READING AREA

This area includes the cassette player and book bins.  I keep all of my non-fiction books here and the fiction books in the corresponding area in the room (i.e. animal non-fiction in the science area, historical non-fiction in the social studies area).  There is a table here that seats 3.  Inside the cabinet I keep all of the reading area supplies and centers that are not currently in use.  The pocket chart, purchased for about $40 from an educational supply store using a gift certifcate, holds workjob activities and thematic books.  See the Workjobs page for more about this. 

LANGUAGE ARTS AREA

When kids work in this area, they can sit at the desk, on the floor with the clipboards, or pull chairs up to the shelves (no more than 3 children at a time in the area).  Their is a ‘Pairs of Pears’ homophone display to the left of the window: it is explained on the Classroom Tour 04-05 page- I found it so useful with the kids that year that I decided to do it again.   On top of the shelf I keep a little blue organizer that I got for free from Highlights magazine.  There are dictionary practice pages in it right now for language arts workjobs.  The kids choose a page that is appropriate for their level using a color-coded sticked system.  The worksheets are in plastic page protectors: kids write on their own notebook paper to save on copies.  The tall shelf seperates the Reading and Language Arts areas.   The shelf underneath holds some dictionaries (more are in the Writing Area), Word Power books, and magazines, which are used in the Language Arts and Reading Areas.  The bottom shelf holds picture books.  To learn more about teaching reading and language arts. visit the Literacy page.

WRITING AREA

I set this area up so two pairs of kids could sit side-by-side when they edit their papers.  There is a little shelf underneath the air conditioner controls that holds writing ideas for kids working on centers.  The shelf also holds thesauruses, highlighters, crayons, etc.  A larger shelf is on the left side of the area and holds dictionaries, class-made dictionaries, various types of paper, pencil sharpeners, etc.  The workjobs for the writing area generally consist of responding to writing prompts and going through the complete writing process independently or with a partner to supplement the whole-class  instruction and teacher-student editing process than occurs during regular classtime.  To learn more about writing instruction, visit the Literacy page and click on 'Writing'.

SCIENCE AREA

Because we only use our science textbooks a few times a month, I usually keep them on the shelves and have helpers pass them out when we need them.  (This saves precious space inside the students’ desks.  When I took this picture, we were in the middle of a science unit so most of the textbooks were in use).  Other materials for science experiments are kept within easy reach, as well- this was during a force and motion study so I have blocks for ramps, toy cards, spring scales, yardsticks. etc.  I created the scientific methods posters you see here- more about them on the Science Lessons page.

SOCIAL STUDIES AREA

Our social studies textbooks are kept on the shelf here for the same reasons the science books are not stored in students’ desks.  I also keep wipe-off maps, National Geographic books, map activities, etc. on the shelves.  My assistant sat at this table and kept her belongings in this area, as well.  On top of the US map you can see a current events board: more about that and social studies activities on the Social Studies page.

MATH AREA

I probably have more materials for math than any other subject area, and was fortunate to be able to borrow these extra shelves from a first grade teacher.  I keep the materials organized by chapter. The colorful bins to the left are class sets of manips that math helpers can carry around the room to distribute and collect materials and then return to the shelf.  You can visit the Math Lessons page to find out more about how I teach math, or the Manipulatives page for management tips during hands-on math lessons, or the Organization page to learn about how I store and organize the materials and papers.