STA Maria, Pangasinan LAILANIE A. SOLOMON INSTRUCTOR A. Seating plans and classroom layouts B. OrganizIng display and learning center areas At the end of the week, the pre-service teacher (PST) should be able to: a. Demonstrate understanding of how curriculum is developed. b. Apply principles in organizing and assessing instructional content Introductory Activity Efficient classroom organization for multigrade settings Please make a plan of your present multigrade classroom. . Label the various areas in your classroom, e.g., teacher’s desk, students’ desks and reading corner. . . Classroom organisation is a way of arranging seating or sitting positions and various learning centres . in a classroom. a plan that shows where people should sit. a seating arrangement/plan for a wedding reception . Classroom Seating Arrangement is defined as the physical setup of chairs, tables, and presentation in a classroom that can influence learning. Authors suggests that Classroom Seating Arrangement can impact: How . instructors communicate with students. How learners interact with one another . . . • School furniture is much more than utilitarian sitting, surfaces and storage. • “Students interact with furniture more than any other design element. They see it and touch it. They work, learn, eat, relax, socialize, and think on it . tend to allocate desks or tables to learners but fail to guide learners on how to carefor their desks. Learners . need to know how to keep their desks tidy A desk or bureau is a piece of furniture with a flat table-style work surface used in a school, office, home or the like for academic, professional or domestic activities such as . reading, writing, or using equipment such as a computer.tidy A teaching wall, sometimes called a learning wall or media wall, is a specialist form of classroom storage for schools. It integrates a front of class storage provision with sliding whiteboard doors and your standard classroom . technology, be that a touchscreen TV or interactive whiteboard and projector. Learning walls are visual classroom displays focused on the class's learning intentions. They are intended to facilitate the student's learning process and likewise evolve throughout the school year. Teachers can implement learning walls in a variety of ways to help . students and make things fun for the classroom refers to the average light level in an area. Low illuminance has been linked to slower reading, reduced concentration, poor posture and long term weakened . vision. An excessive variation of illuminance can also be an issue – this has been shown to actually reduce visual performance, causing discomfort and hyperactivity. A level of uniformity needs to be achieved to avoid excessive contrast and distraction. occurs where a bright image or object that is not the one the pupil wants to see is perceived directly, or via reflected light. Although pupils will attempt to . compensate, perhaps by squinting or turning their head, glare still interferes significantly with visual tasks and can result in headaches, eyestrain, reduced concentration and diminished productivity. is produced by certain lighting equipment and can result in discomfort or irritation. At a more serious level, it can lead to visual disturbance – for example, . making moving objects or machinery appear stationary. Flicker can also trigger epilepsy and exacerbate various other conditions. also plays a vital role in the learning environment and good colour rendering performance is essential for effective learning, allowing pupils to make accurate . colour judgements. . . . • • • • • • Teach Story Structure to All Ages. Create a Storyboard. Use the “SWBST” Strategy. . Build Out Story Maps. Teach Story Elements with “Pick a Card” Plot the Story Structure Using a Graph Discussions about story elements should start as early as preschool and continue through high school. For younger students, simple elements such as beginning, middle, and end are appropriate. For older students, more complex elements . such as character, setting, events, problem, and resolution should be introduced to increase difficulty. Storyboarding is a wonderful way to integrate art with story retelling. To make your own storyboard, simply list the elements of basic story structure you want to focus on (e.g., beginning, middle, and end) on a page with a large empty box next to each . element. In each box, have students draw a scene from a text you’ve read recently that illustrates that element. “ ” The “Somebody Wanted But So Then” exercise provides a framework for summarizing a story by identifying and describing key story elements. Using a table like the one below, have students fill in each box with a brief summary from the story. For older students, use more elements and increase the level of detail required for each element. . A story map is another visual tool that helps students summarize story structure to improve reading comprehension. Using a text you’ve studied, have your students describe selected story components. This can be done as a class, in small groups, or individually. Differentiate your maps by analyzing simpler or more complex structure elements. Sample Story Map Card Name _____________________ Date _________________ Setting: Characters: Time: Place: Problem: Events: Resolution: . “ ” Write the story elements you’ve been studying on cards. Break students up into small groups or pairs and have each student pick a card without revealing its element. One at a time, each student reads a passage from a story you’ve studied that