Classroom+Architect

You have all done a superior job in designing the perfect Language Arts Classroom! Please respectfully offer your thoughts to someone else's ideas and concepts.

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the Reading Room!! A place where letters are turned into words and books come to life. I chose to use two large circled rugs enclosed by bean bags. The bean bags allow the studentst to realax while they enjoy their book of choice. I also included eight computers for the students to enjoy. After they read their books on the carpet, they will then go to the computer to take a quiz on the book they read. The computer also will allow them to hear books as well. YSC
 * Design a model reading area** for a P-5 grade level of candidate's choice. Bearing in mind the needs of students and teacher, design **the perfect Language Arts Classroom.** [] Classroom architect. Post a brief explanation of your design. Due Mid-Term

Lisa Dixon’s Ideal Classroom This is my ideal classroom. In order for a classroom to be effective it needs to flow. This setting does just that. It has creativity for a reading area, The Reading Hut. There is organization of the books so that the students can easily help keep the area clean. The reading area needs to have some isolation so that the students can focus on the book they are reading. Notice that this accomplished with the bamboo walls, but not so much isolation that the teacher can not see what is going on in that area. Also I like that instead of a rug on the floor there are small groups of three individual desks. This set up gives the students more space than when on the rug. I have noticed lots of disruption because of intrusion of space. A class pet can play an important role in much academic areas. The pet can inspire lots of stories and ideas to write, draw, and talk about. This is important in Language Art. Computers also offer another way to incorporate reading and writing in the classroom. Technology is the wave of the future. I hope you enjoy viewing my ideal classroom and invite any suggestions or comments.



Here is my classroom layout. I have designed my classroom so that the "Reading Cove" is a private area that is enclosed by loaded book shelves. Inside it I placed a small sofa and chairs. I hope that by making it a small "room" that students will find it mysterious and appealing. That mystery will help to interest students in reading and books, hopefully making it the most popular center in my classroom. I thought the picture would appear on this page instead of a link, but I might not be going about it right. I also posted a more detailed explanation of the entire classroom on Livetext. **JRF** **NOTE:** I went back to check my layout tonight and the file had been changed somehow. I reloaded the correct one. I have tried to design my classroom so everyone can move around easily. In the front of the room where I have placed my square rug this will be where large group instruction will take place, and will also be used as the block building area during center time. I have also created a science lab where students can work with magnets. I would also consider having a plastic container, and possibly placing rice in it to allow students to look for certain objects. That would allow them to pretend like they are looking for fossils or some type of object that interests them. Also I created a dramatic play center, so students could role play. I placed an art studio in my classroom, so students can paint to express themselves. I placed it by the sink so it would be easy cleanup. In the back there is a place for storage, so I can place extra classroom supplies for the classroom. In the reading and listening center, I placed beanbags for the students to sit on and relax while they read and listen to their books. In the computer area, students can play computer games that enhance their learning skills. The round tables in the center of the classroom are where table work and small group instruction would take place. I have also placed several shelves around the classroom to help with organization of the classroom necessities such as paper, pencils, scissors, etc. **-BLW-**   My classroom is 40 x 24. Ideally I realize this is quite large and likely unrealistic, but I can dream. The art center is complete with tables, an easel, area for storage of supplies, and of course, area to display the art work on the wall. The sink is nearby for easier cleanup. The creative area is set up for Legos, stacking blocks, and other play items. The computer area will be set up with various learning games along with headsets so children can learn without disturbing the student next to them or in other areas. The reading area is nearest the computer area as they are quieter and best placed next to each other. The reading area is complete with sofa and chairs, and of course lots of books to enjoy. The large carpet area is set up for calendar, birthday chart, money chart, weather, and days of the week. It is also set up with Smartboard technology to assist in writing instruction. There is a book stand placed next to the teacher’s desk to display the book of the week. On the other side is a television to watch the morning “news” presented by classmates and other instructional videos. **RBK** My language arts classroom design turned out great. I like to design stuff so I was excited about doing this project. For starters, the only place in the classroom where the students will doing busy work is at their desk and tables. Every center in the classroom can be utilized for learning. Most of the lessons will take place in the left corner of the room. The projector/Smartboard and TV are there to enhance the lessons presented by the instructor. Then to the right are the desks and tables. Like I said, only written assignments will be completed in this area. On the other side of the room is where the fun stuff is located!!!! We have our art center in the upper-right corner along with the sink, fridge, and clothes rack for the aprons. This is where lots of artistic/language expression will take place, hopefully. Moving to the left there is a kidney table, mainly to work in small groups. Then we have the heart of the room located in the upper-left corner of the room. This area is filled with lots of books along with large comfy sofas and bean bag chairs to make reading fun and enjoyable for every student in the class. If this design will not enhance language arts learning, then I don't know what will!!! ﻿***JLP*** I love my classroom! Several teachers that I have observed in the past couple of years have given me great ideas for reading and fun learning centers. Below you will see that i have created two basic reading centers along with regular tables for the students to work at and do arts and crafts and fun activity. The first center is on the top right corner of my classroom it is a library center where the children can pick out books and read them on the carpet or bean bags. This center can also be used for classroom read alouds or discussions as i have added a easel and shelves so that the teacher can use the center as well. The other important center which is my favorite (Located on the bottom right corner) is the reading loft. My uncle actually built several of these for elementary classrooms and the teachers and students love them. It is not too high where the child will get hurt it has railings and a ladder. The loft is created to give a quiet get away for the students to read or work on writing a story. It has book selves made in underneath so the lower or underneath level can be used as a center or quiet area as well. I have also added tables and selves around the room for group work of even small group reading and woking center. Added as well is a tv and a computer area for more learning and fun!!!!
 * ~EEP**



