#3 in Strategies for Teachers Series

Create a physical environment that is organized, welcoming, and well suited to the needs of students and teachers, an environment that is conducive to learning and makes your best teaching possible. Written by a teacher with over thirty years of experience, this comprehensive guide is for new and experienced teachers alike, grades K-6. It is filled with practical ideas for:

• Arranging furniture
• Establishing pathways
• Selecting and organizing materials
• Eliminating clutter
• Storing supplies
• Creating meaningful displays
• Setting up a meeting area
• Accommodating special needs
• Making the space healthy
• Keeping the classroom clean

Table of Contents

About the Responsive Classroom® Approach
Introduction: Lessons from the Apartment Classroom
Chapter One: This Room Was Made for You and Me
Chapter Two: A Place for Everything and Everything in Its Place
Chapter Three: The Whole-Group Meeting Area
Chapter Four: Furniture, Materials, and Storage: Setting Up for Curriculum
Chapter Five: Classroom Displays: A Tool for Teaching
Chapter Six: First Impressions Count: Creating Ambience
Chapter Seven: Making it Healthy, Keeping it Clean
In Parting: Lessons from the Clutter Queen
Appendix A: Suggested Materials List for Grades K-6
Appendix B: Materials for the Whole-Group Meeting Area
Appendix C: Art Materials and Projects Suitable for Children
Appendix D: Recommended Sources for Classroom Furniture and Supplies
Appendix E: Child Development: A Selected Bibliography
References
About the Contributors

Teacher's Perspective
Do you feel the need to change you classroom in order to meet the needs and/or developmental levels in your classroom? The classroom space can affect your students' academic achievement as well as how they get along with others. This book is for you if you are seeking practical ways to organize you room to meet such needs of your students. This book gives you ideas to create a welcoming space that motivates student learning, enhances positive behaviors, and suits the needs of your individual learners. Photos, floor plans, display ideas, Morning Meeting spaces, and organization of classroom materials, all provide practical ideas to make you space healthy and conducive to learning.
       –Carolyn Rottman

Northeast Foundation for Children, 2001, 182 pages, paper
ISBN: 1-892989-05-0
Grades K-6

The other books in the Strategies for Teachers series:
The Morning Meeting Book
First Six Weeks of School
Rules in School