Pre-Kids Room Tour!

This will be a post with many pictures and few words.  I wanted to share my "finished" room before school starts.  Of course, it is not really ever finished, especially without student work!

I updated the Read 180 Browser Notebooks to 2inch ones, and made fancy covers.  Of course, we are updating to New Generation (in a month) and I assume that there will be new books to include.
To accommodate the additional computers (to accommodate the additional kids) that I am getting, the library got shifted around and split into two sections.  The audio-book section is on the other side of my desk.  I think it will work out better this way.
It really opens it up and the flow will be better.
I made two large vertical number lines (click here if you want to buy your own).  It worked out better to put them on either side of the front boards.

Pano-shot of the front of the room.  Really not all that different from last year.  It works!
This is the background for my "I Can" and Homework board.
The "I Can" Statements will go on the clipboards.  My "I Can" Statements for 6th Grade Common Core Math, and my "I Can" Statements for 6th Grade Common Core Language Arts are available in my TPT store.
On the other side of the not-Smartboard, is the beginning of the Maroo giant storyboard.
I might have gotten a little carried away with the stars.
The trees took forever!  And they were worth it!
This part of the board represents the time they spent at the beach (the sun should be a dead giveaway).  I put Erin's (Lovin' Lit) Elements of Plot posters up because we will be hitting those the first week.  They will come down when student work starts going up.
Then there is the CLIFF!  Also, I spent a ridiculous amount of time on the clouds.
The mountains and the snow house!  After my one painting class with my sister, I was feeling pretty artsy, and painted the mountains freehand.  It took two days because the gray had to dry before I could paint the snow.  I am pretty impressed with myself - so be kind:).
The board ends with the descent down the mountains to the Fall Gathering - notice the bigger star?  Yep, it is Old Mother's star guiding her down.  The audio books on the other side of that bookcase, and the empty space is for the two additional computers (that have not materialized, yet).

My master plan is to use the board for Otzi the Iceman too.  Plus, when we move into narrative writing, I am going to hide a few Bigfoots up there to go along with our Bigfoot prompt.

We had orientation today, and when the little tour groups came around, they loved the board!  First impressions count!

Tomorrow is our first and only "teacher day," and while others are scrambling, I will be puttering around my room, laying things out for Thursday.  Whew!  It is good to be done, and ready to go!  Bring on the students! 

9 comments

  1. I absolutely love the mural you did!! That's absolutely fantastic. :) :)
    ~Amanda from His and Her Hobbies

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  2. Cute! I'm not very good with hands-on stuff---my classroom decoration plans involve bribing a high school girl with Reeses cups to do it for me :) (Her mom's the art teacher, and told me ahead of time that this would be the best way to motivate her daughter)

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  3. Your room looks great! I'm impressed that you painted the mountains...I would have probably given up..lol I just started on my room. Like you, I want to be puttering around the last days, not frantically scrambling!

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  4. Wow - Susan, your classroom looks AWESOME! I wish I had the time and resources to do something like this to my classroom, but sadly as a first year teacher I have to allocate my time and money elsewhere for this year. I love the idea of theming your room around a book you're going to be reading, and you did an awesome job of incorporating it throughout your whole room! Thanks for the inspiration!

    - Emily
    dramainthemiddle.wordpress.com

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  5. Love, Love, Love, LOVE all of this!
    The kids will have so much fun "putting the pieces together" as things happen in the story.
    How exciting and motivating and just-plain-lovely!
    I am SO glad I know you!

    Happy New School Year, Friend!

    Kim
    Finding JOY in 6th Grade

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  6. Wow! That looks amazing, and I can only imagine how many hours you spent making all that magic come together! It looks like you're all set for another year!!!

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  7. Your room looks AWESOME!!! Those trees are absolutely amazing. I love the colors you chose for your room. It is so calming and peaceful. I hope you had a great first day!
    Jennifer
    Mrs. Laffin's Laughings

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  8. I absolutely love your "I Can" packet and just purchased it on TPT. Can you share some ideas on how you use this? Thanks so much!

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    Replies
    1. I will! Actually, I was going to do it this weekend, but totally forgot to take pictures before I left school! First full week with my kids and you know how that goes:).

      Basically, I printed them out, put them in sleeve protectors and in a big binder. The checklist for each strand separates the I Can statements. I just pull out what I need for the day/week and put them up on the little clipboards you see in the tour pics. I usually point it out or pull it down and put it under my camera as we start out each new lesson. The checklist is on my desktop so I can copy and paste from it for lesson plans.

      Hope that helps, and I am so glad you like them! I agonized over them:).

      I promise to take pictures next week and post about it.

      p.s. I sent you an email, but I don't think you got it. Your address is a "no-reply" address.

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