My Kindergarten Classroom

I'm finally back!

I had to take a little blog vacation. I wish I could say that I've been relaxing on some tropical beach, drinking margaritas and reading trashy romance novels. But I know you know what I've been doing, because you've been doing exactly the same thing!I've been teaching 5 year-olds how to walk in line...how to get their lunch tray to the table without dropping it...how to find the next black page in their journal...how to sit on the rug without being a "wiggle-bottom." And I'm exhausted!

But, as promised, I'm back with pictures of my classroom. As I was taking pictures today (with my horrible, grainy school camera), I realized that 12 days of school really takes its toll on a classroom! Things aren't nearly as crisp and clean...there are already so many smudges and stains and messes. Oh well..all in the name of learning, right?

So...Welcome to my room!

 

 

I'm very lucky to have lots of windows!

 

Here are the cubbies as you enter the room.

 
Here is my calendar wall. I've really simplified it this year. I'll go over my calendar wall and routine in detail in the coming weeks.

 
Here is Baxter--our class mascot!

We keep our Legos and other building toys in the green bins. 

Here are my shelves with many of my books and other supplies. The tubs on top are full of thematic theme stuff. The kids hang their backpacks underneath.

 

I've been collecting stuffed animal characters for a few years now...

 

 

Here's our sink. Sadly, there's no water fountain.

 

Here's my teaching table.

Here are the tubs I keep my materials for each day in. I bought them with my PTA money last year. Thank-you PTA!

 

I keep my guided reading materials in these drawers, sorted by reading group. (Although this year, I hope to do more individual reading conferences with books the kids choose themselves).

 

This is my "Ready to Read and Write" center. At the beginning of the year, it's a lot of fine motor activities and puzzles. As the year progresses, I add rhyming and other phonemic awareness activities. Then, I add lots and lots of onset/rhyme word work. It's kind of a hodge-podge, hence the name!

You may notice that my centers are color-coded. This helps the kids figure out what center they're at and which activities they can do. This is our green center!

 

Our ABC center is red! It has lots of letter/sound activities and ABC puzzles. I will go over each center and the activities in them in the coming weeks.

 
This is our classroom library. The tree is my favorite thing in the room! It's a cat scratch thingy I bought at IKEA two summers ago. (I haven't seen them there, lately. Maybe they've been discontinued?) I added the green circles made from scrapbook paper. They're attached with magnets, so I can change them with the seasons.

 

My books are sorted by theme and authors. I'm going to add more author boxes as the year progresses.

 

I also have leveled books and a shelf with seasonal or theme books.

 

Here is the stand I keep my poem charts on.

 

Here are our book boxes. So cute!

 

Here is my writing center and word wall. We will add our names and start adding words this week. I like for my kids to be as independent as possible, so I put out almost all my supplies for them to use (slowly, as we learn the expectations for using them!)

 

Everything is clearly labeled. (I'll make my labels available to download. Give me a few days!)

 

Ahhh...the most popular center in the room: The Art Center! Again--I eventually put out all the supplies for the kids to use independently (although I introduce them slowly. It will be a few weeks before we get the watercolors or glitter out!)

 
Here is my math center and my soon-to-be-filled Math Word Wall.

 

Here are tubs of manipulatives--easy access for the kids.

 
Here are the tubs we use for our problem-solving tools.

 

Little birdies hold student work.

 

My teacher desk...which I got rid of last year only to have it forced back on me this year! 

So, now that I'm settled in, look for regular blog posts again! I will post more problem-solving this weekend. And if you haven't posted a link to pictures of your classroom yet, be sure to do so. We would all love to peek!

I hope you all have a wonderful, peaceful, first few weeks of school!

Happy Teaching!

Comments

[Kathryn]

Hi Angie...I got those tubs at Mardel, a Christian education store (owned by Hobby Lobby).

And for those who were asking, the book boxes are from Ikea...I get them every year!

[Carm]

I was wondering where you purchased the red tubular stand that you hang your poem charts on?

[Erika Solis]

I love all the color!!! Where did you get all your bins?

[Sleepeez Nap Mats]

The pictures remind me of my childhood kindergarten room. Such great memories!

[Betheny]

I have a pretty big room, too. I was thinking of Disney theme this coming up year. I love how you did some color coding. I will definitely do that with my room.

[michele]

Hi! I love your classroom! Can you tell me what you use to hang you poem charts? How do they keep so nicely?

[Joshua Thomas]

Really amazing room... What great ideas you have shared with us! Thank you.
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