Room 35

Welcome and bienvenidos to Ms. Froehlich's first grade classroom at Palm Lane Elementary School in Phoenix, Arizona. Since many people have asked me for pictures of my classroom, this year I took pictures of the literacy areas, general arrangement, and special effects for you to view. I will be adding more to the site with pictures of our inhabitants as well as special events in August, 2001!!

Come on in and look around our first grade room. We moved this year.. twice!! See what is new.

I have at least fifteen pocket charts. The charts are in use all day long for centers, instruction, group time, and phonemic awareness activities. On the first day of school, I write each student's name on a sentence strip, laminate with contact paper, and place in the pocket chart. The chart is on a garment rack with wheels. I move this to the hallway so parents can read the class list. The name cards are our first word wall words. At the end of the year, I put the name card in a student memory book along with pictures I take of the kids during the first week of school.

Use the tune of the music playing in the background of this web page, "It's a Small World." The first week of school we sing this song and learn the teacher's long name.

We will study hard and we'll make new friends,

There's so much to do 'till the school year ends,

We will read, write and spell,

And do math very well,

In Ms. Froehlich's first grade class.

In Ms. Froehlich's first grade class (4 times repeat)

There's so much for us to do.

(we add a cha-cha-cha- at the end

This area of the room is devoted to our group time in the morning, afternoon, and before departure at the end of the day. Students are also visit this area for various literacy centers using the pocket charts and book baskets. There is a large carpet on the floor and carpet squares that students can move to other areas of the room. Morning activities include calendar, weather, songs about days of the week, months, counting, alphabet songs and shared writing. Piglet is always around and enjoys participating with the kids. The pocket charts on the wall remain all year long. I have wallpaper trays on the floor by each pocket chart to store sentence strips for the week. All of the sentence strips for a song, activity, or poem are stored together on separate rings inside of the tray. Easy to put together and put away.

Our Good-bye song, "See you Later Alligator" is written on yellow sentence strips for the pocket chart. Number words, counting, and number concepts are in the pocket chart that has is portable. The storage boxes below the charts are alphabet and literacy activities stored and labeled with the letters on the front.

The literacy cart is below the pocket chart with the yellow sentence strips has wheels. This year our centers move to the tables. I am fortunate this year to have tables since I endured the problems with desks for too many years. All of my centers are on carts and move to designated tables. There is a master guide with the same symbols for the centers in a smaller version on a small bulleting board. The kids can look at the picture of one of the Pooh characters and know where they are to be working for the center activity.

Additional items that I include on the front wall are not permanent fixtures. Magnetic clips hold various charts or enlarged writing paper. The rule bear, our rules for listening, and a laminated writing paper that is large are used for various activities.

Some of my big books are also stored in the yellow, plastic big book storage. However, the books for our themes or skills are located within reach and easy access for student use for shared and independent reading.

The crowns are for the students who are taking attendance to the office, taking notes, or other errands. This is their "hall pass". The crowns were purchased for under $2.00 at a toy outlet store in the "nobody loves me" bin. In Room 35, all of our little cubs love to wear the royal crown for the week. I select a girl one week and then a boy.

First grade students need to develop a sense of responsibility and cooperation. Our job bear changes each week. The process is easy to organize and regulate. All names are typed on labels and then put on 3 x 5 index cards. The names of the students are written on popsicle sticks and placed in two containers or in our room, "honey jars"; one for boys and one for girls. A master list is kept by the job chart with the classlist and jobs. When a student has a particular job, there is a check placed in the box by their name. Each week names are drawn alternating boys and girls for the position. The line leaders also wear a special sticker I purchased from the Sunshine Label Company. They have excellent incentive labels for early childhood.

This mural I painted on a long wall last year. Due to classroom space and student numbers, I removed the wall to make space. However, several people have asked me for pictures and it is included in this composite.

This area will be used for our word wall. The first words to appear in the year will be the names of the students in Room 35. Other words will be added each week. Activities and suggestions for using a word wall can be found in the book, Month-By-Month Phonics, First Grade by Patricia Cunningham and Dorothy Hall (Carson Dellosa Publications). Each grade level has a specific book for the phonics activities used in the word wall.

This carpet was purchased through Lakeshore. There are 30 squares that are divided with lines. It is a wonderful management and instructional tool. Kids have assigned squares that we call their "apartment". If they cannot stay inside of the apartment or make some poor choices in behavior, they can be "evicted" from our apartment house. The children gather here for morning circle, shared and independent reading, as well as center activities. The squares can also be used for counting, calendar, colors, and more. This was a birthday present from my oldest daughter, Stephanie, who will be student teaching in the Fall, my team partner, Jane Burleson, and my PAL aide, Eva Martinez who is the most wonderful classroom assistant! Nice birthday!