Set up a "morning meeting" area, which is a place where students gather to discuss the date, weather, read the day's story, discuss thematic topics and assign weekly duties. Lay an educational area rug large enough for all students to be seated on at one time. Arrange one chair for the teacher or guest reader. Hang the interactive calendar, with date numbers nearby, weather chart, materials for the unit, a flip chart used during informal instruction and a storage shelf to keep items organized.
Arrange student desks in a formation that promotes cooperative learning and group discussion. Desks may be restructured during the year for various classroom needs. For instance, when a guest speaker visits, arrange the desks into semi-circles facing the front of the room, or during exams, separate the desks into individual rows and columns to lessen the chance of wandering eyes. Locate an area where all students are visible to the teacher toward the front of the classroom, and which includes a large desk with storage drawers with a chair, and a nearby 8-foot table for use during instruction.
Decorate the entryway to the classroom with items that the children must do upon arrival to school. An attendance activity moving die-cut shapes with student names on them, clothes pins with student names to choose a school-provided lunch choice, blank absentee excuses for vacation preparations, and a wire basket for homework submission or notes to the teacher should be arranged near the door to the classroom. Hang a behavior chart with star stickers and a welcome sign with the teacher's name and class number on or near the classroom's door.
Cover the classroom bulletin board with large sheets of mural paper and surround the board with a decorative border coinciding with the lesson unit, season or any upcoming holidays. Staple or tack paper decorations correlated to the bulletin board theme.
Designate one wall of the classroom as the "word wall" which categorizes commonly used sight words and difficult words that the students have learned. Write each word on a piece of a sentence strip with a permanent marker and hang on the wall with tape under each letter of the alphabet as one method of organization.
Display student work and art on another area of the classroom, or on the classroom bulletin board outside of the room in the hallway. Cover the board with mural paper and a border coinciding with the theme of the displayed work. Use one item from each student as to not single out any one person and create "teacher's pets."
Adorn the room with plants, beanbag chairs and pillows to create a comfortable atmosphere for the children's learning. Seating can be used for group work and silent, independent reading. Plants can be the responsibility of a weekly helper as assigned in the "morning meeting" area and can be the result of a scientific experiment or only used as a decorative accent. Include a bookshelf to house appropriate-level reading books.