Classroom Reveal 2019
We finally feel (some what) ready for Tuesday!
This year’s classroom reveal is a lot less detailed. I’m coming back from mat leave for the first time, I have a new ECE partner and the classroom is new to both of us. So we’ve spent time lots of time moving things in, getting to know each other and the classroom and working with less time than I usually have. Old me would have gone in tomorrow just to take more picture so this blog post felt complete (and do more work too, because it’s never done). But instead I’m keeping my son home from daycare and we’re spending the day together! Plus this year the school isn’t open on Friday (but I planned to not go in on Friday this year before I knew that).
This is our cubby area. The door to the Kindergarten pen is on the right and there are more cubbies on the other side.
I put my library books bin, mail bag bin (not shown here) and my read aloud bins on top of the cubbies. In the top cubbies I put my levelled readers. In the third row I have storage (the last 5 bins are outdoor toys). Then we have the hooks. Under that we have their bins labelled with their names. They put their extra clothes in here. Under that is where they put their shoes.
Here is a close up of the cubbies:
I got the bins at Dollarama a few years ago (I didn’t see them here this year) and the chalk clips are from Amazon. You can find them by clicking here.
And a close up of the top of the cubbies.
I added these simple labels that I used for my read alouds in my label pack. You can find them here.
The bins are ice bins from Walmart.
The levelled reader labels are actually chalk clips with wooden letters hot glued on. I bought the chalk labels on Amazon (click here) and the wooden letters at Dollarama.
The bins are from Dollarama.
The clear storage bins at the bottom are from Dollarama too.
The bathroom is beside the cabinet and then there is this wall which I’m going to use to display our writing! We will be doing a self-portrait and name writing during the first week and we will be posting it here.
I will get the kids to help me make the title and we will put up the learning goal once we do a lesson on writing and talk about it!
I had lots of questions about how I keep these up. I just used regular masking tape on the four corners of each sheet protector!
The drying rack, water fountain, recycling bins and sand table is underneath.
Here is our sand table for the first week. Nice and simple, just some sand, containers, shovels and funnels!
To the left of the drying rack is the door to the hallway and then beside the door is our other sensory bin. This week we filled it with pom poms, muffin trays, dice, tweezers and cookie cutter shapes. We are hoping this invites them to count, sort, strenghten their fine motor skills, explore capacity/area, name shapes etc!
Beside the sensory table is a low counter area so we put out a painting invitation here. The church group uses our room on Sundays so I didn’t fill it with water or open the paint yet. I’ll do that on Tuesday morning. To the left of this centre is the sink where kids can wash their hands.
On the other side of the cubbies we have more counter space. We have a desktop computer to the left of this centre.
Then we set up this small world centre. Students are invited to build a story, talk about it and draw/write about it if they want!
Next to the small world play centre I set up this invitation to create with LEGO.
I was asked on Instagram where the tray was from a lot. It is a Melissa and Doug tray that my son’s cars came in.
Near the carpet I put our bookshelf and this will be the reading centre. I usually put 2 chairs here but with 27 kids (and counting!) we don’t have enough extra chairs.. so we’re going to just have them sit on the floor or carpet for now!
This is our dramatic play area. We set it up super simple for the first week to see how the students interact with the area.
We used the manipulative shelf to divide the carpet and the dramatic play area.
The white boxes on top are from IKEA and we use them as book boxes for independent reading/home reading.
Most of the labels for the manipulative are in my label pack. You can find them by clicking here. There is also an editable file so you can add your own pictures!
Right beside the manipulative shelf we have our word wall under the whiteboard. I love having it low and on velcro so it’s accessible for the kids and they can come and take the word they need and bring it to where they are writing! It is empty right now because we will add words as we learn them.
You can find the word wall headers here.
Now I’m going to show you our table tops!
Here are our table tops for the morning (literacy based centres).
1. ALPHABET PLAY DOUGH
I put these alphabet play dough mats with letter cookie cutters, play dough and rolling pins.
You can find the play dough mats by clicking here.
2. CREATION STATION
We always keep this super simple the first week. We put out construction paper, glue, scissors, markers and stickers. They are invited to be creative and make whatever they want! Our focus is on using the materials gently and appropriately!
3. WRITING CENTRE
On the other side I set up our writing centre. For the first week I just set out a linking chart, blank paper, pencils and erasers. Again the focus is on independence and using materials appropriately! They can draw, label and/or write whatever they want!
4. LITERACY BASED DRY ERASE CENTRE
For the first week I just put out 2 white boards and some uppercase and lowercase printing books with dry erase markers and erasers.
You can find the dry erase books by clicking here.
5. ALPHABET MAGNATABS
On the other side I set out my magna tabs! These are always a hit with the kids.
You can find the uppercase Magnatab here: https://amzn.to/2MJpyCg
and the lowercase Magnatab here: https://amzn.to/2ZB8DUk
6. PATTERN BLOCK LETTERS
I forgot to take a picture but I put my alphabet pattern block mats and pattern blocks on the fifth table. You can find those here:
7. ALPHABET PUZZLES
I forgot to take a picture of the alphabet puzzles and the alphabet construction but I picked simple alphabet puzzles (similar to the number ones below) for the first week!
8. ALPHABET CONSTRUCTION
I forgot to take a picture of this table but you can find Alphabet Construction on Amazon here.
On the carpet we are going to put out trains on one side and foam blocks on the other side.
And here are our afternoon (math based) table tops!
1. ALPHABET PUZZLES
We put out these simple math puzzles for the first day. I got the puzzle on the left from Dollarama a few years ago and the puzzle on the right from Walmart (also a few years ago).
2. NUMBER MAGNATABS
On the other side I put out my number Magnatabs. The kids always love these!
You can find the Magnatabs on Amazon here.
3. MATH BASED DRY ERASE CENTRE
I couldn’t find my number printing books I usually set out for the first week so I quickly made up these last night.
You can grab these for free by clicking here or on the image below:
4. NUMBER MATCHING
On the other side I put out these simple number matching strips with number magnets.
You can find these number matching strips here.
5. NUMBER PLAY DOUGH
Again a super simple play dough set up for this week!
You can find these play dough cards for free by clicking here or on the image below:
6. NUMBER CONSTRUCTION
The kids always love these too so I put number construction out.
You can find this number construction set here: https://amzn.to/349e00K
7. OPEN ENDED NUMBER PROVOCATION
Here the students are invited to make a number using these materials. If they make a pattern or a shape, that’s ok too! Again I just want them to use the materials calmly and appropriately.
That’s it! I didn’t even get a picture of the whole class (I forgot) but I hope you enjoyed seeing some of our set up for the first day!
Have a great long weekend everyone and good luck on the first day of school!
– Yukari
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