AT FIRST SITE-AN INVITING AND FUNCTIONAL CLASSROOM K AT I E G E - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

AT FIRST SITE-AN INVITING AND FUNCTIONAL CLASSROOM K AT I E G E R E T Y

LEARNING TARGETS • I can create a fun and functional learning space for my students that promotes social and emotional development. • I can integrate centers into my classroom design. • I can use furniture, wall space and resources efficiently.

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Why do you need a safe place?

• Your classroom may be the only safe place they have • Extreme behavior problems can often be aided by a safe place— teaches kids how to cope with their feelings and express themselves in a positive way! – Mrs. Vinson’s class story

ORGANIZATION

WHY ORGANIZE? • Minimizes distraction • Displays materials in a way that incentivizes kids to use them effectively and often • Reduces over-stimulation for students • Teaches life skills—organization, clean up, responsibility, etc.

PURPOSEFUL DECOR In the following picture—share with your table: Which items/decorations in this picture are most likely used during instruction? Which items are not used daily?

Centers

Things to consider when planning centers: 1. What themes would you like for the whole year? 2. How often will you switch themes? 3. When someone walks into your room, will they be able to guess your theme? 4. Does your play and pretend center change with themes? 5. Does your block center change with themes? 6. How will you introduce new games/activities at each center? 1. Will you put all of the thematic activities out at once? 7. Create activities that can be laminated/saved and stored in a thematic box for next year. 8. How many activities will you have at each center (suggested: minimum of 3) 9. Does my classroom design allow for centers? (not just buckets to be taken back to the desks)

EXAMPLE THEMES: • August-September-All About Me • October- Fall: bats, apples, pumpkins • November-Thanksgiving, Native Americans • December-Winter, Community Helpers • January-All Around the World • February-Health and Dinosaurs • March/April-Spring: Bugs, life cycles, weather • May/June-Spring: Under the Sea

EXAMPLE LESSON PLAN FOR CENTERS THEME: HEALTH/COMMUNITY HELPERS • 9:10-9:55/1:10-1:55 Centers/Small Group • Guidelines: 1.C.4 Child increasingly interacts and communicates with peers to initiate pretend play scenarios that shares a common plan and goal V3.A.1 Child shows competence in initiating social interactions • I.C.1 Child uses positive relationships as modeled by their teacher for their own pro-social behaviors. • Sensory: 1) Dig for dinosaur fossils and dust and put together in tray (scaffold pictures, paint brushes for dusting) 2) Create fossils with play dough (imprints) 3) Dig for shapes—stick onto contact paper and create their own shapes/figures with smaller shapes Math: 1) Exercise number cards (SS will draw number card with an exercise on it and perform the exercise that many times) 2) • Tangoes 3) Velcro 100’s charts 4) Jumping number line for skip counting Science: 1) Mixing Colors Kit 2) Nutrition Science Kit 3) Ice trays mixing colors—hypothesize what color you think you will make; • write it down on your hypothesis sheet (using color scaffold sheet) Library: 1) Themed books 2) Write your own books 3) • • Computers: Computer games Writing: 1) Writing your own books 2) Sweet Sounds (sweet heart boxes with pictures cards/hearts to match to sweet heart boxes • with letter on it) 3) Post Office: writing letters to friends and putting them in the mail box (copy words on letter format, place in envelope, address with address template, stamp with letter stamp)—heart decorations/stickers • Art: 1) Fossil rubbing 2) Construct buildings with raisings and toothpicks; glue, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, tape (provide scaffold of pictures of different buildings around the community) 3) How to draw a dinosaur instructions—paper, pencils and crayons provided • Play and Pretend: 24 Hour Fitness 1) Trampoline: jump out syllables of healthy foods 2) Punching bag: punch out syllables (Draw a picture card and punch it out) 3) weights and jump ropes, yoga mats, mirror, sweat bands • Blocks: 1) Construction tools to build notebook of buildings 2) Motor cars and notebook of community vehicles 3) Create bridges and roadways with boxes and moldings

Plan your own themes: • Decide how many • Decide the themes • Brainstorm ideas/activities for each center

CREATE YOUR CLASSROOM DESIGN! 1. Stare at your classroom and be overwhelmed 2. Make a list of centers you need on your whiteboard 3. List out furniture (if not in classroom), imagine what furniture can be used best for each center (i.e. metal shelves can have magnets in the writing center, etc. 4. Map it out on your whiteboard 5. Start moving stuff around (when in classroom)