Morning Meeting

How many of you use Morning Meeting in your classrooms? It is definitely the best part of my day and most of the time, if you ask my students, it is there favorite time as well. I have found that my students become better listeners, more respectful, and genuinely interested in each other. I always have the problem of my class being "too good of friends" - which means they love to talk to anyone and every one! I blame morning meeting on this problem. :)

If you walked into our classroom on any given morning, you would find my students sitting in what we call a "Morning Meeting Circle". While we are in our morning meeting circle, we have a greeting, share/question time, and read a morning message.

For example, our morning meeting this week is started off with the ball toss greeting. In this greeting, my students and I are standing in a circle. A student tosses a ball to someone in the circle, greets that person by saying, "Good morning, ____" and they greet them back by saying, "Good morning, ____". After our greeting, I ask a volunteer to read our morning message. We discuss any happenings of our day. A morning message is great, especially at the beginning of the year when everything is new! It gives them ease to have a peek at our day. After the message, I ask if anyone has something they would like to share. If a student shares something (it can be anything they want), there is a chance for up to 3 questions from anyone in the circle.

The last part of our morning meeting is the "News Book" (which actually comes from Jill Eggleton). I record something that someone has shared during morning meeting, write it down in the News Book, and the next day that student will draw a picture to match what they shared. See pictures below:

I have found that the News Book is a great re-read for students - especially struggling readers. When the News Book is full, it is put into our library and kids can read it as they please... and they love it!

How do you run Morning Meeting in your classroom? What would you do differently? I would love to hear how it looks in your room!

If you don't have The Morning Meeting Book by Roxann Kriete & Carol Davis, it is a must read when beginning morning meeting in your classroom!

Read Alouds

Often times my students will bring me a book from our library that they have read and ask me if we can read it to the class. They have read the book and are thinking about their classmates (an audience) and want to share their discovery. How awesome is that?

As important as teaching is and how much we need to fit into every single day, read alouds should be on the top of that list. Read alouds are so beneficial for kids. They help in comprehension and the ability to discuss a book. Not only that, but they are getting a model (from us, the teacher) of what a reader looks like. And lastly, they get to gather and listen to a story for pure enjoyment.

At the beginning of the school year, and all throughout the rest of the year if I'm being honest, I use read alouds to aid in the teaching of a life lesson such as being kind, being a hard worker, and persevering through difficult times (see my BE Words blog post for more information). But I also use read alouds as a time for my students to enjoy soaking up a book.

One of our biggest challenges with students is just to get them to enjoy reading - to create lifelong learners - to help them want to pick up a book on their own. Consistently doing read alouds with your students and listening to what they like will help immensely in this area. After I have read a book aloud to the class, I put it in one of our book shelves for a couple of weeks. Most of my class will pick up that book at some point on their own and read it. So now, when they go to read independently, they have a jist of what the book is about and have heard it read to them. Therefore, they will be more successful when reading it on their own - no matter the level!

What do you love about read alouds? How do you use them with your students?

Why are your bulletin boards blank?

At the beginning of the school year I often get asked the same question as people walk into my classroom and look around;"Why are your bulletin boards blank?"

I strongly believe in a student-centered environment in my classroom. Therefore, my bulletin boards are decorated and covered by my students and with my students. We fill our bulletin boards with things that they have done or anchor charts that we have made together. When we are making our bulletin boards together and they have a say in what goes on the wall, they are likely to use the references more often.

Sure it looks nice if we cover our bulletin boards before our students enter the classroom. But is it relatable to our students? Does the 'stuff' we hang apply to our students if we don't involve them in it?

How do you make sure your students have bulletin boards that relate to their learning? How do you involve them in the creating of your classroom?

BE! Words

Have you seen the super cute "BE" bulletin board? I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it, printed all the words, cut them out, and laminated them. And then I thought, "now what?" I am a strong believer that the walls of my classroom should be student created. So to me, it seemed silly that I would just hang up these BE Words without a purpose.

At the beginning of the school year, we use one word a day, sometimes multiple days, and sometimes for the entire week. I post the word up on the board for as long as we feel necessary. For the time that the word is posted on the board, we focus on what it means, read books that share the same message, and write about how we display the trait. It becomes a focus in our classroom.