I do not like for things to be crowded; therefore, my classroom is big. My classroom is full of different reading centers for students. At the bottom left of the classroom, there is a computer center with two computers. This center is designed for students to listen to a story being played on the computer. The students will have headphones plugged into the computer so they will not disturb the other reading centers. The next reading center is located in the top left of the classroom. Here, there are many book stands that hold different types of books for the different interests of the students. There are two sofas and a beanbag chair for the reading environment to be relaxing. However, I did not want more than a group of five in this reading center because the center may become too relaxing causing the students to become distracted. The television is located at the front of the room to view the daily activities and announcements. The kidney table is beside the television. This reading center is designed for the teacher to read a short story to a small group of students. Then, the students will write and/or draw a picture about the story. The next reading center is located at the top right of the classroom. This center is mainly for instruction from the teacher. This is where the teacher will perform Read-A-Louds to the class. There are Easels around this area for the teacher to write main ideas or include pictures about the book. The last reading center is located at the bottom right of the classroom. This area includes two sofas for students to read to one another. This center is designed for a group of two or four students to read to one another. This promotes collaboration among the students to help one another if a student is having difficulty sounding out words or reading the words. The teacher's desk is located at the bottom of classroom. Also, I placed a desk next to mine for the Para-pro. There are shelves placed around the classroom for additional supplies, instructional books, and other resources needed for the classroom. The student's tables are located in the middle of the classroom. This is where individual work will take place. The round table located to the right of the classroom is for small group activities. The students will rotate through these reading centers throughout the day. This is what my ideal Reading classroom will look like. -*JPF*-

I designed my classroom around the five concepts (reading, writing, listening, talking, and thinking) that Cramer discusses in our textbook. My classroom is setup so that there is an easy flow around it. The center is the main focus and the place I will teach from. The students will be able to interact (**listen and talk**) with me and their classmates in this area. In each of the four corners, I have placed a different area that will allow the students to have a variety of things to do. The art station is located in the bottom left corner. This station will allow the students to do some creative **thinking** when painting or drawing. In the top left corner, I have an area that the students can go to when they arrive at school or in the afternoon before they leave. They will be able to watch an educational video or play a game (that is on the shelves) in this area. I have placed the **reading** area in the top right corner. I think this is a very important area to have in a classroom. At this station, students will be able to choose from a variety of books to read. I have placed beanbag chairs, soft couches, and other chairs in this area so that the students will be comfortable and relaxed. The last station or area is located in the bottom right corner. This station is where the **writing** will take place. Students will come in small groups to this area and will be able to write at the tables or play games on the computer that help with their writing skills. This is my idea of an ideal classroom and one that I could see myself teaching in. **KLG**

