Classroom Makeover Ideas

Hey friends!

I'm not sure if you saw on my FB Page, but this school year, I've returned to a third grade teaching position. I'm super excited about this transition and wanted to share with you my classroom make over!

Classroom Makeover

This is what my room looked like when I walked in. 

Then we had this chair. 

My husband said that in order to paint the room, we had to "prep" the walls. In my mind, I thought just get the rollers out and paint. That was NOT the case. We had remove all of the tape and staples from the wall. Next, we could begin to sand the walls. This was probably the most difficult job.

For the record, I did sand SOME of the walls, but the spouse did MOST of it :) 

Next, we were able to paint the trim of the walls and all of the little groves. I am not sure that's what they are called!

Once we started to use the rollers, the painting went MUCH faster!

 My husband decided he didn't like the brown doors, so we removed them, sanded and painted them. This was such a chore because the doors were so heavy!

I looked at the furniture that was available and decided which pieces I could repurpose. At first glance,  I thought I was going to trash this table. After further investigation, we decided to cover it with contact paper. The biggest tip is that we covered it with two layers to make it more durable.

                                         

 He measures everything before he does ANYTHING. It's a great quality to have, I do not have it.

Final product of our table make over

We repainted this book shelf  for my math manipulatives.

Mr. Mike now hangs my bulletin boards for me. This project would not have happened without him!

I found the most darling storage bins from Kirklands on CLEARANCE!

Just when he thought he was finished hanging stuff, I needed my wall organizer hung!

We assembled this little dresser in about five minutes! It's PERFECT for the classroom. Mike wanted to get an IG account, so this was his welcome picture!

We found this little wash table at a local antique store. It's the perfect little side table! 

Curtains-- HERE

Part of my library (mid makeover)

This is the area in the back of my library. I have the reading strategies posters displayed for now. 

FANS- HERE

The library labels and reading strategies posters are all available right here. 

Here's another Kirkland's find. I purchased two of these shelves when they were on sale this summer. They are perfect for my  guided reading area!

The local news did a story on this classroom makeover. You can watch it HERE.

Thanks for stopping by! 

How To Protect Your Classroom Library

It's that time of year that we start to picture our summer vacation. We might begin to make plans, schedule appointments and even book our vacation time. Summer can come up quickly, so I've made a list of a few things I try to do before summer creeps up on you! I try to tackle one project at a time. 

Inside My Classroom Library 

The first thing I do to prepare for summer is take a long hard look at my classroom library.  I've invested quite a bit and had a mentor that invested quite a bit. I want my library to stay nice for years to come. With these tips, I can proudly say after 11 years, I've barely had to get rid of ANY books. My kids know how I am about my library and they don't play around when it comes to taking care of books!

How To Clean Your Classroom Library

This is something I've always done as I've seen needed, but I don't recall ever pulling all of the books out and cleaning them until I met my new media specialist. I still remember it like it was yesterday. I walked in to the library, and all I could see was books standing open. The fresh lemon scent went through the air and made everything seem so clean! I asked her "What are you doing?", she replied "Cleaning books". She was almost puzzled like duh, what does it look like. So I watched her and quickly adapted this system. We have sure bonded over our love for books and how to teach students how to TREAT the books. 

Before I start to clean my books, I go through and pull out all of the major repairs. I determine if they can be salvaged or if they should be tossed. I use cleaning wipes and packing tape to do most of my repairs. 

The first step: Take you cleaning wipe out of the container and ring it out. This seems like another "duh" moment, but you have to do this step. If you use the cleaning wipe while it is dripping wet, you will ruin your books. I repeat, you will ruin your books! 

After I wipe them down very thoroughly, I let them air out for a good bit. I might only do a few categories a day or before I leave. The next day, I'll put them back in their basket. This way, they have plenty of time to dry before I stack them on top of each other.

Here's a little proof that with a little love, your old and dirty books, can look very good again!

Once I've cleaned my books, I want to make sure they are all in the right baskets, so I reorganize them in order to pack up. I will wrap each stack of books up with large construction paper to pack them up. I've moved a lot due to my husband's service, and this is the way that has worked best for me over the years!  I also check to make sure each book has the right label. You can read more about how I organize my classroom library here. 

I'll be back to share another tip for ending the school year smoothly later in the week! Thank you for following along! 

Building Your Classroom Library on a Budget

Hey everyone! Here's an oldie that I'd thought I'd bring out that was shared on my friend Denise's Blog. 

Classroom Library

I don't know about y'all but my classroom library is always growing! My classroom library is like a hobby for me. In my free time, I love going out and searching for nice books! The trick is, finding a deal and using the resources that you already have! 

One way I've grown an extensive library is using  Scholastic Book Clubs.  I use the online ordering system and parents can order books directly from the website. I tell my parents that it really helps our classroom when they purchase from Scholastic and typically it is less expensive than going to the big box stores.

Different Kinds of Print

 I love using different kinds of text in the classroom so the children are exposed to anything and everything. I like for my students to be able to recognize text in the real world and WANT to read it.

There are several ways to do this. I have started making Printable Books to use in the classroom. These are books I can use as interactive read alouds to introduce or review a subject.

My  printable Graphs book was a huge hit this year in my classroom. Before we started our Graphs unit, I used this book as a read aloud. Then I put in my math book bin! 

Here are a few more pictures of my Printable Math Books

 One of my printable Science Books

In this  interactive read aloud, students learn weather standards and how weather affects the way we live. 

 I have a large collection of magazines, brochures and menus as well in my classroom. These offer students the exposure to real world text. I received a lot of my magazines by going around to different libraries and asking to look through their discard pile. They usually throw out magazines after a few years!! 

