A Look Around the Classroom

When you enter the classroom you are going to see a 'bumble of bees'! These bees are helping us 'bee' the kinds of kids everyone will be proud of!

Word to remember and live by! The words will change often, reminding the students of the "Pillars of Character" that they are to display!

A look in through the door...we pack a lot of different learning areas into this one small classroom! It can get very busy! (Sometimes it sounds like a 'beehive' of activity!!)

To 'bee' a great reader, these 'popcorn words', so named because they keep 'popping up' in all the stories we read, need to be part of each students' sight vocabulary. The student should be able to read them without having to sound them out. They will just KNOW them!

Below the 'popcorn words' are our leveled readers. Students will be choosing books to 'read to self' or 'read to others' at their appropriate reading level. Research tells us that students make better progress when they are reading at a level that is 'just right' for them!

Every student starts out at the 'Ready to Learn' section of our clip chart and has the chance to move up the chart as the day progresses, based on their own behaviour. If the student needs to move their clip down, they have the ability to continue to work to move their clip up again. It's a positive and interactive visual to assist each child to continue to do their best.

We are learning SOOOO much each and everyday! This area is a concrete visual that both the students and teacher can refer to that lists the core learning standards that we are aiming to reach. As one standard has been accomplished, another can be added.

This year we are using a research based program to become the best readers possible. It can be used with any books. It includes five areas that research tells us are important areas to concentrate on. They are: read to self, read to others, listen to reading, work with words and work with wrting. In our language learning time, we will try to rotate through at least 3 of these areas a day. While the different groups are rotating through, the teacher works with small groups or individual students to assess what area of learning should be focused on next, so that each student continues to make progress.

We have a lovely rug with the map of Canada on it. Often, whole group instruction takes place on this rug. Here's where a lot of learning takes place!

This is the small group instruction table. No more than 6 students come to work with the teacher at a time, ensuring that the teaching focuses on the specific needs that group of students has. Often a single student or a pair of students may be a group, again based on their needs at that time.

Beanie Babies assist the students remember a variety of strategies for dealing with unfamiliar words (learning how to decode) and then work with what the text is saying (comprehension or recognizing what is being said in the story).

Birthdays are a special time to celebrate and here's our birthday cupcakes with the students name and date listed. See those birthday balloons? They hold a special treat for the birthday child!

This is the Math board, where new vocabulary will be added, where we explore the pattern of numbers and where so much learning takes place through the calendar. We discuss weather, create graphs and learn that math is all around us!

My tiny corner of the classroom tends to be where things are placed, but where I never get a chance to sit! Extra supplies are available for the students on the table in front of the desk and you'll notice the 'Word Wall' that is up on the cupboard doors. We try to use every space possible for learning!

Here's the small table that will be an area that some groups will be using during their school day. You'll notice the book bins behind on the shelf. That is where the students will have their own selection of books available for reading. The books will continually change throughout the weeks as each student progresses through the level that is 'just right' for them.