New York, NY (August 20, 2003) -- In poorly arranged classrooms, students can waste a lot of time. Easily accessible materials and supplies reduce disruptions and the loss of productive teaching time. As more than 3 million teachers prepare for back-to-school, Scholastic.com, the leading website for PreK-8 teachers, announces the launch of the free Class Set-Up Tool, an easy-to-use, virtual layout tool that helps educators design customized, effective classrooms that promote learning and maximize instruction.
 
“Research has shown that the physical environment of a classroom can positively affect the academic achievement of students,” said Victor Aluise, VP & General Manager of the Teacher Site on Scholastic.com. “Scholastic has created the Class Set-Up Tool as the latest offering in a unique suite of web-based tools at Scholastic.com created to simplify the lives of teachers through the use of technology.”
 
The Class Set-Up Tool, available to all teachers at www.scholastic.com/setup, is a user-friendly resource that enables educators to rearrange and set up mock classrooms online. This new tool produces virtual seating charts to arrange individualized, small group or whole group instruction. With small-scale symbols representing windows, doors, bulletin boards, computer workstations and bookshelves, the Class Set-Up Tool allows teachers to create streamlined classroom blueprints.
 
The Class Set-Up Tool is the latest addition to a collection of web instruments available to educators on Scholastic.com, including the Teacher Toolkit, a set of time-saving web tools that help educators create customized lesson plans, assignments, tests, quizzes and presentations, and align them to state standards; and the Classroom Homepage Builder, a web-page creator that allows teachers to post announcements, homework assignments and online activities; recommend books; and communicate directly with parents who may visit the homepage by password-protected access.
 
About Scholastic.com
Scholastic.com is the leading website for PreK-8 teachers, students and families. For educators on Scholastic.com, the Teacher area of the site offers free, standards-based content that spans reading, language arts, math, social studies, and science. It includes thousands of teacher-tested lesson plans; engaging student online activities; tools for the creation of free, personalized classroom homepages; and online ordering for Book Clubs and Software Clubs. The Teacher Store at Scholastic.com is a unique online shopping experience that features an extensive, relevant selection of classroom and professional development materials at preferred teacher pricing. A robust Family area on the site facilitates home-to-school connections through sections entitled Your School-Age Child, Your Early Learner and All About Reading. For parents and families, The Scholastic Store Online offers a broad mix of merchandise carefully selected for its developmental appropriateness and kid appeal, with learning benefits endorsed by a panel of early childhood experts. Kids will be delighted to find games and activities featuring their favorite Scholastic characters on Scholastic.com, including Clifford the Big Red Dog^TM, Harry Potter^TM and Captain Underpants^TM.

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