my classroom!

Since my last post I have finally finished my classroom! I have also completed Project CHILD training for an Intermediate Reading teacher position. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Project CHILD, it is a program for schools where students rotate between 3 core subject teachers; Reading, Writing, and Math. They also stay with the same cluster of teachers for grades 3, 4, and 5. However, things are done a little differently at our school. Our school is only K-4, so I will be teaching 3rd grade Reading this year, and I will keep the same group of students and teach them 4th grade Reading next year. Within the school we have two of these CHILD clusters. The cluster that I will be teaching Reading within is the Jungle Cluster. The other cluster is the Luau. I'm really looking forward to this experience and really getting to know this upcoming group of students! The team work with the other Jungle Cluster teachers as well as the Luau teachers has been amazing! I love having a group teachers to bounce ideas off of and work so closely with. 

Here is the only before picture I have. When I went to my room I was just so ready to get to work on it that I kept forgetting to take pictures. 

Here is the exciting part! My classroom! I decided to go with a Zebra and Teal theme and color scheme for my room, keeping in line with the Jungle theme of our cluster. 

This is the banner that hangs outside my door in the hallway. It is all zebra on the backside. I am at the end of the hallway so I just needed to put my name on one side. The letters also have a zebra print on them.  Cory's wonderful mother (my future mother-in-law) made this for me! I don't sew. I'd love to learn but I have had the time yet! Ha! 

This is the outside of my door. It's kind of hard to read. The letters aren't very bold and I think that may have something to do with it. My door says "Ms. Clarke's Room...Welcome to the Jungle!" Cory was a big help stapling the fabric to the door! 

This is my desk/Teacher Station. Part of Project CHILD is having the students visit different stations teaching a specific concept for two weeks. As they visit the various stations they will fill in a passport to reflect on where they have been. The other stations are Textbook, Challenge, Word Study, Reading and Listening,  and Computer. I have also added a Spelling Station and an Extra Book Station to incorporate CAFE, for a total of 8 stations. Cory's mother, Margee, also made the black curtains covering the bookcases below the counter. I have my teachers manuals stored in them, other teacher resources and then my classroom textbooks of Reading Street. The students in the Jungle are grouped into three color groups, Red, Yellow, and Green. The folders will be used to store the students DRA information. The blue chair I bought at IKEA for $15 dollars! I just had to share my great deal with you all! Below is a picture of my calendar! I love the owl border and how it brings out the colors of the calendar set. I bought all of this stuff before I knew of the Jungle theme, but I still think it looks great! 

Here is my teacher toolbox! Of course I got the idea from Pinterest :) but it was perfect for me since I do not have a desk! 

Panning the room counterclockwise from my desk is the SMARTboard and a filing cabinet. On top of the filiing cabinet I have my document camera. I also have that rainbow drawer cart from a previous post filled with colored cardstock. My reading director's chair, instead of a rocking chair, is also there.

On top of the rainbow cart, you can kind of see the tin where I will have Skittles as a reward for the students. This idea I got from the teacher I student taught under. She has inspired a lot of the things in my classroom! You can see the tin much better in the picture below. 

This bulletin board is to the left of my SMARTboard. It has the CAFE Menu on it. I went a head and added all of the strategies. With my classroom also being a CHILD classroom I felt that this would work best for the students, because they will not all need the same strategies at the same time. Project CHILD promotes independence with the students as well, and that is something I feel is important to foster within them as well, so I have placed supplies in the carts. The cart drawers are labeled "Crayons, Colored, Pencils, and Markers". The next cart of drawers is labeled "Scissors, Glue Sticks, and Glue". The other two drawers will contain the materials for the science stations. I haven't labeled them yet in the picture. You can also see some of the Project CHILD posters. They explain procedures for passports and stations. There is also a board to designate stations to the students in the Red, Yellow, and Green groups. 

I have also decided to incorporate the Beanie Baby reading strategies into my classroom. I feel that this will be very beneficial for my lower level students. I haven't decided whether or not I would like to post the strategies yet, or post them as I introduce them. We'll just have to wait and see. 

This is my Word Wall. I used the Dolch Sight Word list in order to determine which words I added to the wall. Cory was a huge help with this! It was definitely the most time consuming bulletin board. :)

Here is my clock and sink! I love the colors of the minutes around the clock, but my favorite part has to be the sign to remind students to wash their hands! 

Here is my birthday chart and the pencils on top of the filing cabinet are Happy Birthday pencils for my homeroom students on their birthdays. Below is a picture of the inside of my door. 

All three of the Jungle cluster teachers have this "In the Jungle we do..." poster. One of my co-teachers made them all for us to display! 

Here is my Star Chart and Brownie Points. This cart is also the one the upcycled in my previous blog post. This is where the students will turn in their work. 

Here is my computer station! And my closet! I was so thankful to have a closet in my classroom. This circle table is also where my Challenge Station will be located. Below is a before picture of my classroom library area. 

Here is my library now! I love it. It has definitely been a lot of work but it will be worth it to help instill a love of reading in my students! :)

The "Recent Reads" board will be a place for students to post book reviews of books that they have read. I'm really excited for them to share books that they have enjoyed with their peers. Also I have an "I Pick" poster for the Daily 5 and Cafe. 

It's hard to tell from this picture, but here are my new curtains! They go with my theme a lot better than the green lady bug ones, left by the previous teacher. I found teal flat sheets at Wal-Mart for $5.00 and Margee turned them into curtains for me! It's hard to see their true color from this picture because the sun is coming through, but they are more of a teal than a blue.  This station is my Reading and Listening station. 

I'm really excited for school to begin! I still have some things to accomplish before the year begins on August 8! Tomorrow is our registration day and I can't wait to meet some of my students and their parents. I'm so blessed to have been given this opportunity and am so thankful for all the help I've had from my family and friends in order to get my classroom ready.