Learning+Enviroment





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Most students live in middle class to upper class homes. All of the children in the classroom are Caucasian. The teacher starts off the day with attendance and handwriting. During this time she takes the lunch count. The children turn in their homework to a basket during this time as well.

The teacher begins the 'learning' day with a read aloud book at the carpet. This book is usually followed with a book similar in subject or theme. The teacher will stop at important, funny, or interesting pages to allow the children to see the pages. After this, the teacher will ask the children questions to kick-start the thinking process for reading. After the read aloud children move back their desks to read their library books. Groups of children are chosen everyday to alternate between Guided Reading Groups and Independent Reading (On Carpet). During Guided Reading the teacher will use several methods to see if the children are comprehending the reading. For example, the teacher will ask students to retell or read aloud to hear reading/phonemic problems.

Language Arts follows Reading in this class. The children and teacher move to the carpet to learn about phonics and word families. The teacher uses the whiteboard, pocketcharts, and sentence strips to teach the lessons in an interactive way. After the Language Arts lesson it is time for Writing and sometimes Science is incorporated into the lesson as well. Word Works and Language Arts can be taught as an independent lesson or the two will be combined to meet time constraints. After the morning lessons the students are given 5 minutes to get ready for lunch and line up to go down to the lunchroom.





The teacher uses a variety of methods to manage her classroom. The children are expected to act as responsible students at all times. Students are required to raise their hands before speaking. When the students move about the room to the different centers they are asked to be quiet and use whispering voices. If students misbehave the teacher will give verbal warnings, or use'the look' with them for the first warning. The second warning is a warning for a card being pulled or moving out of a whole class reading group exercise. Each of the students have a pocket chart at the front of the classroom with three cards inside of it; yellow, blue, and red. Each color has a consequence tied to it such as no special treats or sitting at the desk during carpet readings. These rules are to help with learning about taking turns talking, listening skills, and engaging in appropriate classroom behaviors.

The teacher has a large poster on the closet showing the promises given by each child. The children have written out the promises on the poster as a contract with the teacher. Below is the list of promises the second graders have made to their teacher.

Rewards are given as well for good behavior, improvement, and following directions. The students are given candy, gum, small toys, stickers, and special privileges as rewards. There are individual and whole class rewards the teacher gives according to a bar chart at the front of the class. At anytime the students can refer to the chart to monitor their progress toward each award.