Exceding Expectation!

This group of 4th graders is really an awesome bunch!  They continue to exceed my high expectations and are doing a great job of communicating with each other about their learning and socially as well.

Our Daily 4 time is going very well. "Read to Someone" has been introduced this week. Our focus with "Read to Someone" is fluency and checking for understanding.  We are taking the opportunity to learn from each other and share our strengths with each other and it's going great! Our last Daily 4 choice will be introduced at the end of this week or the beginning of next. Once that is completed the students will move into making their daily choices and meeting with me within our strategy groups (skill based) and individual conferring sessions which will allow me to focus on the unique needs of each student!  I am really excited about the learning that will take place and the progress that will be made this year!

In Math we are finishing up our unit on Place Value, Rounding, and Comparing and Ordering Numbers.  Students will continue their practice and have a chance to demonstrate what they know over the next few days.  We will be moving into problem solving with addition and subtraction next.  We'll be focusing on strategies that will help us with different types of problem solving work.  The students are doing a great job with their math notes.  We are keeping daily notes of our learning and adding to our math vocabulary often.

Check back soon to see the students in action!

The Classroom, Before & After

While the room isn't completely done (what classroom ever is?), it's well on its way. Here are the before shots!

Desks in rows? Not my style at all...bring on the small groups!

We need some color!

The library corner, before.

Teacher's corner, before.

And here are the after shots, much more colorful and ready for a great year of learning!

As you can see, still some work to be done, but it is shaping up!

I love having a small class...it makes for nice groupings and lots of cooperative learning opportunities! The students will switch at various points throughout the year.

Teacher's corner after, disguised by the computer area.  I'm rarely back there so it's not a focal point.

Our meeting area.  Comfortable and colorful! The table in the foreground is our strategy group meeting area for both reading and math, as well as our individual conferring table for times when I meet one-on-one with students. While it may look like it in this photo, it is Not a catch-all for my stuff!

Our behavior chart is really challenging the kids to go above and beyond.  The really like that they have the opportunity to "clip-up" for great behavior and the chance to "clip-(back)up" if things weren't going so well.  We only keep track of how the day ended, so if they aren't happy with their place, it can change! I'm hard at work keeping track of great behavior!

This is our supplies area.  I am going to brighten up the shelf a bit to match all of the color in our room...when I find some extra time in the day!

The awesome pass board, I found the board at Target, then my dad did the vinyl lettering, I made the passes in Photoshop, mounted them on cardstock and laminated in the hopes that they may actually last the whole year.  It's a really great tool for keeping track of who is out of the room at any given time.

Our library. The books are sorted by series, author, subject, and there are some general baskets for books that don't "fit" a particular series or subject.  I've also added some pillows for comfy seating around the room. The red bin is our Book Hospital, for those books that have been well-read and really loved!  I'm thinking I may add another set of lower shelves since the bins on the upper shelves are a little high for some of the students.

Our take on the Daily 5, I found the great signs on one of the many awesome teacher blogs I read. 

The CAFE menu board - our reading strategies ~ we'll be adding to this throughout the year.

Our writing center.  While students can work around the room, they can stop in to check out ideas for their writing, the writing process, or publishing.  The mail sorter holds a variety of papers for the students to use when publishing their writing, as well as extra reading logs, check-in sheets, writing paper, etc.  The brown bookshelf to the left holds student book boxes, as well as dictionaries, thesauruses, and other writing helpers!
I hope you've enjoyed this brief tour of our classroom.  More pictures will find their way to the blog as the year goes on!