This book describes a sharing classroom community where first-grade children and teachers think and learn together. The book describes how a sense of trust was fostered; how the daily schedule, classroom space, and materials were organized; how the children participated in shared literacy; how the children practiced and shared what they learned; how literature, reading, writing, math, science, and social studies topics were explored for authentic purposes, with the children pursuing their own interests and areas of inquiry; and how parents joined in the classroom community. Chapters in the book are: (1) Classroom Community; (2) Generating Curriculum; (3) Organizing for Learning; (4) Literature; (5) Shared Literacy; (6) Helping Individual Readers; (7) Writing; (8) Evaluating Writing; (9) Spelling; (10) Math; (11) Science; (12) Social Studies; and (13) Communicating with Parents. Appendixes present 52 reproducible forms; 24 letters to parents, newsletters, and charts; a list of approximately 425 works of children's literature; and a list of 150 professional resources. (RS)