Classroom Design is your "co-teacher" in your classroom. How you arrange libraries, meeting areas, seating, and wall displays plays a crucial role in the literacy learning of your students. Our contributors show you how to make the most of the space and materials you have. We have lots of video featuring makeovers and master teachers at work.

Reorganizing the Guided Reading Supply Area (VIDEO) Gail Boushey and Joan Moser In this video from a first-grade classroom, Joan Moser and Gail Boushey ("The Sisters") help Kelly Yahr reorganize the books and materials in her guided reading instruction area. . . . more Redesigning a Classroom: Putting Students First (and Technology in Its Place) Mandy Robek It takes time, effort, thinking, rearranging and more thinking to design a classroom environment . . . and then every summer the cycle repeats itself. I set up a kindergarten classroom after teaching third grade for six years. I realized as I made changes to my classroom that many of the challenges I faced were the same ones teachers all over experience - making adjustments for students of different ages and needs, at the same time we're trying to cram too much equipment into too little space. . . . more Creating a Kindergarten Classroom Library Mandy Robek Overwhelming. This is the only word I could use for many months as I thought about the transition from my third grade to a kindergarten classroom library. The first step was easy - pack away my chapter books. I could do that at the end of the school year. I kept my nonfiction, biographies, and poetry texts for the initial move because I knew I wanted to include those genres. But I wasn't sure what would be appropriate for these younger students. . . . more Tips for Displaying Student Work (VIDEO) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) In this six-minute video, "The Sisters" (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) help a colleague dress up her displays of student work. The common mistake made by teachers is to display work with standard-size borders, all lined up in a row. Joan and Gail demonstrate how teachers can use techniques that mix up the images visually, promoting more of an art gallery look and feel to wall displays. . . . more Animals for Literacy: 4th Grade Room Tour (VIDEO) Andrea Smith In this five-minute video room tour, 4th grade teacher Andrea Smith from Dublin, Ohio shows how she builds a classroom community and much of her literacy curriculum from the care and study of unusual pets. . . . more Literacy Room for Teachers Tour (VIDEO) Jennifer Allen In this four-minute video tour, Jennifer Allen describes how she arranges and displays materials in the "Literacy Room," the space she has created in her grades 3-5 school as a hub for her professional development work with colleagues... . . . more 1st Grade Room Tour (VIDEO) In this four-minute video, Kelly Yahr introduces viewers to her 1st grade classroom. Kelly emphasizes how much ownership students have of wall displays and the library, especially through their writing and lettering of materials. . . . more 6th Grade Classroom Room Tour (VIDEO) Katie Doherty In this video, Katie Doherty shares how she has organized her 6th grade classroom to support different groups of students at her bustling middle school. . . . more Middle School Classroom Redesign Part 2 (VIDEO) "The Sisters" (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) help Erinn redesign her 7th grade classroom. In Part 2 of this series, everyone works together to makeover the meeting area. . . . more Middle School Classroom Redesign Part 1 (VIDEO) "The Sisters" (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) help Erinn redesign her 7th grade classroom. . . . more Community Language Board: Building Vocabulary All Year Long (VIDEO) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) The Community Language Board is where the class shares interesting new words from read alouds, sight words, and alternatives to common words in writing. In this video tour, "The Sisters" (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) talk about how the board changes and evolves over the year, building a sense of community and shared literacy. . . . more Kindergarten Room Tour (VIDEO) Maureen Knostman In this room tour, Maureen Knostman of Dublin, Ohio shares literacy areas in her kindergarten classroom. . . . more Kindergarten Room Tour (VIDEO) Maureen Knostman In this room tour, Maureen Knostman of Dublin, Ohio shares literacy areas in her kindergarten classroom. . . . more 5th Grade Room Tour (VIDEO) Karen Terlecky Karen Terlecky's classroom tour focuses on the anchor charts and wall displays she uses to promote literacy with her 5th grade students. Two of the books Karen discusses that have influenced her literacy wall displays are Max Brand's Word Savvy and Mechanically Inclined by Jeff Anderson. . . . more 1st Grade Room Tour Part II (VIDEO) Katie DiCesare In Part II of her classroom video tour, Katie DiCesare presents more of the book arrangements and wall displays in her 1st grade classroom that support literacy learning. . . . more Middle School Library Makeover: Stacks & Recap (VIDEO) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) collaborate with a middle school librarian, principal, and team of students to makeover the school library. In this final segment of the series, they redo the stacks and meeting area, and then talk with students about the transformation of the entire library. . . . more Cozy Seating