Welcome to my classroom!
Take a glimpse inside my grade 5 classroom. Below you will find features, routines, and learn a little bit about my classroom organization. I strive to create a safe, comfortable, and happy environment where students feel known, needed, and cared for. It is then that they can truly function at the highest level of learning. Enjoy the ride!
Where should my voice be?A visual reminder for students to know where their voice should be. They move the marker to the level needed during that particular learning activity.
Silent reading? No talking, please. Oral presentation? Loud voice needed. "Mrs. Parnell, when can we scream and shout?" the students ask. "When you're on the playground," I reply. |
Class Expectations and Point SystemAt the beginning of the year, students work together to brainstorm and decide upon our classroom expectations. After boiling them down, we have decided that there are 6 agreements we would like to see in our class this year.
At the end of each day, the students reflect. Did the whole class follow these rules today? We share example of our behaviors and the choices we made. If the students feel a point has been earned, they add it to the chart. When the students reach 30 points, a reward is given. Pool party? Extra tech. time? Class hike? The students love voting for their own reward! |
Book NookAn area of our classroom adored by students!
The Book Nook (reading corner) is a place in our classroom where students love to curl up with a good book. As any good teacher does, I always promote reading and try to make it as fun as possible. I love seeing my students get excited about reading, and the reading corner is just another great strategy to promote literacy. It also adds to the comfortable and relaxing atmosphere of the classroom. |
Words Worth ReadingAn admitted quote junky myself, I love posting inspirational quotes about life.
Although students often just read these quotes casually, they can also be integrated into advisory time with your class. Either randomly, or when a specific issue occurs, I lean on these quotes to teach greater lessons about life. To give you a specific example, we had a bullying issue arise in our classroom a few months back. Some girls were saying they were only bullying because their friends were and they felt pressure to do what their friends were doing. I removed the poster that says, "Wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it. Right is right, even if no one is doing it." I explained to the girls that a strong person stands up for what they believe in. It is you who must make the choice to decide right over wrong. Later in the year, when we were writing some personal reflections about how we've grown, one of the girls quoted the poster. She wrote, "I learned to try to always pick 'right', even if no one is doing it!" "A good teacher teaches from the heart, not the book." |
Leadership LadderUsing numbers as well as delicious ice cream cones, students have a visual reminder of where they are on our leadership ladder.
Are you detracting? Are you participating? Are you leading? Every so often, we touch base and reflect upon how far we've come and set goals for the future. Do you feel you are only observing? Why is that? What can you improve upon to begin leading? The Leadership Ladder is part of Dr. Jeffrey Beedy's Learn2Lead initiative. It is a Korea International School, Jeju Campus initiative as is used throughout our school. It encourages students to become leaders not only in their class, but school, community, and eventually, on a global scale. |
Kudos AwardIn relation to the Leadership Ladder, our class also has a weekly Kudos award. At the end of each week, a student is chosen for the Kudos. The student chosen for the Kudos is someone who has displayed respect and responsibility, has demonstrated leadership, and has followed and exceeded our classroom expectations.
The student who received Kudos that week watches the class for the following week. At the end of the week, that student conferences with the teacher to choose the next Kudos. The students often refer to the Kudos as a guide for respectful behaviour and strive to be a role model for others. |
Did you receive your Merit today?A KIS elementary school initiative is the Merit System, just like the Harry Potter House Cup.
Down in the lobby, there is a merit chart for each class. At the beginning of each day, the class checks: Did we all wear proper uniform? Did we all remember to bring our ID card? Merits are given to each class by their homeroom teacher. Merits are also rewarded by specialist teachers. The best behaved class of the day receives extra merits. If students are 'caught doing good' (Caught speaking English with no one around? Assisted a younger student when they needed help?), they may also be given a merit. At the end of the month, the class with the most merits get a reward! Pizza party, anybody? |
Spotlight!The Spotlight wall is always shining brightly!
When students submit Level 5 work, their projects and assignments may get posted on the Spotlight wall. This serves as a motivator for students to give that extra 110%. Students feel very proud when their work makes it to the wall. It is not only the best work that makes it to the wall, but often the most improved. That way all students can feel rewarded for improvements and goal achievement rather than perfection. |
Synonym CupsThe synonym cups are one of my favorite classroom features, especially in an ESL setting.
