My room

Here it is!!! Disclaimer: I always feel like my room is a work in progress. I am adding to the walls, and taking down. The desks get moved around depending on the kids, projects and other stuff.

My reading center! All my books are leveled according to AR. I also have all my listening center items in white baskets on the bottom shelf. I use individual CD players in my center so there is no arguing over sharing, turns....

Mailboxes and turn in baskets. 

My room as you walk in the door. 

View from the corner opposite the door!

Writing and Art Center for Daily 5

My back wall/cabinets is my Wall Of Knowledge: which is where
I hang anchor charts and posters after we are done with them!!

Wall of Knowledge with a couple of things up to start the year!

Word Work

So I have spent some time creating games for my word work center. I had lots but then the Language Arts committee (I"m on that!!)  for the district got together and made some sight word changes. Sooooo.... we now use the first 300 words from the Fry's list for second grade. My sight word games now needed to be changed to match the new list. Then I thought I might as well share some of my game ideas for games but also organization. Here it goes:

For starters, our sight words are divided into groups by 9 weeks. So I assigned each 9 weeks a different color. The words in the first 9 weeks are black, 2nd are red, 3rd are blue, and the 4th are green. This way at the end of the year or 9 weeks I know what 9 week tub to put them back in. Some games I add to each 9 weeks and others I put away at the end of the 9 weeks. The color coding helps so that at then end of the year even the kids can help me sort and put all back where it belongs!!

The Games:

An old favorite BANG! All 300 sight words are written on popsicle sticks and in a jar. (Each 9 weeks I add the new sight words to the jar.) A student pulls out a stick and if they can read the word they keep it, if they can't they put it back and if they pull out a stick with BANG on it they put all their's back. The person with the most sticks wins! Easy enough. This is an easy game to even have a parent make or help make!

I have sight word puzzles that I made using wordle.net and tagxedo.com. I type the words for the 9 weeks in and print it off and then laminate, cut into pieces and put in a baggie! It's great. The kids love them and one student can do it or a group can work on it. I typically make 3 or 4 for a nine week period.

I made the power tower game from Mrs. Lewis' Learning Library . The kids love it and this is a game I have for each 9 weeks. At the beginning of each nine weeks I put the previous one away but towards the end of each 9 weeks I pull out the old games for review! The labels on the cups and the containers match the color for the 9 weeks!


Sight word Candy Land is by far the most favorite game in the room! It is great for parent to play with a group when I have parent helps or in small group time. I first saw the idea on the first grader at last blog. My mom found it (she teaches first) and shared!!

I also have lots of ways for them to spell the words: toothpicks, legos,

Finally they can play memory and go fish with flash cards I made.

Valentine - Writing Center Idea

In my endless search to add fun things to my Daily 5 centers AND that are season related at times I had an idea!!! When I taught kinder I would have my kiddos copy what was on those conversation hearts. It was fun for them and then they turned it into a book. Well I needed something different for second but I wanted to use the conversation hearts. Sooooo..... what if they used what was on the heart and put it in a sentence!?! Here is what I mean:

Centers

Here are what my centers look like!! Of course always a work in progress. I have 5 areas. In my Daily 5 they do: writing, word work, read to self, read to someone/listen to reading and art. (I combine read to someone and listen to reading because sometimes I think they just want to hear a story or they might not feel comfortable reading to anyone that they can at that time.) 

I added art and I always tie to to reading, word work or writing. At times they write a story about what they made, use words for the week to tell about their art or read and then illustrate. There is always a project for them so they practice following step by step instructions. 

For word work I have a list of words we are working on that week - spelling and sight words and vocabulary. I also have a TON of tic-tac-toe boards, legos with words to build sentences, Florida Center games, stamps, magnets made from scrabble tiles, sight word candy land, sight word go fish, sight word puzzles for the week I made from Wordle, and more!

 In my writing center I have every kind of paper you can imagine!! I have examples of different kinds of writing they can do. I have spacemen, story starters, wordless books, envelopes and a writers checklist for capitals, spaces and so. Most weeks there is something they have to compete in writing before they can free write. It typically deals with practicing editing. They also have to publish a story every 9 weeks so often they take this time to work a story for publishing so they can use a computer to type. 

I have a list of choices of things they can do in case they forget. I also have reading reminders posters, a list of books we have read as a class, lots of leveled books, individual book bags, pointers, individual CD players, books on tape and access to the computer for Tumblebooks and other site that have authors and stars reading books.