing of the letter. Students take turns and its a BIG, I mean BIG deal who gets chosen to circle the body. 

9:25-10:10- Shared Reading

At our school we use the Journeys Reading program and we have copies of the text for each student. For this block of time we pass out a text to everyone and I work of the weekly skill with them as we read aloud, work with buddies, and learn all about the stories for the week. 

10:15-11:00- Special Area

Students rotate daily to 4 different special areas. Library, P.E. Arts/Humanities, and Computers. 

11:05-12:10- Reading Workshop/Centers 

{DISCLAIMER: I love, love, love teaching reading and guided reading. It is my happy place} 

I won't elaborate too much on how I run centers, if you'd like to learn more, 

check out my post here. 

12:15-12:40- Lunch

AKA the only time I get to {MAYBE} sit down and if I'm lucky I get to go to the bathroom!

12:45-1:00- Writing 

Journeys has a writing pacing guide and supplemental resources that are GREAT for writing! We do a lot of modeling, peer editing and sharing, as well as small group work on specific skills. 

1:00- 2:30- Math RTI + Workshop

I've grown to love this time of day! Mostly because I switched things up last year and did all small group Guided Math. You can read all about how it works here. 

Some friends are pulled out of the classroom for RTI with interventionists for 30 minutes daily. When they are finished they come back and jump right into their group work/center. 

Rotation board found here

2:35-2:55- Wellness 

FINALLY play time! 

3:00-3:30- Science/Social Studies Centers

These are something new I tried this year. The group I had learned best in small group, and honestly I think it was the best thing we could have done, they LOVED it! {do you see a trend? we love workshop/centers} 

I have a file with a timer that I put on the smart board that shows the day, and where each color group goes for their center for that particular day. Because our time is short, only 30 minutes, students spend 15 minutes at their assigned center and then two groups spend 15 minutes with me going over a skill or conducting an experiment in small groups. When the timer goes off we switch and I meet wth the last two groups. {BLOG POST ON ALL THIS COMING SOON} 

 We use FOSS resources for science as well as Lakeshore Learning centers for both Social Studies and Science. The reading/vocabulary center is always buddy reading from our library on specific content, and friends work to complete a response sheet together. 

3:35-3:45- Pack up + Closing meeting

When it is time to go, students go out and get their things and record their Class Dojo Points on their daily calendar. They are responsible for packing their things, completing their classroom job, and getting to the carpet as soon as they can. Once everyone is ready, we discuss how our day went, what we did great and what we may need to work on tomorrow. I write these down on my art cart/board and we use them as reminders for the next day. If there is time left, we read a few pages from Magic Tree House. It is always a crowd favorite!! 

3:45- Dismissal 

We do dismissal a little different then other schools, or at least different then others that I have worked at and been to. But I like it this way! 

Walkers/bike riders are called first. I wait at the door and ALL of my friends are hugged and loved prior to leaving. Following that the car riders are dismissed and again,  I hug each one as they leave! Last the kids who are left are bus riders. They line up in order of bus "color". Our buses always {well almost always} pull into the lot in the same order so they are easy to find. I then walk all of my friends out to each of their buses, and you guessed it... Each of them gets a hug before they leave too! The extra little details I learn and personal connections I get to make as they leave are so special. The extra few minutes do take time, but they make a difference! 

WOW! You made it through our day! I hope you enjoyed second grade. Feel free to comment if you have questions or email if needed. I would love to hear how your day goes with your friends! 

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Reading Centers that Work!

Are you looking for new ideas for the last few weeks of school? Already thinking ahead for next year? 

I have lots of ideas, successes, failures, and things I'd love to share with you all! 

A little background to preface this post.. 

This is only my 3rd year teaching, I have changed how I do my reading workshop block each year trying to find what works for my kid. I also have been lucky enough to have 2 Donors Choose projects funded that provided me with LOTS of the materials I will talk about in this post. I may be bias but Lakeshore Learning is THE BEST!

Getting Started

Our literacy block is smack dab in-between special area and lunch time, so I have roughly an hour and 10 minutes to see my guided reading groups, my intervention group, and have students at centers. 

I have 20 students this year, and it has worked really nicely to have buddies at each center. Center options are: 

- word work 

- phonics

- big books 

- listen to reading (computers)

- work on writing

- read to self (x2)

- read to someone

- poetry

- listen to reading (iPads) 

I have 10 different centers and students will be at their center for the entire reading block. I know, you think I am crazy.... that is a LONG time to be at one place... You're kids have got to be bored...

