Extending The FDK Environment into the Primary and Junior Grades

  When I began learning about the Full Day Kindergarten Program, one thing that really stood out to me was the idea that the classroom environment is considered to be the students' third teacher. If classrooms are organized in a way that promotes collaboration, creativity and independence, students are able to take control and become more active participants in their learning. Instead of spaces that are cluttered with pre-made posters, rainbow coloured bulletin boards and rows of desks, these newly designed classrooms feature more neutral colours, various work areas and many materials for creating. The basic colours, and simple decor allow the children's work stand out and be the focal part of the classroom.

   After searching though what seems like hundreds of photos of Reggio and Montessori inspired classrooms I felt like I had a good sense of what my future kindergarten classroom could look like. It also got me thinking: if young children will benefit from classroom designs that promote independence and creativity, why wouldn't we design spaces for all grades in the same manner? 

  With this question in mind I began reading articles on designing kindergarten spaces and various learning environments. The following are some of my thoughts on designing learning spaces for students in Kindergarten, grade 3 and grade 6.


Kindergarten:

Features of Kindergarten Classroom Setup:

• Neutral colours throughout
• Integration of lamps, plants and other "home like" furniture
• Materials stored in inviting baskets and containers
• Free flowing snack (students eat when they are hungry, no formal "snack time")
• Various spaces to work & play (table and floor space)
• Large group meeting space with smart board/white board (for read-alouds, classroom meetings and sharing)
• Open and inviting dramatic play centre
• Large creative expressions table
• Specific space for teacher/DECE to work with small groups on math, guided reading/writing
• A variety of art materials, books and materials for creating (loose parts, blocks, natural materials)
• Various areas for provocations and inquiry
• No teacher desk - Instead a teacher documentation area is set up to ensure that students work can be easily observed, recorded and assessed
• Appropriate technology available: Wi-fi, iPads, computers, etc.

After designing my dream Kindergarten space, I began thinking about what elements I could take from this design to apply to classroom spaces for older children. This led me to come up with a list of "must-haves" that I feel any classroom space, (regardless of students' ages) should include. This is what I came up with:

Rebecca's Classroom "Must-Haves"

• Neutral Coloured furniture, walls and bulletin boards
• Large space for creative expression
• Wide variety of materials available for students to express their thinking (art materials, math manipulatives, loose parts)
• Various places to work at various levels (collaboratively & individually)
• Area where the whole class can meet to discuss ideas/receive whole group instruction
• Area for teacher to keep resources for continuous classroom documentation 
• Provocation/Inquiry areas
• Technology - internet, computers and portable tech.
• Classroom resources (fiction/non-fiction texts, etc.)
• Ability for students to access food when they need it

With these Big Ideas in mind I attempted to design both a grade 3 and grade 6 space. 

Grade 3:

       Unlike the kindergarten design, this space does not have a dramatic play centre, blocks or an official snack table. After Kindergarten I believe that the students can continue to eat when they need to but can self-regulate eating their snacks and cleaning up afterwards. This classroom still has spaces for teacher directed small group lessons as well a big carpet space for whole group teaching. There is still a math carpet area and the classroom contains a wide variety of loose parts and materials for explaining thinking. The creative expressions table/work space allows students to access a variety of materials for creating and learning. Technology is fully integrated into this space. Computers, portable technology (iPads, iPods, etc.) and Wifi allow students to have access to the internet for research and classroom needs. Finally, while fewer in number, provocation/inquiry spaces still remain a part of the classroom environment. The provocations created for older children will be much more aligned with curriculum content but are still very important for student learning.

Grade 6:

    The grade 6 classroom features more spaces for working with technology as well as collaboratively with other students. Work spaces range from carpet space, to tables, to elevated counters which allow students to work in any area of the room depending on their personal preference. Co-creating the environment (including teacher documentation and student work) is still essential to the classroom design. The creative expressions table and art materials are still available and will continue to allow students to express learning in unique and creative ways. This design features only one provocation site. However, the hope is that with the student's more developed research skills they can delve into one specific topic more deeply instead of working with multiple ideas on a surface level.

What do you think about bringing elements of the Kindergarten classroom into older grades? Do you think these types of classroom layouts would meet your needs as a teacher? 

Some Fantastic Resources on Classroom Design:

Consider the Walls             Author: Patricia Tarr
http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200405/ConsidertheWalls.pdf 


From Policing to Participation: Overturning the Rules and Creating Amiable Classrooms       Author: Carol Anne Wien
http://www.artistsatthecentre.ca/docs/FromPolicingTo-CA-Wien.pdf


10 Things in School That Should Be Obsolete                Author: Greg Stack
http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/07/10-things-in-school-that-should-be-obsolete/