Hanging on the wall are cups for frequently-used words. Currently, I have cups for: like, said, happy, sad, good, bad, think, and nice. Print, cut, and laminate appropriate synonyms for each word. When students revise their writing, they go over to the synonyms cups and replace these common and 'easy' words with more impressive volcabulary. Students love the interactiveness of this fun teaching tool! |
Word WallOur word wall teaches students to recognize and spell words, see patterns and relationship in words, build phonetic awareness, and apply phonics rules. Our word walls also provides reference support for students during reading and writing activities.
Students learn to be independent as they use the word walls in daily activities. Teachers can use the word wall as support during instruction. Students love making the connections: "Boys and girls, please turn your list into a bullet list." "Mrs. Parnell, that word is on the word wall! Cool!" |
Reading StrategiesUsing our Reading Strategies posters, students monitor their understanding. When a student loses the meaning of what they are reading, they choose a reading strategy (such as 'visualize' or 'asking questions') that will help them reconnect with the meaning of the text.
Students learn that effective readers have different strategies before, during, and after reading. Before reading, students:
During reading, students:
After reading, students:
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More Reading StrategiesStudents further analyze texts to get a deeper understanding of the meaning of what they are reading.
Prior Knowledge: I can use what I already know to help me understand something new. Determining Importance: I try to figure out what the main idea of a story is. Synthesizing: I can put the pieces together to see them in a new way. Sequence of Events: I can put the story events in the order in which they take place. Cause & Effect: I can ask, "What made it happen?" and "What happened?" to determine the cause and effect of the text. Fact or Opinion: Is it a fact? Is it an opinion? How can I tell? Why does it matter? |
Literature CirclesAn instructional strategy I often use for novel study is Literature Circles.
The classroom Literature Circle center is a place where students choose their Literature Circle "job". The job details and photos serve as a guide and reminder for students to stay on task. Students choose between: Director: Your job is to lead the discussion and introduce the section of the text to be discussed. Clarifier: It is your job to clarify parts of the text that are difficult to understand. Connector: It is your job to connect the text to other things, like your own experience and real life situations. Question Maker: It is your job to think of 3 interesting discussion questions. Creator: It is your job to create something artistic to represent the text. Summarizer: It is your job to summarize the section of the text. Detective: It is your job to investigate challenging vocabulary words. Predictor: It is your job to predict what might happen next in the text. |
BoggleIn playing Boggle, students find words in a grid of 16 letters. Students can work in pairs or small teams to try to fill their word sheet.
We often use Boggle as our Word Work station in our 'Daily 5' Literacy Workshop. This simple spelling game enhances phonetic awareness. However, it is often so much fun that students forget that they are improving spelling and vocabulary! |
Writing PromptsThree reasons I love writing prompts:
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Staying OrganizedThe students are responsible for the making the daily schedule. Every morning as part of our morning routine, we create our day together.
This helps students to become responsible for scheduling and time management. Often it is the students who remind me, "Mrs. Parnell, we need to be in Art in 5 minutes." This visual is a great example of responsibility and organization. It also serves as motivation on those 'busier' days when students are go, go, go! |
Idiom of the WeekAn idiom for each week of the year!
The Idiom of the Week helps students to differentiate between literal and figurative language. Especially in an ESL setting, these idioms help students further explore and grasp the English language. The challenge of the week is to then use this week's idiom in writing or class discussion. Some favorites:
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Daily 5The Daily 5 is a series of literacy tasks. As students rotate through the stations, the teacher gets the opportunity to meet with small groups or individuals.
In my experience, The Daily 5 is more than a management system or a curriculum framework – it is a structure that will help students develop the daily habits of reading, writing and working with peers that will lead to a lifetime of independent literacy. Our Daily 5: Read to peer, Listen to reading, Work on writing, Word work, and Computer work |
Morning JarEvery day during our morning routine, we use this class favorite.
The Morning Jar is a great way to kick-start any morning in any class. Inside, both teacher and students contribute something fun: riddles, puzzles, jokes, cool videos, drawing techniques, etc. Each morning one item gets picked. The Morning Jar gets students awake and ready first thing in the AM - not always an easy task. It's nice to start off the day with something engaging that gets their brain working. Let's get this party started! |