“The environment should act as an aquarium which reflects the ideas, ethics, attitudes, and culture of the people who live in it. This is what we are working towards.” Loris Malaguzzi

With the new school year fast approaching for many, setting up the classroom environment is one of the first steps in our preparation for the new school year. When we set the space to support and facilitate children’s interests – we set in motion the magic and wonder of the third teacher.

Over the next few weeks – we are going to take a peek into several teacher’s preliminary steps in preparing the environment.

This week, we are looking into Sidney Webb’s classroom, a PreK teacher from Rosa Parks Elementary in Tulsa, OK. It is important to know that Sidney will pull the details together in this room once the children come and put their imprint on it.

Reggio style classroom
I love how the natural elements create such a calm and welcoming canvas. Note the hanging branch from a bush.

Light & Shadow Center

light and shadow center

Notice the materials that surround the light table. I love how she has provided enough to see what captures the children’s interest. Magnifying glasses to take a deeper look at creations on the table. Brilliant!

light table in classroom

Fabulous clear container that calls me to go play!

clear container for play

Translucent pattern blocks displayed in a 3-section dip container.

Translucent pattern blocks displayed in a 3-section dip container.

Magnetic Tiles in the light area for building!

  Magnetic Tiles in the light area for building!Magnetic Tiles in the light area for building!

 

 

Light Table Loose Parts:  Sensory bottles, translucent 3-D shapes, party store drink stirrers, party store shot glasses

Storage containers:  plastic drinking glasses,

plastic drinking glasses for storage

Construction Center

Construction Center in classroom

Adding a pallet and wooden spool to expand the possibilities of building.

Adding a pallet and wooden spool to expand the possibilities of building.

A rug to give boundaries to the building space plus baskets for storing materials and resources.

 

 

Gray plastic spools for building and constructing.

A wooden crate as a shelf!   No need to spend a fortune on unique shelving and look at how inviting it is for children! Also take note of those loose part wood cookies that she cut for FREE!

Atelier Center

Sidney used mason jars and jam jars to display the rainbow of colors for crayons, markers and colored pencils.  Note the breathing space around each jar.

Sorting by colors is a great way to stay organized and teach organizing… No worksheets needed to teach color matching

Paint displayed in an old soda crate.

Writing Center

A sectioned gift basket to display different sizes of clipboards.  A mason jar display to give access to different writing tools. Love the accessibility to clipboards for writing around the room.