Transcript Teachers_files/A Virtual Tour of My Classroom

Welcome! Come take a tour of my classroom. These
are photos from a couple of years ago, but the
elements are the same in my classroom today.
The school-wide
theme for this
particular year
was On the Road
to Success, so
the classroom
door invited
students to come
in and join the
writing journey.
I’ve found this semi-circle of desks an effective room
arrangement. Students can still be seated in cooperative learning groups of two, three, or four. Focus is
clearly directed to the front of the room, but students
can also easily see one another.
Every
writing
classroom
needs a
word wall—
a wall of
frequently
misspelled
words that
students
need to
master once
and for all.
Picture and word clues help students easily
distinguish between similar words and make
sure they are choosing the correct one.
My teaching friend, Sharon Waite, gave me this idea
years ago and I continue to use it. This little rubbish
bin holds words that we, as a class, have retired from
our writing. The words we “throw away” are ones we
overuse or that don’t serve our writing purposes any
longer. For instance: then, once upon a time, the end.
I keep a bulletin board with posters reminding
students of the writing crafts we have learned and
practiced and that they should use in their writing
every day. Students also keep a list of these crafts
in their writing portfolios.
Each day I list our
learning outcome or
writing focus on the
board. (Yes, some
schools do still have
chalkboards!) The
learning outcome is
not a secret. If
students know what
the goal is, they
share the
responsibility for
reaching it.
I love to use idioms
in my writing and
teaching. Idioms
can give voice to
my characters and
help solidify a
setting, time
period, and so on.
My students gathered idioms they heard and read and
recorded them in a class Idiom Notebook. This is one
of my favorites that Ryan’s father uses with his twin
sons: Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver.
Writers are always looking for vivid verbs, words
that can put pictures in their readers’ minds. This
is our classroom list which grew throughout the
year.
When students discovered a new vivid verb, they
listed it on a sticky note and stuck it to the poster.
Publishing
completes the
writing process. A
publishing center
with computer,
printer, paper,
staplers, hole
punch, art
supplies, and
other resources
puts it at the
fingertips of
students.
These zippered pencil holders are Revision Tool Kits.
Each tool kit contains scissors, tape, highlighters, and
sticky notes. We use this for a cut-and-tape revision
process we learn early in the school year.
The Author’s Chair is where students sit when they
read/share their writing with the class. Everyone
shares at sometime, but everyone can’t share every
day.
Lunch Bunch (and
Breakfast Club)
are times when I
bring groups of
students with
similar writing
needs together for
additional
instruction,
support, and
encouragement.