for Literacy Learning One thing we've learned is that the seats we are comfortable in as adults aren't always the same as our young students' preferences. Some like to sit at tables, but just as many prefer backless seating on the floor, a pile of pillows, or even a perch on a stool. . . . more Middle School Library Makeover Part I (VIDEO) In this first of a two-part video series, "The Sisters" (Joan Moser and Gail Boushey) work with students, a librarian, and a principal to makeover a middle-school library. This first installment features the creation of a "cozy area" and new book browsing displays. . . . more 4th Grade Room Tour (VIDEO) Aimee Buckner In this video tour of her 4th grade classroom, Aimee Buckner highlights how she arranges books, charts, and other resources to support the reading and writing of her students. . . . more Middle School Classroom Makeover Part III (VIDEO) The Sisters Have you ever been assigned a classroom with no storage cabinets or cupboards? In the final section of their video series on a middle school classroom makeover, "The Sisters" (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) help seventh-grade teacher Erin reorganize and declutter her built-in bookshelves and talk through storage issues . . . more Middle School Classroom Makeover Part II (VIDEO) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) In this second of a three-part series featuring a middle school classroom makeover, The Sisters (Joan Moser and Gail Boushey) help Erin rearrange her classroom library and media cart area to create a more inviting space for her 7th grade students. . . . more Middle School Classroom Makeover Part I (VIDEO) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) In this first of a three-part video series, "The Sisters" (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) help 7th grade teacher Erin declutter and rearrange her classroom. . . . more Wall Displays (PHOTO ESSAY) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) As the years have passed, we've also tried to make our classrooms more ecologically friendly. Keeping the same background paper and borders throughout the year is much less wasteful than continually changing backgrounds. The eye needs a place to rest when viewing items on the walls, which is another reason to keep backgrounds simple, and to leave space around any items within displays. . . . more Meeting Areas (Design Photo Essay Series) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) We never used to have meeting areas in our classrooms, because students spent most of their time at desks, facing us as we taught lessons using an overhead or blackboard. Now when we are arranging our classrooms, we make sure we have a whole group meeting space on the floor (regardless of the age of our students). We also design meeting spaces for small groups, or one on one conferring as well as partner work. . . . more Warm It Up: Lighting a Classroom for Literacy (PHOTO ESSAY) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) Lighting is our favorite aspect of classroom design. The whole tone of the learning environment is shaped by the lamps we place throughout the room. We can have a lovely arrangement of seats, materials, and carpeting, but in the end, it is the lighting that creates a sense of warmth. . . . more A Literacy "Playground": Cheryl Cole's Second Grade Classroom (VIDEO TOUR) Aimee Buckner hosts this video tour of Cheryl Cole's second grade classroom. Cheryl shares the many strategies she uses to promote literacy learning in a warm, friendly environment. Aimee notes that the atmosphere is that of a "literacy playground" - fun, but also deeply reflective. . . . more Tight Spaces Part II: Design Photo Essay Series The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) Is there ever enough room for all the materials our students must access and use to learn hour after hour, day after day in our classrooms? We bet if we tallied the items up, there are literally thousands of pencils, manipulatives, books, notebooks, and other tools students need to sort through, use, and store daily in our classrooms. . . . more Tight Spaces Part I: Maximizing Room for Literacy Learning (PHOTO ESSAY) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) When we first began teaching, our students all sat in desks, row by row. The constant sound of chairs and desks scraping together, and the continually jostling of students against each other seemed normal to us. Over the years we have moved to different configurations of work spaces for literacy and learning throughout the classroom. Though we no longer have students sit in rows of desks, we still struggle to create a feeling of spaciousness in our classrooms. . . . more Bookroom Tours Part III (VIDEO) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) In this six-minute video, The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) give a tour of a "choice" bookroom. Unlike many bookrooms organized by level and maintained by teachers, this room of chapter books is organized by author. Students are responsible for sorting, cataloging, and maintaining the books in the room. . . . more Got Space? Jennifer Allen Upon my return to school this year, I was determined to create a resource space for the third grade teachers. As I looked around the closet space, I couldn't find any empty space except for behind the door. So the door it was! I created a Literacy News Resource Board on the back of the closet door in the 3rd