Thomas M. Hays, Washougal High School, Washougal, WA

CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION

Appropriate for grades 6-12.

OVERVIEW:  I use this activity as a first day of class routine, to
establish a seating chart and teach a lesson or review in map
reading.

PURPOSE:  The purpose of this activity is to begin the very first
day of class with a reminder of the ways we use social studies
skill for everyday tasks.

OBJECTIVES:  Students will be able to:

 1.  Establish a random seating chart.

 2.  Introduce or review plotting of location on a grid system.

ACTIVITIES:  

 1.  Meet the students at the door and instruct them to sit
     anywhere in the classroom they would like.

 2.  Fan a number of playing cards that correspond to the number
     of desks in your classroom.  I have the students each draw
     one card and keep it to themselves.

 3.  Next, instruct the students to consult the map of your
     classroom drawn on your chalkboard, butcher paper or other
     presentation.  The map should have the columns of your
     seating chart labelled as hearts, spades, diamonds, club and
     face cards.  The rows should be labelled Ace through however
     many desks are in that column, and by whichever face cards
     you choose for the last column.

 4.  The students are then instructed to stand and locate their
     seat corresponding to the card they picked.

RESOURCES/MATERIALS NEEDED:  

 1.  Deck of cards.

 2.  Chalkboard, butcher paper, overhead, et al.

TYING IT ALL TOGETHER:  This is a fun activity to accomplish a hum
drum task, that sets a tone for taking an active part in learning
and applying social studies skills.











                         FAN THE DESKS 
                      SAMPLE SEATING CHART
                           __________
                          |          |
                          | Teacher  |
                          |__________|

      Hearts      Spades     Diamonds     Clubs       Face 
     _______     _______     _______     _______     _______
    |       |   |       |   |       |   |       |   |       |
    |  A-H  |   |  A-S  |   |  A-D  |   |  A-C  |   |  K-H  |
    |_______|   |_______|   |_______|   |_______|   |_______|
     _______     _______     _______     _______     _______
    |       |   |       |   |       |   |       |   |       |
    |  2-H  |   |  2-S  |   |  2-D  |   |  2-C  |   |  Q-H  |
    |_______|   |_______|   |_______|   |_______|   |_______|
     _______     _______     _______     _______     _______
    |       |   |       |   |       |   |       |   |       |
    |  3-H  |   |  3-S  |   |  3-D  |   |  3-C  |   |  K-S  |
    |_______|   |_______|   |_______|   |_______|   |_______|
     _______     _______     _______     _______     _______
    |       |   |       |   |       |   |       |   |       |
    |  4-H  |   |  4-S  |   |  4-D  |   |  4-C  |   |  Q-S  |
    |_______|   |_______|   |_______|   |_______|   |_______|
     _______     _______     _______     _______     _______
    |       |   |       |   |       |   |       |   |       |
    |  5-H  |   |  5-S  |   |  5-D  |   |  5-C  |   |  K-D  |
    |_______|   |_______|   |_______|   |_______|   |_______|