Classroom Preparations 2011

 



 It has been exciting seeing all the projects that I have been working on throughout the summer. Eventhough the students don't go back to school until the 23rd, and our 1st official day back is on the 15th, I worked really hard to have it ready for the 15th. I am a part of my campus' Literacy Cohort and as the 1st grade represenative, my room had to be ready for the Classroom Gallery that will be conducted on the teacher's 1st day back. I am so grateful to my husband, and my friends (Nataly, Katrina, Alex, and  Maria) for all their help and hard work cutting laminate, creating bulletin boards, putting posters on the board, and creating a beautiful kindness tree. I really wouldn't have been able to do it without them and all their help!!! As I was uploading the pictures, I was pleasently surprised to see how different my room looks. Here are some of the images: 



This is my friend Nataly posing with her beautiful creation!

I am so excited to get this project going with my students. I cut out a ton of leaf diecuts where students will write/draw a picture of times where someone does something nice for them or someone else. She did a great job!!! I'll have to update some pictures of the tree when its branches are filled with leaves.

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 Here's the front of my room. The posters on the top right side, the icons on the Workstation Mat, and the train on the right side were some of my summer projects. Needless to say that the PISD Media Center was my 2nd home this summer.

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Here's the back of my classroom.

Lots of storage with the lockers!!! Last year, I kinda threw everything in there as I transitioned into this classroom 3 weeks into the school year. It was a real adventure trying to find anything.  So this year, I used an index card to label the contents of the lockers.

On the image to the right you can see the math area. The tubs with the white lids are my Math Tubs. The bulletin board that you see on the wall will be used as a Math Word Wall and right under it I will place any anchor charts that the students can use as they work. I have a ton of additional Math Instructional materials on the shelve that is now covered by the green curtain. I didn't like how it looked with all the boxes and baskets piled on top of oneanother. So, I went to Family Dollar bought a spring rod and a shower curtain to hide the storage. (Total: $5.00) I'm sure you can find something cheaper at the Dollar Tree or any other Dollar Store, but I'm kinda picky on my colors. They only had a baby pink curtain when I went there.

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Side of the Classroom- Word wall and Big Book Station

The Word Wall will be reveled with my students on the 1st day of school, I will be turning them around and going ove the alphabet with them.

I am so excited about the Classroom Library!!! I will be taking some pillows for it, and my friend's mom will be sewing some custon large pillows for me. I went to Goodwill and found the white shelf for $7.00. I was pretty excited about that because I didn't have to build anything! (I'm sure my hubby liked that too) We will be getting some baskets that I will place on the shelf. My students and I will be sorting the books  into generes the first week of school. I will also be changing the stuffed animals throughout the year to keep the students interested in the station all year-long.

The poster above the easel on the Big Book Station was one of my projects of the summer too. I am also working on task cards that I will be hanging on the suction hooks that I found at Target for $1.00. I also found some cute pointers (star and flower) that I will be rotating throughout the year.

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This is my small group area. I am using a lot of baskets to keep my materials on hand and organized. Last year, I had a really hard time keeping things well organized. I think that this year will be a bit different since I have spent a lot of time setting up an organization system.