grade book closet. . . . more Bookroom Tours Part II (VIDEO) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) In this three-minute video, The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) continue their tours of school bookrooms. The focus in this presentation is on the checkout system used to keep track of where sets of books are in different classrooms. . . . more Bookroom Tours - Part I (VIDEO) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) In this three-minute video, The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) take viewers on a tour of an elementary bookroom. The books are arranged by levels, with Joan and Gail sharing simple strategies for checkout and updating bins as new titles are added. . . . more Personal Touches Early in the Year - Classroom Design Photo Essay Series The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) Early in the year, many of the walls in our classroom are bare, as we wait to fill them up with our learning - our new words, books we've read together, literacy goals, math graphs, anchor charts. Yet our goal is still that our students can quickly see their place in this community. We want the classroom to feel like home to them, with those personal touches that connect home to school, and students to each other. Here are four quick art/design projects you can complete in the first weeks of school that personalize the classroom for students . . . more A Library from Scratch: A New Teacher's Tale Erin Ocon A few weeks ago, I saw the walls of my new classroom. And by walls, I mean that quite literally. There are only walls to see: thick concrete, with a hole in the center that looked out onto a wide suburban street. The middle school I will begin work at this fall has experienced an enormous growth in population, and so many new classrooms are being built. My new classroom will match me: a new teacher. . . . more Preparing Walls for Displays (VIDEO) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) In this four-minute video, The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) help a new teacher "frame up" an area of the room for future displays of student work, in a way that draws attention away from book bags and other clutter. . . . more Classroom Tours: Learning from Colleagues Barbara Coleman The viewpoint of an outsider was helpful as we set goals and determined next steps for improving the literacy and learning environment throughout the school. We decide to devote a staff meeting to the issue of classroom environments, and we wanted to come up with a format that wouldn't be threatening to the staff, but at the same time would get everyone thinking about ways they might change their classroom libraries and other learning spaces. . . . more Tips for Displaying Student Work (VIDEO) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) In this six-minute video, "The Sisters" (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) help a colleague dress up her displays of student work. The common mistake made by teachers is to display work with standard-size borders, all lined up in a row. Joan and Gail demonstrate how teachers can use techniques that mix up the images visually, promoting more of an art gallery look and feel to wall displays. . . . more Meeting Area Makeover (VIDEO) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) Meeting areas in classrooms serve many purposes - they are gathering places for students and teachers, and they also are key storage areas on the perimeter for student work, materials, and literacy supports like big books or chart stands. In this two-part video, "The Sisters" (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) help first-year teacher Christine reorganize her meeting area so that it is less cluttered and easier for students to access the materials they need...without disrupting lessons. . . . more The Literacy Coach Work Area: Arranging Materials in Cramped Spaces (VIDEO) Gail Boushey Many literacy specialists and coaches find themselves in cramped work spaces when it comes to their desks, storage areas for materials, and meeting rooms for conferring with colleagues. In this four-minute video, Literacy Coach Gail Boushey talks about how she arranges her materials in a limited space, and the benefits of sharing work space with colleagues. . . . more Organizing Reading Area Supplies (VIDEO) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) We design our rooms to support students as they work independently. Often this means areas throughout the room house supplies for literacy - books for independent reading, guided reading, notebooks, and storage bins for students. This time-lapse video provides some tips for reorganizing a small-group reading area that receives a lot of traffic from students. . . . more Decluttering a Storage Area (VIDEO) The Sisters In this time-lapse video, "The Sisters" (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) help second-year teacher Carrie declutter a storage area at the end of the year, talking through decisions of what to keep, what to throw away, and simple tricks for dressing up shelves. The video is divided into two parts for ease of viewing, and is approximately ten minutes long. . . . more Numbering and Arranging Classroom Library Bins (VIDEO) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) In this video, "The Sisters" (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) help experienced teacher Kelly create a numbering system for her classroom