Classroom Setup 2013

We just finished our third week of school.  Finally my firsties are beginning to settle into the routines of first grade.  How many times a day can a six year ask if it is lunchtime yet or if it is time to go home yet?  I smile and say that I will tell you when it is time.  It is a huge transition for our kids from our half day kindergarten program to a full day in first grade.

My classroom is starting to feel more like home.  I only moved across campus but it might as well be another country with the differences between fourth grade and first grade.  The good news is that I love it even more than I thought I would.  The amount of materials in first grade to be stored and organized for ready use is a little overwhelming at times.  I consider myself an organized teacher, but I have done and redone some things a few different ways before it felt right.

I have an awesome team of first grade teachers to work with.  All different - all talented - all helpful.  I am truly blessed.  I also have the privilege of working in the same grade level with one of my teacher friends for the first time and we are having a blast figuring out first grade together.

Here is my classroom.  It is a moving, breathing organism as I try different things and experience success and challenges along the way.  Enjoy the before and after tour.

 Clean floors and furniture all in the room

 Table groups arranged.

Empty bulletin boards ready to be covered with fabric and decorated.

My plan was to come into school one day a week for the summer and ease into the new year.  That was a no go as my room was used for storage while carpet was installed and other cleaning was being done in the first grade pod.  Then the wet wax... yadda, yadda, yadda.  So I couldn't begin until a few days before school began.

My boxes have been moved to my new classroom.  I have started unpacking in this pic and every surface is covered with my boxes and books.

 Endless piles to sort through.

Books, books, books.

Handsome hubby came and helped cover the bulletin boards with fabric. The colors are teal and purple.

Picture books sorted into themes.

Using the vertical space above the cabinets for the book bins.  I plan to rotate the bins into the class library.  My current plan is to have 12 bins out at a time.  12 is the magic number because they will fit nicely into the space I have for classroom library.

Calendar Bulletin Board

Teacher Area - Needs a little more work.

Cubbie labels - Binder clips with names added
This sure makes adding new kiddos easier.  Just move the clips and voila - done!

Welcome to first grade banner for the window using Eric Carle letters and animals

Caterpillar mobile to compliment the Eric Carle theme thanks to helping husband for helping me pull this one off.

Ready for the first day of school.  Whew... barely made it. View from front of classroom gathering area

View from doorway


Here's hoping for an awesome year of
Growing, Changing, and Learning in First Grade!
I welcome your comments below.


Teaching 365 with Sunflowers and Ladybugs in First Grade

~ Clara

Daily Five Part 4- Read to Someone

Read to Someone in Chapter 5 of The Daily Five by Gail Bushey and Joan Moser, The Sisters, offer step by step guidelines.  If you haven’t yet read the book, get it and read it.  I am sure to keep it close by for ready reference as I begin first grade this year.

There is a tremendous amount of information in the book beyond what I am blogging about here. 

The purpose of Read to Someone is to increase the amount of time kids spend hearing fluent and expressive reading by others.

In order to be successful with these two dailies, the kiddos have to be able to:

1.  Listen carefully to their peers

2.  Offer appropriate assistance

3.  Share materials fairly

Focus lessons for these dailies include EEKK, Voice Level, and Check for Understanding.

EEKK – Teaches the kids to sit elbow to elbow and knee to knee to share a book they will read together. The kids may be reading the same book or two different books.

I will use this chart to help reinforce EEKK with the kids.

Voice Level – As any teacher that has tried partner reading knows, noise levels can be problematic. It is important to train the kiddos to use soft voices.  A quote from page 64 of the book states that “the loudest voice in the room is the one that regulates the noise level.” Model, practice, repeat!!! Using soft voices is important to the success of Read to Someone but can be very challenging.

Check for Understanding– Good readers retell what they read. This lesson helps the kiddos check for understanding of the book they are reading. The listener asks questions such as Who or What.  They may retell the story, “I just heard you read…”. This holds both students accountable for the reading and increases comprehension of the story.  Some teachers make a check mark with the questions on it as a visual reminder to the partners to read and listen carefully.

