My students need carpet squares for sitting on the floor in our classroom for many activities. These numbered squares allow me to assign students to a specific number, but provide flexibility to arrange as I like.
Students in my classroom come from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds and family configurations. Presently, I have 23 kindergarten students in my classroom. The Life Skills students are included in our population for many activities.
Our school draws its population from several small communities in our county that include rural country settings and small boroughs.
All students are bused or transported to school by their families, because our school is located in a rural area.
Some students have had preschool experience, while others are experiencing school and separation from their families for the first time.
My Project
I have been using these numbered carpets squares that were part of a packaged calendar carpet set purchased for our new Kindergarten wing 12 years ago. They are beginning to show quite a bit of wear and are fraying on the edges.
I originally began using these number carpet squares to help a student with special needs feel comfortable by having an assigned spot to sit on the carpet for our story time.
Each day, I put his spot in the same spot, but I was able to arrange the rest of the class as I liked with their spots.
Eventually, that student became comfortable with his spot being his "personal space" and I was able to move it to another position in the group arrangement.
This has been a great classroom management tool for me. I was surprised at how quickly my K students learned their assigned number between, 1 and 23. (Which also has become a great teachable moment for number recognition!)
I like that I have flexibility to change the seating arrangements for my group daily if I wish. Several factors can play a part in my carpet seating arrangement- such as behavior issues, attention concerns, fostering friendships, and special recognition. (On your birthday- you get a front row seat!)
I think all students benefit from this system, because it gives them the security to know where they belong in our group.
More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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