1. Steele’s Six Functions of Classroom Setting
Angela Ricker
8 October 2015
Classroom Design
2nd Grade

2. Security and Shelter
Inspired by Maslow, there are 2 elements that must be met for the environment to appropriately serve the kids.
Physical security- If the classroom has a broken window or leaking roof we can’t say this is met.
Psychological security- My example is of the rug which is nice and big. It brings an element of softness into the classroom in which the students use during read aloud and free reading.

3. Social Contact This is interaction! Mrs. Gray is very big on group
Student to student
Student to teacher
Mrs. Gray is very big on group
work and has different assigned
Groups for certain tasks
Desk groups are used for
simple everyday work
Separate Reading Groups

4. Symbolic Identification
What represents your students, yourself, and your interaction with your students in the classroom.
This “Hooked on Good Work” bulletin is part of Mrs. Gray’s theme of the Sea.
She has included every students writing on this bulletin, representing all of her students.

5. Task Instrumentality The question you have to address
when thinking about this is,
would the students know what to do in
each area of your classroom?
Labels HELP!
Ex.: Students know exactly what they
are supposed to do when they go to this
area.
Listen to the book on tape with
their group, then go to their desks and
complete the worksheet (B. Gray,
personal communication,
September 30th, 2015).

6. Pleasure These are elements that make the
classroom visually pleasing and
stimulating.
I picked this picture because Mrs.
Gray made this area more visually
pleasing by covering up the clutter
behind the curtain and adding a fun cloud pattern.

7. Growth
Helps promote child’s cognitive development and academic achievement by inviting students to:
Explore, observe, investigate, test, & discover
In the picture there are Manipulatives & Activities that help students do just that; two types are:
Open- cards, dry
erase boards, clay
Multi-use
Closed- counters,
magnets, tangrams
They are what they
are.

8. References
Weinstein, C. S., & Romano, M. E. (2015). Elementary classroom management: Lessons from research and practice (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Williams, A. Designing the Physical Environment [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from d/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_132085_ 1&content_id=_ _1&mode=reset