Classroom Sneak a Peek with the Primary Peach

Hi!  Hope you are having a fantastic school year and an enjoyable Labor Day weekend!  Today I'm guest blogging over on the Primary Peach, 

so I thought I would share some classroom ideas with you here as well...

I am so excited for the long weekend, and hope you have plans to rest, refresh, and maybe even enjoy a little college football over this Labor Day weekend! I wanted to share a peek into my classroom with you! Come on in...

I am excited to be teaching 4th grade Science and Social Studies again this year, so several sections of my room reflect our content areas of focus. For example, our map area has an "Oh, the Places You'll Go" theme. I also have lots of inspirational "Seussisms" hung around our classroom. I love using quotes to get students talking, thinking, and even writing...motivation can be a powerful tool in the classroom!

The "Enrichment Engine" is the place where you'll find fun things like a gigantic globe suspended from the ceiling and our classroom learning games. 

Laminated scrapbook paper was the key to making my content word wall. Scrapbook paper--definitely one of my favorite, inexpensive ways to spruce up any boring space! 

I also wanted a cute way to preview all of the units we cover in a year, so I made this "restaurant-themed" nook featuring a gingham tablecloth-covered bulletin board, a few decorative plates, a chalkboard for recording the "weekly specials," and 2 menus--one for the "Global Cafe" (our Social Studies units for the year) and one for the "Science Sandwich Shop" (our 4th grade Science units).

Here are a few more shots from around the room, like our comfy, cozy reading nook where we keep our "Chugga, Chuggs Chapter Books"...

Bloom's Taxonomy posters to encourage higher order thinking...

our train-themed helper chart...

our Bible verse and cursive ABC charts...

and inspirational posters featuring characters from my WATT Valley series (We Are Tomorrow's Thinkers). Click to find out more about Mrs. Foster, Kind Kimmy, and the other students from WATT Valley.

Students do their part as well to keep our room looking neat and organized. This year I made and posted cubby checklists like these to help students keep their spaces neat and tidy. They are doing a GREAT job!

Lastly, here are a few pics of the whole room, my teacher's desk, and our Smartboard/large group carpet. 

I love my pennants/bunting which are new this year!

You can see by the pics that my tables are arranged by color (navy, red, turquoise, lime green, and purple) using signs I made using more scrapbook paper and tissue paper pom poms from the party store.  I love the extra pizazz they add!

My goal every year is to create a classroom that is warm, engaging, welcoming, and student-centered. Even 4th graders like to be inspired by their learning environment! Hope you've enjoyed the classroom tour! Thanks for stopping by!

Be sure to check back over at the Peach throughout the month of September for more Peachy posts from lots of different GA bloggers!