Welcome to my Classroom!!

 Hey Everyone,

 I am having a great start to the year!  I love my little firsties!  So I am pretty much done tweaking my classroom (maybe....) and thought I would send a few pictures of how it turned out!

Here is my classroom library.  I have my books arranged by various topics and genres.  I made some of the labels myself and got the rest from Beth Newingham's Web Site.  The book bins I bought (hoarded really) from Target. A bit pricey at $3 a bin, but they are sturdy, and I can't imagine that I would ever have to replace them. I used colored sticker dots (from Staples) that match the color of the bins to help with making sure the books were placed back in the proper book bin.  I also assigned each bin a letter and put each sticker on the labels and books in that bin. I laminated and used Velcro dots to attach the labels to the bins.

I got the shaggy rug at Ikea for $60 and animal print pillow shams/ pillows from Walmart.

Here is where I keep my students' Daily 5 book bins.  You may get the zebra print number labels for free at my TPT store.  Check out the Daily 5 Zebra labels as well that I use to label my Daily Five posters.

Listening Center

Word Work Center (Click here to get my zebra center signs at my TPT store.)

We participate in the Bucket Filler program in my classroom.  I made this class bucket and students fill out bucket slips to place in it.  Every other Friday, I read a few of the slips and pass out the rest to the students.  I always make sure that every student receives at least one slip.

I also use a Clip Chart system in my classroom.  Students can clip up or down depending on their behavior.  If a student gets on Blue (Outstanding), they get to wear a D.O.G. tag necklace (stands for Disciple of God- I work at a Christian school). I tell them that wearing the D.O.G. tag (I ordered and personalized them at Oriental Trading, breakaway lanyards from Staples) is a huge honor and that students all over the school know that it means they must have been really good.  The students love the recognition, and they get to wear the necklace as long as they stay on Blue.  If a student clips higher than Blue, they are on "Rainbow" and get to "Clip on the Teacher."  The student gets to clip his/her clothes pin onto my lanyard, and I wear it around all day. Click here to get my animal print Clip Chart!

Kagan Cooperative Learning is huge in my classroom.  However, the cooperative learning mats that Kagan sells did not work with my students' desks that not only lift up, but are slanted so everything rolls/ slides off.  As a result, I created my own version of Kagan's Cooperative Learning Mats.  I print them on cardstock, laminate them, and Velcro them to each desk.   Click here to find my jungle themed cooperative learning mats. I offer many different themed mats to choose from on my TPT store to match your themed classroom.  I love using them for Whole Brain teaching as well! 

Here is my Word Wall so far! We add words to it every day.  I love how it turned out.  Click here to get the First Grade Word Wall words.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.  I will post some more later!

-Lindsay