I love this graphic from http://kuieck.edublogs.org/files/2012/09/photo-21-11igawn.jpg. I plan to make something similar for my class to use during Read to Someone.

How do you handle Read to Someone in your classroom?  I would love to hear tips for success as well as challenges.

This week my goal is to sort my classroom library books and get them ready to go into book bins so the kiddos will have books to choose from for their Read to Someone time.

~ Clara @ First Grade Sunflowers and Ladybugs

Please leave your comments below.

Daily Five - Read to Self

Read to self may be the most important literacy learning in first grade.  In the past, my read to self time was DEAR, SSR, silent reading... a time when the kids chose a book, read it, and took an AR (Accelerated Reader) quiz to show they understood it.  This is quite different from the Read to Self described by "The Sisters" in The Daily Five.

I need to spend focused teaching time with the key concepts, materials,and routines to launch Read to Self with both mini-lessons and materials the kids will need.  

One of my big jobs to prepare for this part of Daily Five will be to organize book boxes for each of my students (25 first graders).

The kids will need an individual book box for their books.  It will have 3-8 picture books, magazines, and easy chapter books that I have selected for them to read. 

Here is a pic of the bins I will use.  Now I just need to label them and fill them.

I will post more pictures after I have it set up in my classroom. 


Mini-Lesson: 3 Ways to Read a Book
This lesson honors the kids level of reading development, whatever it may be.  In Daily Five, this lesson addresses the kids' belief that reading only means reading the words. 

What are the 3 ways?
Read the pictures
Read the words
Retell a familiar story

Mini Lesson: Good-fit Books
Using an anchor chart "I Pick" gives 5 ways to help choose a "good fit" book. Some time after this lesson, kids will choose their own books for their book boxes. For kids to grow as readers, they need to spend lots and lots of time reading with the majority of that time with "Good-fit" books.

 Daily Five - Model, practice, model, practice, model, practice,then repeat.

I will definitely need to go slow now to go fast later.  There is so much more in the Read to Self portion of the book.  Once again, get the book and read it, and then read it again. I am certain to keep it nearby as I continue my journey with Daily Five in my first grade class.

How have you used The Daily Five and Read to Self in your classroom?  Challenges, successes?  I would love to hear your thoughts.

~Clara

Daily Five - Reading the book The Daily Five - Part 1

It only seems natural that if you plan to try someone's ideas in your classroom, that first you should read the book.  "The Sisters", Gail Boushey and Joan Moser wrote a book detailing each part of this literacy process.  My first question to myself was, "What is Daily Five?"  I had been reading all over the web, Facebook, and Pinterest about it - Step one - Read the book!

Click here to view more details about the book. The Daily Five

"The Sisters" also have a website with extensive resources to support Daily Five along the journey.  I am considering buying a subscription to access all the wonderful videos and resources but many of them are free and accessible without a membership. 

The official Daily Five website

"The Daily Five is a series of literacy tasks which students complete daily while the teacher meets with small groups or confers with individuals. This book not only explains the philosophy behind the structure, but shows you how to carefully and systematically train your students to participate in each of the components." Quote from The 2 Sisters website. 

I would love to hear from you about your Daily Five journey. Right now I have more questions than answers. 

My next post will be about the first of the Daily Five routines, Read to Self. Those first days of school in first every grade are especially important to establishing routines.

~Clara 

First Week of School Picture Books

What picture books do you like to read the first week of school? These 3 are sure to be in my basket.

First Day Jitters is a favorite. It is sure to get a few laughs and relieve a little anxiety.

Chrysanthemum is sure to be a class favorite.  I love to use the kids names in lots of activities the first days of school and this will be a great addition.

Leo the Late Bloomer is one of my personal favorites.  I try to stress that we are all unique and this book brings that home in a great way.

Check out this fabulous linky to share your picture book favorites for the beginning of school. Thank you to DeAnne for doing this fabulous post as we sort through our books to start getting ready for a new year.

Click here to check it out: 
First Grade and Fabulous: Picture Books-A LInky Party


Clara  @ Teaching 365 - First Grade with Sunflowers and Ladybugs