Welcome to my classroom!

I know it is a little late in the year for a classroom reveal, but since I just started this blog, better late than never. Enjoy some pictures from the beginning of the year set up!

I have always had a word wall in my classroom, but decided to change it up a bit and separate my word wall into different categories. Each week, I change the spelling words, while Social Studies and Math change each chapter or unit. I add Heart Words as needed depending on the writing unit common words I have noticed my students misspelling.

My classroom library! One of my favorite activities for the beginning of the year (thanks to the amazing teacher I worked with my first 2 years of teaching) is my Library Grand Opening. When the kids come in at the beginning of the year, the library is closed off, and only my picture books are available. After we learn all the routines of the classroom like how to check out and return a book, and how to choose a just right book, we throw a big celebration and the library is officially open!

A view of the back of the classroom. The black bins are where the students keep their just right books from the classroom library. The red and purple bins on the right are for homework folders. The students deposit the folders in the bin in the morning when they get to school. We also have colored bins for each table (the tables are identified by colors). The bins hold supplies such as reading notebooks, writing folders, and handwriting practice books. Also in the back of the room are the Finished Work bin, scrap paper bin, and pencil sharpener. Also love our pencil sharpening system- when a pencil is not sharp, it goes in the yellow cup. Then, the student takes a sharp pencil from the green cup. Once a day, the pencil sharpener sharpens all the pencils from the yellow cup and puts them in the green cup.

Teacher organization area. File cabinets, closets, and magazine holders. I have two of everything because I teach in dual curriculum school. The students spend half their day learning Hebrew and Judaic subjects in a different classroom so I have one class all morning, and a different group of kids all afternoon.

Job Chart. I have a thing for owls... I'm not sure why, but I do so I decided to make an owl theme for my classroom this year. Again, each job has 2 sticks because of the dual curriculum, teaching two classes thing.

Welcome bulletin board in the hallway. Again, the owl theme, and lots of names because I teach 41 students by the time the day is done. 

When I put this bulletin board up, the owl eyes were freaking me out. It took a good week before I could walk past without feeling like 41 owls were staring me down.