illustrates the element .while the other students try to identify what’s on the card. For older students, use a story graph to chart the story arc of plot sub-elements such as exposition, rising action, conflict, falling action, climax, and resolution. On the x axis, list the desired story elements chronologically. On the y axis, indicate excitement level from low at the bottom to high at the top. Have your students plot the points for each story element to reveal the story arc. Regularly practicing strategies like these can help your students learn how to identify a story’s basic elements and how those elements interact. To reinforce the learning, add other reading comprehension activities that integrate. story structure elements with other skills. . Shop and Display Corners In classroom Models 1 and 2, there are areas such as classshop, learning centre and reading corner and dress-up or home corners. These areas are described below. The Class Shop . You can set up a make-believe store ormarket in your classroom. Students can pretend they are shoppers or shop-keepers in order to practise a number ofskills, including language, social skills and mathematical skills. Reading Corner This is an area to which you and the learners could bring relevant teaching material such as readers, magazines, games, stories and compositions written by the learners. This area must to be comfortable. You could bring floor mats and . cushions for the learners to sit on. Perhaps, the cushions could be donated by parents Dress-Up or Home Corner Learners like to have space in which they can role play. For example, young learners like to pretend they are family members or other people in the community. This activity also helps in the development of their language skills. . The older learners can help the younger ones develop these skills. You could have a box full of old clothes such as dresses, shoes and hats in the area. Learners enjoy dressing up when they do drama Learning Centres Learning centres can be used to enhance multigrade teaching activities. The centres can be arranged so that learners are in groups. Materials appropriate for different age levels could be placed in different areas so that the learners can . work on their own. If there is enough space, partitions could be used to separate the centres. IShort Activity Efficient classroom organization for multigrade settings Please make a plan of your present multigrade classroom. . Label the various areas in your classroom, e.g., teacher’s desk, students’ desks and reading corner. IShort Activity Efficient classroom organization for multigrade settings 1. Now check how well you understand the organisation of a multigrade classroom. Indicate whether the following statements are true or false. ____ a. A multigrade classroom has to be reorganised according to the activities or lessons that will be conducted. ____ b. A multigrade class arrangement is permanent. It does not change throughout the year . ____ c. The time-out area allows the teacher to take break from the classroom. ____ d. The class shop can help students to develop social, language and mathematical skills ____ e. The chalkboards and cupboards can be an height in a multigrade classroom. IShort Activity Efficient classroom organization for multigrade settings 2. Describe how you would arrange your classroom forstorytelling. You could include a diagram of the seatingarrangements in your answer. 3. Describe how you would position your desk in yourmultigrade classroom and explain why you have selectedthis arrangement. . 4. How would you use your ‘outside classroom’? How wouldyou prepare for the class? ILearning Efficient classroom organization for Activity multigrade settings Mrs Maru is an untrained teacher who teaches a multigrade class of thirty learners in a small village at Paje in North Central Botswana. She teaches Grades 1, 2, 3 and 4. Mrs Maru has requested your help. Her main concern is classroom organisation. Draw a classroom plan that will . help Mrs Maru to create a good learning environment for her learners. Please label the curriculum areas. A suggested diagram of the classroom arrangement is provided at the end of this unit. ILearning Efficient classroom organization for Activity multigrade settings The answers to the true and false questions are provided below. a. T b. F c. F d. T e. F 2. . ILearning Efficient classroom organization for Activity multigrade settings 2. Below is a description of a story-telling arrangement in a multigrade classroom. The learners need to be seated in a semi-circle or horseshoe arrangement, with the teacher in front. The learners should be close to the teacher so that they can clearly see the pictures and read the captions in the teacher’s story book. They also need to be able to hear the teacher well. Tables and chairs should arranged in such a way that the learners and teacher can move freely. An alternative to the above arrangement is to have the students gathered in a semi-circle under a tree outside of the classroom. 3. The teacher’s desk should be located so that the teacher can see all areas of the classroom. The learners . The youngest learners will be close to the should also be able to see and reach the teacher’s desk easily. teacher because they need help more often than older students. 4. Outside the classroom in a multigrade class can be used for storytelling, physical education, some art activities and eating. You should make sure that the area you are going to use is well shaded. The learners could sit outside on mats, benches or on the grass.