Let me tell you why this has worked for ME.. 

1. No transition time is wasted

2. Students are able to start and complete work within the time frame

3. Disruptions are very minimal versus when I used rotations

Now within the hour + students are being pulled for a variety of groups. I meet with three guided reading groups M/W/F and 4 groups on T/TH at my table. I am also blessed to work in a school where within our literacy block we have 3 on hand interventionists who are pulling and meeting with various students. With that said, students who are coming and going don't have to figure out what center to go to next, they aren't missing a rotation at any center, and they can come and go QUIETLY without disruptions. 

Now to the fun stuff! Here is a break down of what each of my centers look like, and how they work. 

DISCLAIMER- I took these photos recently, so some things are "loved on" and not in the best condition with 20 odd days and counting until the end of the year! 

Word Work

Word Work Center labels found here

Work work is a student favorite because there are so many choices! Students can choose from various activities including word tiles, magnetic letters, play doh, puzzles, rainbow write, write the room, word eggs, and more! 

Magnetic Letters

Word Eggs

Letter Tiles from Lakeshore 

Students are instructed to practice their phonics chunk and or their spelling words within each of these drawers within the word work center. 

Play Doh 

Puzzles from the Dollar Spot at Target

Phonics

 My phonics center is housed within two bins that I keep in cubbies. These bins have a variety of games that I switch out about every 2-3 weeks.

                      

                          Compound word match up

                      

                          long vowels and digraphs 

Students work with their buddy to correctly sort the games for phonics. We use these magnetic boards to help them sort.

Big Books

The big book center is exactly what it sounds like. Students choose a big book to read either with their buddy or alone. They can read lots of different stories and also have the option to choose a "reading response sheet" and reflect on their reading. 

Listening to Reading (Computers)

We are lucky to have 4 computers in our room and these students are on a variety of sites that allow listening to reading. Some of my favorites are Tumble Books and Book Flix. 

Work on Writing

Our writing center is just like every other and has lots of options! 

I have 3 drawers filled with different types of paper; lined paper, plain paper, and construction paper. Students are allowed to choose whatever they'd like. On top of our drawers are a variety of writing prompts on binder rings. Additionally, students can pick a writing prompt from the Writing Activity Pockets. 

The hanging files are for housing student work. I have 21 files numbered within the crate. After students create something at the writing center they have 2 choices. 

1. They can put the writing in their cubby to take home

2.  put it in their file for me to look at

The writing pieces that live in the hanging file are great to show progress throughout the year, reflect on what we need to work on, use for goal setting, etc. I meet with my students at various points in the year to choose pieces that they are proud of and what they want to send to 3rd grade or keep and send home once I have seen it. 

These Activity Pockets are THE BEST! They have a variety of prompts, vocabulary on the back, and 3 levels on each pocket to fit the differentiation needs for students. They are also from Lakeshore! 

 Read to Self and Read to Someone

 My students keep books of their choosing in their numbered book box. They also all have a green folder in their box that allows them to keep a reading log, and a few copies of reading response papers for when they need. While at read to self, I require students to complete a reading response paper. For example, students could complete a paper to showcase their knowledge of beginning, middle, and end. They could also choose to use a response paper for main idea, etc. Additionally, students are allowed to take their book box and sit wherever they'd like during these two centers. I also have a rule that students are allowed to choose 3 books of their choosing, plus 3 books that are "just right books" from their appropriate reading level from my library. My class library is separated into two sections; one with genre and another with level (A-P). Each student knows their current reading level. 

Poetry

 Poetry is another favorite center! And let me tell you I LOVE poetry too. We use Just a Primary Girls Poetry Bundle. Students have to unscramble and sort whichever poem they choose, read it at a whisper or with a buddy. Students also then have a few choices, they can;
- circle the rhyming words with their dry erase markers
- copy the poem into their reading notebook
- scramble and complete again
- clean up and grab a new poem.
There are roughly 20+ poems to choose from so there is plenty of choice.

Listen to Reading (iPods/iPads)

My final center is listening to reading which involves both iPods and iPads. We have 4 shuffle iPods and 2 iPads that are used within literacy workshop. Our shuffle iPods have about 20+ stories that I took the CDs from and added them to the ipods. Students are to grab an iPod, and matching book, and listen to the story. 

Also, on iPads students are allowed to choose from a certain group of apps for our workshop time. My love for these apps will have to be shared in another post :) Below are just a few that we love! 