In my 35’ by 22’ language arts classroom I want students to have a variety of educational arts stations to choose from. In my bottom left corner is “Teacher/ Parent Read Corner”. In this corner parents can come and read books to the class as can the acting teacher if parents are not available. In my bottom right hand corner I have the “Dress-Up Corner”. In this corner, also known as drama corner, students dress up and try on various types of clothing while acting out various parts of stories they are given. In my upper left corner I have the “Learning Center Corner”. This corner is designed to help students practice their alphabet, writing skills, and word pronunciation. In the upper middle of my classroom I have the “Quality Book Time Corner”. This corner is where students can get comfortable on a beanbag and practice their reading skills quietly or even orally by reading to each other. To the immediate right of this corner I have an art station set up for students so they can practice drawing, coloring, sketching, and doing other artwork to enhance their fine motor skills. In the upper right corner, which is located right beside the entrance to the classroom, is where my desk will be located along with my computer. There will be a sink beside my desk so that I can ensure that the sink is only used for purposeful reasons and not just playing around as some students see that it is. I have many chairs and sofas spread throughout my classroom to promote a natural setting that will hopefully allow students to feel at home in the classroom and as comfortable as possible to ensure that they all learn and perform to their full potential! **--MET--** The classroom that I designed was a 40x23, and the only reason was because that was the largest I could make it and it still fit on my computer screen (haha)! My classroom plan probably looks very crowded, but for this project I imagined that my room was as big as it needed to be in order for me to put everything I wanted in it without it being crowded at all. So when looking at this, just ignore the spacing of my floor plan and pretend that there is enough sufficient space between every center, etc. In my opinion, the ideal language arts classroom would be one that has no spatial constraints and is able to accommodate everything the teacher feels will further enhance the learning of the language arts students, which is why my classroom is so big with so many components. I chose to base my classroom around the 3rd grade age level. Also, all around the room I have lots of bookshelves. These are mainly for books for the students. Since, for this project, we were to pretend there was no budget, the teacher (myself in this case) would be able to afford as MANY books as he or she wanted. I believe that there is nothing more important in language arts than learning to read and reading as much as possible. Therefore, I have bookshelves FULL of books all around my room. Also notice that all of my centers in the classroom are blocked off by bookshelves so that they seem like little rooms. I believe that students find this exciting, and it also makes them feel as if they are independent. Going clockwise from the doorway, the first center is the sign in area. There is also a sink and a refrigerator near the door for student and teacher use. The next area is the teachers are with storage, shelves, and a computer that can be used for student testing, etc. The next area is the class "theater" for students to watch educational videos, etc. on the TV and projector. The following area is the computer area. Students can do educational activities, such as read audio books, on the computer. The next area we come to is the game area, where students can play educational games with a partner. Following the game center is the "one-on-one" center for students to read to each other one-on-one. Going up the left side, the next center is the "read-aloud" center where students can take turns reading to a group, and there is also a small art center for a students to draw a picture pertaining to a certain story. In the upper left-hand corner is the class library, full of books, with secluded sitting areas for students to sit and read. The top middle of the classroom is for circle time on the rug and individual desks for lessons and writing activities. The very center of the classroom contains small tables for our small group activities. I am very excited about my classroom floor plan. Although it is big, I believe all of the aspects of the classroom would be beneficial. **WLC ** My classroom layout will be efficient in providing adequate spacing for different aspect of a normal school day. It will allow me to have good time management and there will be an easy flow from one station to another in a regular day. In my reading corner, I will have a rug with several bean bags, chairs, and a sofa so that the students will have a more comfortable place to sit or lay down to read. I want to encourage student to read and have fun reading. This should make reading more enjoyable for the students. In front of the smart board, I will place another rug for the students to sit on. This will make it easier for the students to see and work on the board. It will be easier for me to keep the students focus on the activity. There will be kidney tables that will be used in the teacher’s reading group. I will have round tables in a circle around the room. The number of round tables will be determined by the number of students that I have in my class. I chose round table so this will allow the students to have a time for socialization to take place in a controlled situation. I will have three student’s computers and one teacher/smartboard computer. They will be located in a less congested area of the classroom for A.R. testing, STAR testing, and other educational activities. Easels will be used throughout the classroom to hold teaching tools and resources for student learning. I will have shelves, storage cabinets, and book stands throughout the classroom to help organize the teaching materials, resources, and books. In the center of the students will be circle rugs that will be considered a presentation stage. This is the location where students can present their writing or drawing. Then they can publish the work on to the display wall. The display wall is to publish the works of art of the class for the class, visitors, and administration to see. I hope this classroom can encourage children’s minds to wonder and produce imaginative works of art. CAT

This is my Language Arts classroom. In the top left corner, I have two shelves and bookstands that will be filled with books. There is also bean bags and chairs in that portion of the room for the children to read in and relax. There are also three computers that children are able to use for various reasons, such as book listening, educational software games, etc. I also have a circle rug with an easel my it. This is where group book reading and other fun instructional things will take place. I also have a clothes stand close to this area. I'm not sure how I would encorporate clothes in language arts, but I know I would like to find a way. The teacher desk is also kind of centered in the room. I've always thought I would try to do that in my classroom, that way I have a good view of everyone and I can see what's going on better than if I were stuck in the corner. Right behind it is my storage and my little fridge. The area with the square rug and couches is where other language arts group education will happen using the TV and the projector. The student table is located by two sinks so it will be convenient for when the children will work on projects and other arts and crafts relating to language arts. CJJ