Literacy Rich!

Descriptive:
     My practicum classroom was literacy rich this semester! I got a warm fuzzy feeling the first time I walked into the classroom because I knew the teacher was dedicated to her children. There were many bulletin boards up that were kid friendly. One of her boards was all about the children and their families. I knew right then she cared enough to know about each child's family. I loved all the pictures and I felt like I knew the children after looking at their family tree. Another bulletin board was all of the words they have gone over, sight words and what they call "interesting" words. Those were to help the children on an everyday basis. Another bulletin board was work they have done that month. It showed the children that the teacher actually cared about their art work and it was proud work. A bulletin board that I really enjoyed was the alphabet bulletin board. It wasn't just your typical alphabet bulletin board, this one was a letter animal. They had a letter and made an animal out of it. Each week a new letter went up, but only one child's art when up at a time because the teacher has 26 spots for each letter. Since she cannot put everyone's up at one time she picks a stick and that child's letter goes up. It was a great idea that I will take alone with me as the years go on. 

      I noticed that everything is labeled around the room. This benefits the children because when they need help spelling they have it right in front of them, and they are recognizing the word every time they are look at the "clock". Speaking of every thing being labeled, everything in circle time had its own label. When they talked about the days of the week, they sang a song while the teacher pointed to the days of the week. They did the same thing with the months of the year. When the teacher called the students up to point to the day they were able to point to the word because of the recognition they received throughout the year as the teacher pointed to words. Along with their circle time they had a question of the day chart, which the teacher asked a question and the the children had to find their name and put it under an answer. This helped the children recognize their name and eventually they knew where their name was. My mentor was really good about naming her colors and shapes so that the children could spell them all. I have learned that labeling everything in the classroom is a huge benefit to the children. 

     In the classroom they had a lounge for their reading center. They had three children sized couches and two bean bags. When it was reading time, she called 8 children to the reading center at a time and it was exciting for the children to be able to read in the lounge. It was a great way to get the children engaged and actively reading. The reading center was a comfortable and exciting place for the children to be, and she used it as an incentive for the children when they were good. I really enjoyed that her reading center was welcoming.

     Every morning the children have to sign themselves in and put what they are eating for lunch. This is a great way for the children to start their day. They feel like they are a big part of the classroom and that they play a huge role to their classroom. They knew that when they came into the classroom they had to put their stuff away and immediately sign in.It was great to see that the children had responsibility.