Amber Lawson
EDUCATOR - INNOVATOR - MENTOR - SPARTAN
About My Classroom
When organizing my classroom, there are vital components that I like to include every year to create a warm kid-friendly learning environment. I like to add a large variety of resources for students to use, areas to display students' work, and opportunities for students' input for children to have ownership of our classroom. I also like to include resources for young learners to stay organized, aware of classroom routines, and their behavioral and academic performance and progress.
At Priest Elementary, my students are a culturally diverse bunch ranging from ethnicity and primary language to their family dynamics and interests. They are first graders from the Metro Detroit Area. They're a fun, hands-on interactive group that I enjoy teaching all subjects across the curriculum.
Rules and Expectations
Beginning of the Year...
During the first week of school, my students and I read Have You Filled a Bucket Today, Don't Squeal Unless it's a Big Deal, and David Goes to School. We also watch the Pixar Short Film For the Birds. We discuss the texts, and with students' input, we agree on a set of rules for the school year. Sometimes my students sign the contract by adding their painted handprint. This year, we decided to include a bucket filler's bucket instead.
To help my students keep track of the kind of choices they make, we use a color chart. Every day, they start on purple, awesome job. When students have an outstanding day or do something kind, students can move up to pink. When students have trouble following the contract, their clip moves down a color on the chart. Students can earn superstars on the star chart for being on pink, blue, or purple at the end of the day. Once they receive enough stars, students can go to the treasure box. Students also get to participate during Fun Friday depending on what colors they were on during the week.
We create a growing number line around the classroom by adding a number for the number of days we've been in school. Every day the students think about what color comes next in the pattern, the digits in the number, and count the numbers on the number line each day until students meet the CCSS of being able to count to 120. In addition to the number line, there are lots of posters for students to reference, including shapes, colors, number words, days of the week, and months of the year.
Every month, we work on a different educational arts and craft activity that focuses on a content standard, a fun, hands-on holiday theme, or story theme. Many of our crafts require students to use the writing process to produce a final piece of writing and art.
Around the Classroom...
Student Resources
Word Wall and Portfolios
Around the classroom, there are lots of visuals that are available for students to use. Here's a picture of our word wall. As students become more familiar with frequency words, they are added to the wall. Students canreference the wall whenever they are working on their writing. We also have sound squares that include different ways to spell the same sound for students to use for their writing as well. On the counter, there are student bins that include their portfolios and other examples of their work.
Students are very entertained and attracted to technology. Most lessons include activities that use the interactive projector which turns the whiteboard into an interactive surface similar to a SMART Board. We also use an ELMO Document Camera and iPads to enhance my learners' learning.
Interactive Projector
Computer Corner
In the morning during breakfast and morning journal writing, the students take turns going to frontrowed.com to practice math concepts that are related to Common Core State Standards and scholars' individual needs. Sometimes students take accelerated reader quizzes, edpuzzle quizzes on a variety of subjects across the curriculum as well as completing other learning activities.
Every morning, we go over our morning routine during our morning meeting. We add the day to the calendar, go over the months of the year, days of the week, coins, add a straw for the number of days we've been in school, write that number in three different ways, review our frequency words, and make a bar graph by answering the graphing question of the day.
Morning Meeting
Reading Corner
In the reading corner, there's a large variety of books for students to read or for students to take a picture walk. Each bin includes a variety of books at various reading levels, genres, and interests. Whenever the students get a book, they typically find a place, sometimes in the reading corner, or another area of the classroom to read. Sometimes they read independently, with a friend or with a group.
Keeping Families Involved...
To keep parents informed about what's going on for the week, what the students are learning and friendly reminders, I send home a newsletter with the students' homework packet on Mondays. On Fridays, I send home a behavior log that let families know what color students were on each day of the week and a note of something great that may have happened or a concern that I may have. I like to send this home regularly in addition to making myself available for conferences as well as phone calls.
Parent Communication
Here's a link to my gallery of my students work. These are some of the projects and craftivities my students have completed over the years.