Grade One
Book Worms!
"We're literacy obsessed!"
Welcome to our classroom
Browsing Bins and Topic Shelves
In our classroom there are a number of browsing bins surrounding the carpet area where students can find books during morning routine, and can use to fill their just right book bags. The books are all front-facing so students can see the covers and easily browse, and the bins are divided by level or sometimes genre. Each bin has a small level range that is associated with a colour. The students do not know their level, but instead know their colour. There are also some bins that are grouped by genre (for example animals, math, science), these books are often non-fiction and therefore could be browsed through by multiple levels.
Also with the browsing bins is a topic shelf, this includes books related to various lessons or units being studied. It could also have books relating to the season, or that are of very high-interest to the majority of the class.
When browsing through books students have been encouraged to try and find “just right books”, if they are interested in a book and think it is right for them they can ‘prove’ it to the teacher by reading them the first page. Often students can tell themselves when the book is not “just right” as soon as they try to read it out loud.
Just Right Book Bags
The just right book bags are personal for each student. They are filled with 5-6 books at the student’s independent reading level. These are the books students read during read-to-self. At the beginning of the year the teacher conferences with each student to choose the books for their bag. The goal is to have books that are interesting for the students but can be successfully read. The teacher conferences with the students on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to change up the books in their just right bag. At each conference the teacher is modeling how to select just right books, so that eventually students can start to choose books on their own that they have browsed through during morning routine. For this reason, as the year goes on the teacher does not have to conference with every student every week, but can check in casually to make sure students are changing up the books. The teacher’s role changes from selecting books to approving book choice. NOTE: if a student is very interested in a book and determined to read it the teacher will take this into consideration and can allow them to attempt a book above their level as long as she is then checking in and supporting them during read-to-self. Likewise, the students can have some books that may be below their level if they are really interested in reading them. The just right bags are supposed to encourage and motivate independent reading, while also ensuring success.
Classroom Organization
Here you will find a few of the things that we think make our class just a little more special!
Caught Ya Being Good
The “caught ya being good” program is a variation of a token economy, where students who are “caught being good” will have their name entered into a jar. Every Friday there is a draw and someone will win a literacy price, this could be material (pencils, bookmarks), or a privilege (e.g. getting a first choice of centres). The token economy is implemented universally on a class-wide basis but is especially helpful for our students who suffer from socio-emotional or behaviour problems. The system reinforces good behaviour and therefore motivates students. The teacher never takes requests for “caught ya being good” for example, if a student asks: “did you catch me?” Some of the examples of behaviour that the teacher can catch is: a student working really hard during independent work, students who present their reading or writing to the class with sharing sticks, or a student who adds more to their work after hearing teacher feedback. The caught ya being good program is individual to each student; the teacher should know when a student is showing determination or dedication, and can encourage this behaviour by catching them. The teacher should be mindful of who she is catching and making sure everyone has a chance to succeed. This program is used to reinforce routines at the beginning of the year, but it is often not necessary once students have become self-regulated. It should not be over used or relied on too heavily.
Sharing Sticks
During centre time, writing workshop, and occasionally the other subjects the teacher will hand out sharing sticks to students who are working hard and on task. In the last 5-10 minutes before recess or lunch the students will meet on the carpet and those with a sharing stick will present their work. This program is highly motivating for students, but of course those who are shy have the right to pass. The sharing sticks are meant to be positive, not to put students on the spot. The sharing sticks are great for developing fluency as the students are reading their work (or poems/songs). It also is good for oral language development. After sharing the teacher can give students descriptive feedback, and the audience has the option of asking questions. In our classroom everyone wants to get a sharing stick, different students are chosen every day and it is great for students to be appreciated by their peers; there is always a round of applause started by the students
Mystery Box
A different student presents the mystery box every other day. The student brings the mystery box home and fills it with an unknown item. It is their job to write 3 clues in complete sentences (invented spelling is fine as long as they can read it, but they should end with the proper punctuation). The students should be able to do this on their own, but if they need help they can make an appointment with the teacher for the next morning and she can help them write their clues. The students know they need to practice reading their clues so that they are able to present them to the class; this helps develop fluency. After the students read their clues they can pick three to four children to guess the object. If someone guesses correctly they will take the mystery box next. If the class is stumped the student will pick someone who hasn’t gone recently to take home the box.
Special Me and Me Bag
Each week a new student is chosen to be the ‘Special Me’, this includes a small oral presentation each day. On Monday the ‘Special Me’ will present their ‘about me’ graphic organizer, and one item from their me bag. The ‘Me Bag’ is a brown paper bag that the students take home and design and fill with 5 personal items. Each day the student picks one item to share. Three students can pick a question stick and ask about the shared item. On the second week of school the teacher is the ‘Special Me’ and models a presentation. She or he then chooses the students weekly, starting with those she know will find the oral presentation easy and who can further model the activity. The students do not need any help making their poster or filling their bag, they should be able to do it on their own at home and all the students enjoy being ‘Special Me’. The poser can be mainly pictorial but should involve some words as labels, or sentences if the students feel comfortable.
Personal Bins
These bins are where our students can keep any personal belongings that they have brought to school. From an organizational standpoint, we find they work well because they keep students from having to run outside the classroom to their hooks to get anything they’ve forgotten. They’re also a great classroom management tool because students are more likely to want to keep a distracting item in their personal bin as opposed to outside in their backpack. Mainly, we like them because they provide students with a sense of choice and a little spot in the classroom that belongs only to them!
Home Books
Home books are essentially like student agendas. Though in grade 1 we do not require students to write any reminders—nor do we give any homework aside from reading—these books are a great communication tool between home and school. Parents or caregivers are encouraged to send messages to us in their child’s home book and we will respond on a daily basis.
Helping Hands
The helping hands program is our way of organizing and assigning classroom jobs. Once per week, each job opening is filled with a different student as we rotate alphabetically. We find these jobs provide students with a sense of responsibility, independence and pride in their classroom. Our students are always eager to help and approach their jobs with a great sense of dedication. Classroom jobs are especially important for our student with social-emotional difficulties—he loves helping out in the classroom and we find that providing him with a task related to his job prior to an emotional outburst helps him to self-regulate and feel successful.