My Room Has Been Blog-ified

I have collected so many amazing ideas from all of my bloggy friends.  After working in my classroom a lot this summer I think it's almost ready.  I like to say it's been blogified!

This picture was taken standing at my door.  If you look closely you can see the blue posters hanging from the ceiling.  Jan Brady (no, not from the Brady Bunch- ha!) is a first grade teacher at my school (visit her cute blog, First Grade Honey Bunch, here), who came up with this idea to display our word family posters.  Each poster is attached to the blue foam board with velcro.  The boards have wholes punched in the top.  We used the 2" metal rings to hang from a magnetic hook attached to the ceiling.  When I get ready to teach a word family I can easily pull down the poster I need, write on it with a Vis-a Vis Marker and hang it back up.  These stay hanging in the room all year.  Here's a better picture of the posters up close.

 You can see the rings a little bit in this picture.

We attached the word family poster with velcro.  It works great!

My whole class- a view from my table.  You can see I did the same idea with my math posters, hanging from the other wall in my room.

I tried my best to copy DeAnna Jump's tree.  I think it turned out pretty good, but it sure is big!

 A few pictures of my library.  You can't see it, but after reading a post on Ladybug's Teacher Files I decided to number all of my themed book tubs.  That way the kids can easily (hopefully) find where the books belong.  So my tags have the theme "Christmas" and a number "3" on each one.  The new numbers have also been added to the front of each book.  Plus, now they are in ABC order so it should be easier for me to find the tub I need.

I loved the "important times" idea from Amy Lemons.  I really wanted to put the numbers around the clock too (actually I had them printed, laminated and cut out) but I didn't have enough space.  Notice the clock says 11:30.  That's PM.  With young children, it's best to work alone, late at night!

The school wide behavior policy at my school is called "The West Way."  The children know The West Way includes Courtsey, Respect and Responsibility.  So, I printed out the letters, painted them and added the words to my wall.  I also have the days in school (here because I do calendar on the Promethean board) and a tooth tally.

Here's a close up on my Daily "Four" chart.  The kids' names will go on white cards in the blank spaces.  They will move their cards to the correct order at the beginning of the day.  This way we don't waste time marking down their choices.  The chart reads left to right- student name, choice 1, 2, 3, 4 then the next child and their four choices.  I used an old 100s chart pocket chart.

 Our classroom jobs.  I usually only change out jobs once a month.  This gives the kids plenty of time to learn exactly what to do.  The kids' names are written on the ants.

Decoding strategy posters.   I found these on First Grade Factory by Alicia Lochridge

The class compliment chain.  This is a way to reward the whole class for compliments they receive from other teachers (walking in the halls, when teachers come by my room to ask a question, at lunch...)  The poem says "We'll add links to our chain each day for all the compliments we get along the way.  And when the chain and the floor do meet, Mrs. Morse will bring us a special treat!"  I usually will bring popsicles, popcorn, or let them eat lunch in the room- something simple.

Our first unit of study will be watermelons.  My student teacher painted my watermelon sign last year.  I painted the letters this summer.

The first grade team decided we needed to hold children accountable for certain words to be spelled correctly when writing.  Each nine weeks we will add nine more "no excuse words" to the list.  These are the first nine.  They will also be typed on a label and placed on the cover of their journals (and the desks of struggling spellers).

My math tubs on top and drawers full of math games and manipulatives

A close up of my whole group meeting area

I try to have some bulletin boards that stay the same all year.  Once school starts I will take pictures of my class with their 3rd grade book buddies and put them here. 

Here's another simple board for the year.  I need to see a physical calendar, and since we do it on the Promethean Board, I decided to put one in the corner of my room.  Another easy board that needs little attention.  Love it!

The view from another corner of my room

 My bulletin board in the hall. My classroom theme is Morse's Monkeys.  I've put up this same board for 7 years.  Why stop this year!