Throwback Thursday: Morning Meeting

Happy Thursday!

Joining with Cara at the First Grade Parade for Throwback Thursday


I'm going to post about Morning Meeting-one of my favorite things! Unfortunately, due to the amount of kids I had in chorus and band (that of course took place first thing in the morning), I wasn't able to do Morning Meeting all year (although the kids missed it! I just didn't feel right doing it with 1/2 the class) Hopefully next year!

This is from July 18, 2012:

On one of my posts awhile back, I mentioned that I do Morning Meeting. I've had a few questions about how I run my Morning Meeting, so I thought I would share with you what I do.

The Morning Meeting format that I use comes straight from Responsive Classroom, which I was trained in a few years ago.

The are 4 sections to this Morning Meeting. Overall, Morning Meeting should be anywhere from 10-20 minutes, depending on grade level, things you choose to do/focus on, and attention span.

Every meeting starts with a Greeting. Students should be either greeted by the teacher, or each other every day. Greetings can be anything from a quick handshake, to a ball greeting. If you do not have a lot of time to devote to Morning Meeting, having a short Greeting is a place that you can save some time by doing something quick.

Greetings are important because it helps the children feel welcome and that they are appreciated and part of the community. New greetings should be introduced and modeled before having the students do it on their own.

The next section is Sharing. Students share something about themselves. At first, I would recommend a group share, which is asking a question and having the students respond (favorite color, food, etc.). I would slowly move to individual shares, where students could share whatever they wished (although I would limit that number of students who would share in a day, probably no more than 3 a meeting).

Sharing is important because it helps the students feel a part of a the community, and that we really care what is going on with them and their lives.

The third section is the Activity, which is a game that you play with the students. It's great community and team building, and usually gets the students up and moving and their brains working. Activities should be introduced step by step and modeled thoroughly.

The last part of Morning Meeting is the Morning Message. Depending on your grade level, your Message will look different. The Message lets the students know what is upcoming in the day, things they did well yesterday and can be a part of the activity, if you ask a questions on the bottom.

A lot of teachers also use their Message to practice sight words, grammar, fill in the blanks and more. Especially in the younger grades, the Message should be read a couple of times, once by the teacher and then as a group read as the class. In the older grades, you can move the responsibility of reading the message from the teacher to the students.

So those are the 4 parts of my Morning Meeting. I have a few book recommendations if you are interested in starting Morning Meeting. It takes a bit of time to set it up in the beginning, but it is well worth it and a great community building activity!

If you can only buy one, this is it! It has the structure, and greeting and activities in the back!

This is also another good resource.

Great for Activities, leveled for grades

Gives a good idea on how to structure your message for different grade levels

Really good resource, split up by grade level, has plans for the first 6 weeks

If you click on each book, it will take you to its Amazon page.
I hope you found this helpful, and if you have any more questions, please let me know!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Workshop Wednesday: Setting Up Math

Well, hello there!

I hope you are all enjoying your summer!

Jivey is having a great Workshop Wednesday this month on how to set up workshops!

I thought I would share some resources for setting up a Math Workshop.

First, I highly recommend this book:

This book totally changed the way I think about math and teaching math.  She explains what to do in a easy to understand manner-inspiring you to set the next day!

I also recommend this book-but more for the younger grades

I have all of her other books, and thought this would be a good addition. It has good information, but I did not find it as helpful as a 4th grade teacher.

Another thing you need...Games and Centers!

Jennifer Findley from 



has great upper grade math centers at a very reasonable price! Her button  above will take you to her TPT shop where you can browse at your leisure.

I've printed out a ton of centers this year...

I have two bins STUFFED full of centers...it's overflowing!

It's also important to have some sort of rotation board for the kids:

Right now I have 3 rotations-but that could change next year with my new class and piloting a new math program.

Math is a little up in the air-we've been looking at programs these past few days-who know what we will choose! It's certainly been an interesting process.