Another trick is that I always save the books that come from kids meals! These are a great addition to the classroom library! This helps me with my diet as well! I always order kids meals if I am forced to eat at a fast food place. The toys go straight into the treasure box and the books into my library! I also ask my family and neighbors to save these books. They also go great for the treasure box!

One thing that I do is purchase high text coloring books. I usually find them at the dollar store.  I do this especially for those students who we are trying to get  to WANT to read, read ANYTHING. They do often ask to color them, but if you set the routine from the beginning and discuss that we do not color in these, you  should be fine. My first year of doing this it was hard, but I didn't set the routine. Now that my routines are in place, it's fine.  Some teachers let them color in them as a reward. I am thinking about trying that this year. It does actually work and you can get the students engaged in the reading process through high text coloring books. The purpose of this is to reach those students that have absolutely NO interest in reading.  These books make it fun for the students and they look forward to reading them (and let's be real-coloring them!). 

Another tip, I  check out our local Goodwill. They typically have books  3 for a $1.00! I only purchase books that are in great condition and am always finding great deals at Goodwill! My husband laughs at me for this..until I tell him I *could* go by them brand new for $8.00 a pop ;) That gets him every time haha! I also go to garage sales, look on FB sale group sites and watch for teachers who are leaving the classroom.

How to Make Your Students Fall In Love With Reading

Hey Friends! Sometimes in the crazy chaos life world of the classroom we forget the purpose of why we are there. Is it to make our students have the most AR points in the school? Is it to get the best prize in the school? No. The reason the students are there is to develop a love of learning and master the standards set by the state that you live in.  So how do you do both? How do you make sure that students make the progress on the districts program that they've purchased, master the standards AND love to read?

Create A Warm and Desirable Space

Creating a classroom library can be challenging. Research suggests that we should focus on creating a space that is inviting to the students and comfortable. For my library, I used a teal shag rug. It's lasted for nearly four years! The space was open so that I could always see the students and monitor what they were doing. The library was colorful so the students were engaged with the browsing process. You can read more about how I manage my classroom library here.

 Let Children Decide What To Read

I have my books organized by theme. I do this for a very specific reason. Fountas and Pinnell ( as well as many other reading researchers) suggest that in order to create a classroom library that fosters a love of reading, we should sort our books by theme rather than level. This allows students to "explore" books by their interest.  Children can then explore books that are appealing to them. Books that they desire to read and not books that they have to read or feel like they have to read because of a certain level.

Teachers should teach students how to pick a "just right book". First, students should look for a book that looks appealing to them or sparks their interest. Students should look for a book that they WANT to read. Next students should read the first page of the book and determine if the book is too difficult or too easy for them. If the student has a hard time reading more than five words, the student should pick a different book. In the primary grades, I would let me students browse through harder books. I would tell them "Browse for a bit, then find a keeper". This way, they are still exploring the books they WANT and then moving onto a just right book at the end.

  Independent reading shouldn't be something students have to do, it should be something they want to do. We do this by fostering a love of reading and peaking a students interests. If a student is very interested in sharks, find books about sharks. No matter the age .  For example, this book is for older readers.

I have an extensive classroom library and while it drives my husband crazy every time we (he) packs it up,  the students love it. The purpose for this is that we never know what books our students will like. When parents tell me "Johnny doesn't like to read", I try to respond with, "He hasn't found the right book yet".  When kids find the "right" book, it makes all the difference! For example, as a mom, I didn't particularly want my kids reading books like "Captain Underpants" and stuff like that, however, a child that "doesn't like to read", was READING. So I had to learn, to let go, and let it be. 

By building relationships with your students and discovering their interests,  you will  be able to determine what kind of books are right for that particular student. Creating a large classroom library is an important key to making this all work because you just never know what interest your  students will have. 

 I know this can be expensive. We are thrift store junkies! My family loves to hunt for books for the classroom with me. We hit up garage sales, thrift stores, Goodwill, and teachers who are leaving the profession for books. I have a list of common high interest books here. 

These library labels are easy to manage and ink friendly.

I do keep a separate guided reading section of my library. This is mostly for me and instructional purposes.  This allows students to read on their instructional level during guided reading time.

Display Books Around The Classroom

Displaying books around the classroom will peak students interest in what the books are about. I change these books out often and specifically use books at at different in culture and theme. This way, students are naturally curious about the topic before they ever start to read it! It's a win- win!

Read Aloud to Students

As a first grade and second grade teacher, I read to my students all the time!  When I moved to fourth grade, I wasn't sure if they would "like" to be read to, but, I wanted to make them like it. HA! It worked! The older kids STILL want to be read to. They loved it just as much as the younger kids. I was able to pick more complex text and with advance story lines. Through read aloud, you have the opportunity to model for students how to read while thinking AND get students excited about the text.  Select texts on purpose that purposely relate to the skill or standard you are teaching. Read them with enthusiasm, you are on a stage! Be careful not just to read a book to read a book, remember to always set a purpose for the reading.  One skill that is typically apparent in every book we read is making connections. The students like hearing about our real life experiences and getting to know us outside of the classroom. Through connections in read alouds, students are able to see a different side of their teacher. This is a very powerful teachable moment.
The important idea is that elementary students K-5 still need to be read to. The idea that this strategy for just K-2 is just not supported by research. Reading aloud allows you to teach a standard, while helping students develop a love of reading.



By peaking students interest, finding the right books, modeling how fun reading can be and creating an inviting space for students to read in, you will have readers who WANT to read in no time!