The Cole Train: My fourth grade room

Let me take you on a tour of my room. The biggest news this year is that I painted. I think it gives the room a soothing effect. It is always a work in progress, but this is what we have so far!

This is the view from my desk. 4th grade furniture and kids are bigger than the younger grades. It's hard to get it all in. I have them in groups of four to easily implement Kagan strategies.

This is my classroom library. The books are sorted by AR levels and genres. The bins are from the dollar store, and I wish I would've bought them out! I plan to make more permanent labels, but I didn't know if I would need to change them so they are on notecards currently. The kids checkout their book on the clipboard and then place it in the basket when they are done. The librarian checks the books back in and puts them in the correct tub. There are labels on all the books.

Word Wall! I hate using this on my white board, because I feel like it's covering up prime real estate that I could use for extra board space or anchor charts. However, I haven't found a better place for it. I used old magazine backgrounds and fun letters from the dollar store.

Our behavior chart. Several of the 4th grade teachers are doing this this year. I think it makes it more of a positive behavior plan because they have the opportunity to earn "money" and purchase things with their money. It also helps with math, because they are always adding up money. In the future, I maybe would've added more money options. The students seem to be reacting well to this plan.

Organizing supplies are much easier with dollar store bins. I love the colors as well!

Instead of giving up another bulletin board, I put the class jobs on my board. I then hang the students' pictures from the clothespin. However, I have found that velcro works a lot better! I have a class job for everyone in my class. Let me know if you need ideas.