Layla Henry- Fancy Free in 4th- Blog

Fancy Ideas for the Everyday Classroom

Room Reveal: Polka Dots, Chevron and Owls Oh, My!

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year…. BACK TO SCHOOL! This was my first week back and I am recovering… so far, so good.  I wanted to take a second, during this long weekend, to welcome you all to my classroom! I am linking up with Swimming into Second to Show off my Space. 

     I went out on maternity leave a week before school got out, so when I stepped back into my classroom a week ago to get ready for Back to School I was shocked to see that ALL of my furniture had been moved into one corner.  I guess they cleaned the carpets, which is GREAT, I just wasn’t expecting wasting a day to move things back to where they belonged.  Anywhoo, this is how it was a week ago and….

here is what it looks like now….

 This is my back wall.  I know the Chevron is trippy, BUT once work is hung on it, it calms it down. The middle board, my interactive Synonym wall, is one that I am so excited about.   I added onto it from last year, I blogged about it here.  I have had a lot of teachers purchase this set and I can’t wait to see pictures of how theirs turned out.

The best part is that a week in and my class have already used it! 
     Speaking of  interactive bulletin boards, I am also quite smitten with my Problem of the Week board.  I blogged about how I decided to incorporate a weekly challenge question that would get the students to persevere,work together and communicate their thought processes. So, I created this set of 28 problems that are aligned with the various math strands in the CCSS and each week I plan on using them in various ways: Math Centers, Fast Finishers, Table Challenges, Partner Battles etc.  Each week the problem that we are working on will be posted back here and the students will complete Think Sheets, that communicate HOW they solved the problem. 
 
     We did the first one this week during our first try at Math Centers. The students were definitely challenged. Thank you to Michelle from Apples and ABCs who made me the cute Bunting Signs for my birthday last year!
     Some wanted to give up and others worked so well together! I am excited to incorporate this weekly and see them grow!

     Continuing on, this is where their writing will go.  I got some scrapbook paper from Oriental Trading that matched my room’s color scheme 🙂

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Here is another shot of the back wall, which leads to my area…

 

      This is where I conference with my students and I also use it as my desk area since I got rid of my desk 2 years ago! If you are considering going desk-free, DO IT! It has reduced so much clutter for me!

     Looking out from my back corner, you can see the entire other side of my room.  I have a class of 30, so I made 5 groups of 6. 

     I splurged this summer and bought bookcases for each of my table groups….BEST DECISION EVER! Thank you Dandelions and Dragonflies for the idea!  Our desks are super shallow, and they have bulky books so this was an obvious solution. The supply caddies, mini white boards and Tidy Tubs also sit here.  The kids went wild over them and so did a few of my colleagues.
  
      Another Pinterest idea I saw from a fellow teacher blogger was having a classroom timeline where you showcase pictures of your class throughout the school year.  I have an awkward side wall where the vent, air conditioner control panel are and it was always too weird to put work on. I decided to make that wall the timeline wall! I can’t wait to start putting snapshots up there.
 
 Here is my classroom library and also where I have various games for Center Time. Above the book shelves are where the Math Ruler crowns sit as well as my Whole Class Journals.  On Friday I cashed in all of my Scholastic Book order points and got 40 new books for my class.  I will be updating my Classroom Library Labels to account for all the new books I acquired.

 
     A friend of mine gave me an idea for jobs.  Instead of having 5 jobs for my students, everyone has a job every week.   Here is where their jobs are displayed and each week their Popsicle stick will rotate.  I thought it would be hard to think of 30 jobs, but it wasn’t.  I was able to delegate more and give the students more responsibility. They flipped out about this, in a good way of course!

  Mr. Potato head sits here and he serves as our whole class incentive.  They earn a piece of his face each time the entire class is on task or brag-worthy.  Once his face is completed they get a party of some sort…. Popsicle, pop corn, extra PE etc. 

Lastly, this is my Data Wall….

      Our school is BIG on AR and in the upper grades their goal is to read one million words. On the ribbons I hang $100 dollar bills each time the read 100,000 words for AR.  It looks really awesome when they start earning them and at the end of the year they get to take it home as a trophy.

 
     In the treehouse they move up each time they reach a certain amount of AR points.  This is also a really great visual for parents, kids and the administration.  
Well, there you have it! I hope you enjoyed checking my room out! I love seeing everyone’s room at this time of year. 

Comments

  4. When we install the bathtub there some materials required for the installation drywall, utility knife, screw driver set,hacksaw,prybar, bubble level, pipe wrench, drain wrench tool, hammer, these are most probably things which we want in the time of requirement of bath tub installation.

    Reply

  6. I came across your blogspot and have to say I LOVE everything you've shared. Your room is just like mine and seeing yours gives me a whole new perspective on how I could decorate mine for next year.

    Reply

  7. I LOVE your classroom!!! I'm doing a chevron/polka dot/bird theme myself and am TOTALLY using some of your ideas!!! Could you possibly let me know what jobs you have? I cannot get them blown up enough to see them and LOVE the idea of each student having their own job. 🙂

    Reply

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