Literably 

Brain Pop Jr. 

Story Creator

Word Sort

Read to Me

WOW! If you made it through this entire post- THANK YOU! I hope you enjoyed learning about my classroom. I would love to hear some of your ideas on how you run your classroom literacy block. 

Check back soon to see how I run my guided reading groups and for my favorite reading apps!

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We LOVE Reflex Math!

Have you heard of Reflex Math? 

I know what some of you are thinking... "I don't need another program to try and implement in my classroom", or "I can't afford to sit my students in front of an iPad or computer every day". 

What if I told you that 15-18 minutes 3 days a week could increase your students math fact fluency. Would you try it?

I mean look at that growth!!!

My class does Reflex Math during our daily math workshop. You can read about it here. When I started using Reflex Math I had a few students try the FREE TRIAL that the company offers on their website. This then lead me to apply for the grant they give away, and it was as easy as that! Once I presented the data and growth to my principal after 3 months, we purchased it for our entire school and have seen AMAZING GAINS! The best part is that students LOVE playing. They can't wait for math time, and some students even get on at home before and after school so they get more time to play. 

Are you still skeptical about putting your kids in front of a computer or iPad when they could be working on enrichment or interventions with you...? I know, I know, I was there too. I felt that surely I can help my students more effectively then a computer. Why, yes you are an amazing teacher, but I know we all seek engaging activities for our kids, and this is a program that assesses, tracks, reports, and differentiates for students. Plus it is set up to look like a video game! I mean what kid doesn't like that?!

Incase you're not sold, check out some of my data and see for yourself! There are so many different ways to view reports and monitor student growth. 

Here is the "group status" of my class. You can see fluency gains, usage, and last login.
**The students who are not dark green just switched from addition and subtraction to multiplication and division! YAY!**

As you can see I have a few friends at 100% fluency! This makes me oh so happy. I have a rule where they have to maintain their 100% without "losing" a fact for AT LEAST 2-3 weeks before I will consider switching them to multiplication and division. But just think how much easier it will be for my little friends and for the 3rd grade teachers when next year students already know multiplication and division facts! 

Additionally from another group view, you can set what students are working on. All of my students started at addition and subtraction 0-10 back in September. I now have 8, yes EIGHT, kids who are working on multiplication and division 0-10, and one of those who just switched to multiplication and division 0-12. 

Just LOOK at that growth! This data is from late August to March.

Another group view is a pie chart that shows you usage for your students. Our "green light usage" is what I look at. This is the optimum 15-18 minute window that students are being taught the mini lesson, by Coach Penny the Bear, and their fact family assessment for the day. Once students get their green light, they are allowed to go to the store and buy things for their avatar! 

 Additionally, students can track their own progress and look at their fact family pyramid. They click on the button next to their avatar, and a similar pyramid comes up for student view. They get so, so, so excited when they get another fact "colored in". The dark green means they are fluent, light green is something they are still working on, and white are facts that they haven't seen yet. 

Have I convinced you yet? I have a few more report views and exciting celebration news to share with you. Its just amazing!  

This is an individual student milestone tracker. This is available for each student from the teachers account. I can see what days this student achieved new fact fluency, the gains overall, gains per week, usage, and starting fluency. This friend started with knowing 7 facts... SEVEN, YIKES! They are now currently 92% fluent in their addition and subtraction math facts. 

This data has been amazing for tracking progress, data monitoring, intervention data, grades, and more!

 Another view you can see is each students "usage detail". I can see what days the student has logged on, the amount of time, and green lights earned. At the bottom I can see the total and weekly usage, minutes per day, and total facts solved. Have I mentioned how great this data is?? 

Okay, last graph... really.. Here is another view of the same students fluency gain for this school year. 

 Who doesn't love to celebrate success? 

Every Friday we have a few minutes at the end of the day to celebrate "Fluency Friday". I pass out the certificates for each students achievement for the week. It doesn't matter if its 1 new fact or 1,000 new facts, we celebrate them all! Students also get to have their name written on each of the math fact posters once they achieve new fluency goals. These posters are in my TPT store. We have these on our wall so students can write their names!

This is our class certificate for this week for our total facts solved! SO PROUD OF MY LITTLE ONES!  

Check out Reflex Math and see for yourself! I would love to hear what your students think about it and what gains you have seen.

**I was not given compensation to promote this resource. I just absolutely love the results I have had and want to share with you all!**

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