For example, one of the words in our set is "a hard-worker". When this word is posted up on the board, we share during morning meeting what is means to be a hard-worker. During a different time in our day, my students and I will share a way that we will be a hard-worker this year. In the past, we have read the book The Most Magnificent Thing (we also use the same books for other words) and discuss how the character displays the trait of being a hard-worker. Lastly, my students and I will write and draw about someone we know who is a hard-worker and/or about how we will be a hard-worker. They will share their writing and picture with a partner. After we feel that we all know the word and its meaning, one of my students will post it up on the wall. 

I have found that when we focus on these words and traits, take time to talk about them, and involve students in the creating of the classroom culture, they are more likely to refer to those words and act on them. 

What do you and your students do to create a positive classroom community?

Reading Challenges

Last year I ditched traditional Reading Logs because my students weren't completing them nor were they engaged with their reading at home. My goal is to always create a love for literacy; not to make reading a chore or a job. I also understand that kids spend all day at school. They deserve to go home and play outside with their friends. My hope with creating Reading Challenges is that kids would go home and complete them while having fun and making it their own.

Every Friday a new challenge went home and it was due the following Friday. Most challenges were just a one week challenge however, some were 2-3 weeks depending on the length of the challenge. My students knew that as soon as they finished, they could bring it back and get another one. For every Reading Challenge that they returned, they received a star by their name. Once they had 4 stars next to their name, they received the "Radical Reader Reward". On their reward, they could choose something they would like to do the following day such as bring a stuffy to school, no shoes for the day, inside recess with a friend, show & tell, etc.

My students loved the Reading Challenges; not only did I get feedback from my students about them, but I had parents letting me know how much they loved them! They were successful in completing the challenges all year long.

Here is what a few of our challenges looked like:




Keep in mind, these challenges were made for 2nd graders and suited my students for that year. You may have to adjust some of the challenges and the rewards depending on the grade that you teach.

How do you make reading fun at home for your students? I am always looking for new ideas and I would love to hear about it!

Classroom Libraries

My students and I spend a lot of time (too much if you ask some people) on our classroom library at the beginning of the year. It is so important to me that my students and I create a classroom library that is relatable and functional.

As an adult, I don't go to Barnes and Noble, find my blue bin with a level "J" or "16" on it, and choose a book to read. I am able to choose from a wide variety of books that interest me. No one is telling me where to look or what to choose. I am not using a 5 finger rule or making sure the book is easy enough for me to read. I am looking for a book based solely on my interest.

Therefore, at the beginning of the school year, I give my students a ton of time to browse and look through the library. I have books already all sorted out (fiction people, fiction animals, space, sports, etc) and in bins. Then, I allow my students to sit in a small group and browse through the books in the bins. Some days, the groups will take 30-45 minutes on one bin! After they have had time to browse, we talk about the characteristics of those books, why they are in that specific bin, and put on a label on the bin that they choose. This way, they have ownership over our library, they are talking about books (which is like music to my ears!!), and they most likely have an idea of what type of books they like and where they are located.

Here is just a small part of our library and what it ends up looking like:

 

So simple, yet, it creates a world of difference for my students!

How do you create a classroom library that is functional and relatable for students?

Embracing the Change

As I said in my first post, I not only moved grade levels for the upcoming school year, but I moved to a new state! The picture below is my current classroom and to be honest, it's looking pretty good.

I am someone who loves change. Along with change, comes challenges. I am choosing to embrace these challenges. Although there is a lot of work to still be done in my classroom, I really enjoy the quiet mornings sorting through all my "stuff" with my country music on high. What could be more relaxing?

I will post another photo of the end product. But for now, happy cleaning, organizing, and creating for the new year!

Welcome!

Hello all! Welcome to teach.grow.learn!

My name is Amber. I am an elementary teacher with a passion for literacy. For the last 3 years, I have taught 2nd grade in South Dakota. While I love teaching 2nd grade, I am embarking on a new journey in North Dakota where I will be teaching 3rd grade.

Aside from teaching, I love: coffee, children's literature, baking, my Chocolate Lab pup Lucy, yoga, and being outside.

I hope this blog finds you well and in hopes to teach, learn, and grow with me! Enjoy!