Literacy Classroom Photos

Are you a literacy coach or reading teacher looking to remake your classroom or small office space?

Maggie, a teacher in Brooklyn wanted to create a space that would allow for these two things:

• a place for teachers to gather and plan curriculum
• a place to teach small groups of students who need more support in reading and writing

She worked hard, with an incredible team, to create a classroom make-over.

Above:  Curriculum mapping board.  Tables for teachers to gather are in front of this board.

Above:  List of PD workshops, locations, and directions.  

Dates for on-site PD will be listed on the posters at the bottom of the board.

Above:  Maggie, seated in front of the professional text shelves.  

Her meeting area for the kids is behind this shelf and books for their classroom library are on the opposite side of this tall shelf as well as in a lower set of shelves that run perpendicular to this one.  

This shelf breaks the room into two zones, one for kids and one for teachers.

Above:  Each teacher has a pocket to hold notecards.  Teachers can jot the titles of the professional books they need and place the notecard in their pocket so texts can be located and shared.

Above:  This is the shelf opposite the professional text shelf where Maggie was seated in the other photo.  These shelves contain baskets for series books as well as nonfiction topics.  

Maggie also has a few bins for mentor text to use in writing workshop as well as genre specific read aloud books she knows she wants to use throughout the year.

You can give your literacy room or coaching room a makeover too!  Here is how we started.  First, we asked a key question and we gathered lots of answers to it.

Question:  What do we want out of this space?

Answers:

• Meeting area for kids to gather with comfortable seating and an easel or smart board for teacher.
• Classroom library that supports the needs of the students and has clearly organized bins.
• Writing center with paper choices and revision tools that support the needs of the students and has clearly organized zones or buckets.
• Bulletin board to display student work.
• Tables for students to work independently and with partners.
• Folders and folder hold areas for students to keep their work and have access with independence.
• Bulletin board to post workshop dates and on-site PD notices.
• Bulletin board to display curriculum maps and units of study resources.
• Tables for teachers to gather with writing tools at the center.
• Bookshelves with professional texts for teachers and a bulletin board with pockets for teachers to jot the titles of the books they check out and take into their own classrooms.

Then, we divided the work into the zones, each took on tasks, and stuck true to our needs to have all the things we wanted in the room with no clutter.

I hope you enjoy your own classroom makeovers.  Have a super week everyone!