library. They talk together about strategies for teaching children to become more independent in finding books and maintaining the library. . . . more Reorganizing the Classroom Library (VIDEO) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) In this brief time-lapse video, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser help Carrie, a second-year teacher, begin to organize her classroom library according to themes and traffic patterns in the classroom. . . . more Organizing Book Bins: Letting Kids Help and Plan Katie DiCesare I happily spend my days with first graders . . . I love to guide them as they discover, read, and tell stories. I am curious about kids. What does reading look like in the classroom? What motivates kids to read? What kinds of books support kids learning to read? I feel an overwhelming responsibility to meet the needs of first grade readers. I want them to have success reading words, understanding their reading, and linking it to their lives. But most of all, I want them to love reading. Here are some of the ways I organize books, and have my students help me organize books, in order to promote that love of reading. . . . more Student Storage Areas: Tips for Reorganizing (VIDEO) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) talk with Kelly about strategies for reorganizing student storage areas, considering access, group supplies, and how the materials are used. . . . more Desk Area Reorganization (VIDEO) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) In this brief time-lapse video, The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) help Carrie reorganize her desk and rug area for better access to literacy materials and teaching supplies. . . . more Let's Get Rid of "The Teacher Shrine": Organizing Meeting Areas, Walls, and Materials (VIDEO) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) In this six-minute classroom tour, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser ("The Sisters") talk about problems with teacher desks, present how they separate and define different curricular learning areas, and explain how they use borders to enhance displays on walls. This is an excerpt from the Simply Beautiful series on classroom design for literacy learning and gracious living... . . . more New Year Reflections on the Classroom Library Franki Sibberson and Aimee Buckner This past August, Aimee Buckner and Franki Sibberson exchanged a series of letters as they set up their classroom libraries, chatting about how to create inviting spaces for intermediate readers (even when there is never enough space in classrooms for all the books!). This week, they reflect upon what has worked and what is still a puzzle after months of using the libraries with students... . . . more Lighting Redesign from the Sisters (VIDEO) Gail Boushey and Joan Moser In this five-minute time-lapse video, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser redesign the lighting in their colleague Ahnsaly's literacy meeting area. In the process, they talk about the challenges of "black hole" media mounted on walls, dealing with cords and codes, and creating banks of lights... . . . more Literacy Room for Teachers Tour (VIDEO) Jennifer Allen In this four-minute video tour, Jennifer Allen describes how she arranges and displays materials in the "literacy room," the space she has created in her grades 3-5 school as a hub for her professional development work with colleagues... . . . more Grades 3&4 Room Tour (VIDEO) Franki Sibberson In this video tour, Franki Sibberson narrates a description of the grades 3&4 multiage classroom she shares with a colleague. The space is small, so Franki explains how storage areas are carefully arranged and seating is creatively designed to make the most of limited space... . . . more The Sisters Redesign a New Teacher's Storage Area (VIDEO) The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) The Sisters help a new teacher, Amy, sort through junk she inherited from previous occupants of her classroom. They use the "piles" method to sort through materials, separating books and supplies into four stacks. The video uses time-lapse technology to show an amazing transformation in six minutes flat... . . . more Inviting Students to Organize Books and Materials Debbie Miller Involving kids in the organization and placement of books and materials is a smart thing for us to consider. Kids will learn a thing or two about thoughtful organization, and because they've been part of the placement process, they'll know firsthand where things are kept, why it makes sense to keep them there, and where to put things back... . . . more Tools to Redesign Your Classroom (TEMPLATES) Gail Boushey and Joan Moser (The Sisters) How can teachers get started with thinking through a new classroom design? In these two tools from their acclaimed "Trading Spaces" classroom design courses, "The Sisters" (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) share some strategies for working through a new design step by step... . . . more "Brainy" Classroom Design: An Interview with Joan Moser of "The Sisters" (AUDIO) Joan Moser Wouldn't it be a better world if we had interior designers with specialized knowledge of kids, literacy, and learning on call in our classrooms? Those who live in the Pacific Northwest have the next best thing with The Sisters, Joan Moser and Gail Boushey. Their "Trading Spaces" courses are a special combination of learning research and artistic flair. . . . . . more