An Environment for Learning

After weeks of assessments followed by looking at data and creating new intervention groups I decided I needed some positive change. It was time to reorganize my classroom. Each day I have 14 groups of kids come into the primary Title classroom. I hope when they enter the room they feel both comfortable being there and excited about reading. My wonderful para had found some jungle paper at Michael's and we decided to go with it. I had also decided to get rid of my desk to make more room for all of the kids we work with. I figure this will also help me stay organized. No more drawer to dump everything in at the end of the day.

We used the paper on the wall behind our library. Our books are organized on the shelves by level and in baskets on the floor by theme for free read time. I'll be shopping for some more bean bag chairs soon. The kids love them!

Our floor space which is used mostly with my kindergartners has a rug which they pretend is the grass. It is hard to see, but the leaves on the wall are their sight words. I finally found a way to get them at a level that the tiny kindergarteners could interact with the words as we add them.

The final addition to the room is a mural of a waterfall. I love it and the kids think it is the greatest thing ever. We actually found this rolled up in a storage closet. We added curtains to try to make the room feel more comfortable; my district doesn't allow floor lamps. The kids reaction when they saw the transformation made all of the work worth it. They all say they love coming into our classroom. I realize all of these kids struggle reading and work really hard every minute I have them. It means so much to me to know they look forward to the time they have in our "jungle".