Christina ConnollyPhoto Journal
EDC 424 Wednesday 4-6:45
The literacy learning environment is an integral component to a students ability to read and write confidently. Allowing the students to either work alone or in small groups, increases self-esteem as well as their social skills within the classroom and at home. All the elements of a classroom are inter-related and are scaffolding for the knowledge the students gain from the first day to the last. All of the activities that I observed were authentic, engaging, and defiantly interesting to a student in the 1st or 2nd grade. The one element that was not as fine tuned as the rest of the room, was the bins delegated to a coursework to be turned in. Other than the minor problem of the bins partially overflowing, the two classrooms I visited were set up in a manner that each center built upon the other centers in the room.
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Description: This is the today’s center, it has a schedule of what will be going on that day for this second grade class.
Location: The today’s center is located on the chalkboard next to the literacy circle. It is also located near the teachers desk so she can refer to it when necessary and so every student can see it.
Purpose: The today’s center board serves many functions. The routine for the day is posted daily and the vocabulary words are posted weekly.
Why this activity: This is great for students who need extra structure, or need to follow a routine. The elements stay the same and the parts of the elements are the only change from day to day.
Purpose: This pocket behavior chart tracks the students behavior throughout the day with the use of colored cards. At the bottom of the chart is a key to the colored cards.
Why this activity:This works great for all students. It also serves as a way to call role and track absences. The students begin the day with a green card, or ‘great job!’ If they get a warning for their behavior they change their card to yellow. If the bad behavior continues their card is then changed to red and they loose 2 minutes of recess. The last resort is a blue card which means no free time all day. This works most of the time, since students value their free time.
Description: This pocket chart has a slot for each student on the roster in this 1st grade class. It also tracks their behavior throughout the day.
Location: This is located on the wall as you walk into the class room.
Description: This is a consonant-influenced vowel pocket chart that the teacher explains to the students every morning.
Location: This easel was located in the center of the room, available for all to see and read the activities.
Purpose: To teach students that ‘r’ has the power to control and change the sound of the vowel before it.
Why this activity: To show the students the many different vowel pattern and the influence one letter can have over the other. It also gives the students examples of the pattern and ways in which to use it in a sentence. There is also a picture of an animal who’s name has the pattern in it.
Description: This is the task board for the students in this 1st grade class.
Location: This task board was clipped onto an easel and located in the center of the room where students must pass by in order to get to their seats.
Purpose: The purpose of this task board is to inform students of their assigned individual activity or center. While the teacher is working with a small group of students on their reading skills, the rest of the class goes to their assigned center or to their seat to do reading or writing work.
Why this activity: This activity gives the students advance knowledge about where they will be working as individuals during reading time. This is especially important for students who are easily frustrated by changes throughout the school day.
Description: This is a literature circle, which consists of a group of students examining a book or other form of literature in detail.
Location: The literature circles are located next to the 7 keys to comprehension chart and the transitional words chart. A great spot for students to find answers to their writing questions.
Purpose: The purpose of this activity is to engage the students in their readings through making choices, creating meaning, and discussing their readings together. The students are guided by each other through questions about the plot, characters, title, setting, problem, and solution
Why this activity: This activity inspires students to be more relaxed when discussing their interpretation of a piece of literature as well as having fun at the same time.
Description: This transitional words chart, introduces students to a variety of words to lead them to their next thought.
Location: It is located on the wall high up so students can see it from anywhere in the room. It is hung in the middle of the wall between the literature circle and the 7 keys to comprehension.
Purpose: The transitional words are used when writing to help students guide the reader through the interconnection among facts and linking sentences and paragraphs to one another.
Why this activity: This activity helps the student find direction in their writing, giving the reader a glimpse of the next event about to happen.
Description: This is a chart explaining the 7 Keys to Comprehension; create mental images, use background knowledge, ask questions, make inferences, determine the most important ideas or themes, synthesize information, and use fix up strategies.
Location: This chart is located on the wall to the right of the literature circles, and to the left of the transitional words chart.
Purpose: The teacher uses this chart to unlock the meaning of a story when the student is reading it.
Why this activity: Real reading consists of more than sounding out or decoding words. If students are not unlocking the meaning of a story while they read, then they are not really reading and will never read well or enjoy reading.
Description: This is the six traits of writing center. Those traits are: organization, sentence fluency, voice, conventions, word choice, and topic.
Location: It is located next to the writing center and placed high on the wall so that students can read it from anywhere in the classroom.
Purpose: The purpose of this center is to develop and increase students word choices in their writing activities.
Why this activity: This activity is developed to help students improve their writing through different strategies. They are encouraged to describe in detain events that are happening and to put their emotional voice into their story.
Description: This is a story center and library sign-out area.
Location: This is located on the wall next to the 6 traits of writing.
Purpose: The purpose of this center is to develop students writing abilities in regards to the beginning and ending of a story. It gives students ideas on how to increase their descriptive writing skills. Through their writing they can express their thoughts and concerns surrounding a subject.
Why this activity: This is important for students to learn since it is integral in understanding critical thought. Questioning why characters in their stories are acting in the manner in which they are allows students to developed their critical thought process.
Description: This is a pig cutout attached to an easel used to promote reading comprehension.
Location: It was located in the rear of the classroom attached to an easel.
Purpose: The purpose of this activity is to engage the students in their readings through developing a deeper understanding of the characters in the book. The students are guided by the teacher through questions about the characters, and the setting.
Why this activity: This visual representation of the main character in the book, allows students to use their prior knowledge to better understand the events taking place. With the assistance of the teacher, the students gain a better understanding of the characters and the setting of the book.