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Currently

I'm moving myself to a new apartment about 20 minutes away this week-so posts will be sparse. Happy July!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Throwback Thursday: Interesting Interviews

Happy Thursday!

I really should be packing (I move into my new apartment next week!! :), but am procrastinating by looking at blogs and hooking (not on the corner ;).

Joining with Cara at the First Grade Parade for Throwback Thursday



This is one of my first posts from June 8, 2012:


This Monday we had a Reading/Math Share for our staff meeting (with prizes!). We were instructed to come with an activity/something to do to show and explain to our peers. 1st, 3rd and 5th were sitting at tables while 2nd and 4th walked around to 'see' all of the ideas. After about 15-20 minutes, we switched.

I wanted to share with y'all what I shared with my co-workers (we're all peers, right?). The 3rd and 5th grade teachers were really excited about my idea, and asked for the template so they could use it in their classrooms! (Which makes me feel really good since this was my first and last year at this school, and makes me feel better about myself as a teacher)

What I shared was a way to do character interviews. It's a really good way for students to think about character traits, summarizing, inferencing. The finished product looks like this:

What you do is read a story (or have the kids read a story) (this is the one I read for the example...it's a very cute story!)

Have the students pick a character from their story. They are to 'interview' their character, asking them questions about their feelings, experiences, etc. They then have to answer the questions the way they think the character will answer the questions based on the meaning they gain from the story. Here's the kicker...they only have 4 questions!

They make a foldable and they have 4 panels to ask and answer their questions. The questions go on the outside of each flap, and the answers go on the inside of each flap.

In the center of the foldable (the part they glue down to the back paper) they draw a picture of the character they interviewed.

The kids really enjoy doing this because it is like an arts-n-crafts activity, but they still get to show their learning. You might have to be careful though...some kids get really involved with the drawing and forget about the 'interviewing'!

We did this after we finished our fairy tale unit, and I had the kids pick their favorite fairy tale character. They did such an excellent job on them and some of their questions were really creative and in-depth.

I got this idea from this book, which I HIGHLY recommend for any and all teachers. Mine in the 4-6 version, but they also have a 2-3 version as well.

This was one of my first purchases after finding out I was teaching 4th grade (most of my experience and books are in the K-1 grades), and well worth the price ($18.99 through Amazon, and I think that you get also get it through Teacher's Express (watch for their Dollar Deals!)).  The book also has some recommendations how on to use this foldable in different content areas as well. I hope you found this helpful!


I hope you enjoyed it!


Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Word Nerds 3

Hello!

I'm hosting Chapter 3 of Word Nerds along with

Thanks to Sabra for coming up with an awesome book choice! (Where you can link up your post)

 Our chapter is Making Introductions
~Words from previous weeks should remain up 
~Word Predictions:
       -Use cloze activities (what word is missing)
       -Introduce the word, then chant it. Break it into syllable parts. Have the students follow along (making sure they can see the spelling of the word)-due multiple times
       -Have the students predict what they think the word means 
       -Tell the part of speech as well-contexts it can be used in
       -Setting this up will take more time in the beginning, but it is important for students to start thinking about and connection words
~Trying Out Words:
      -Cloze activities can help with test taking skills-you use a bunch of strategies to help figure out the right word
     -The sentences need to have enough information for the students to be able to figure out the words
     -Reread sentences once you've made a guess (a good tool for everything!)
     -Use thumbs up/thumbs down for a quick assessment (can guide your teaching for the next day!)
     -Have the students try all the sentences...it may fit in a few places-but we want the best choice (I hate it when they do that!)
~Primary Vocabulary Journals
     -Students add a new words to their journals
     -Use a graphic organizer that has them think about the words in many different ways (i.e Frayer Model)
                -I use Laura Candler's Vocabulary Foldable (scroll down on link!) for my kids-they like it! 
     -Model how to fill out and make good choices-will eventually become an independent task
~You can use the same steps above to introduce words in the upper grades as well-but add in sentence prediction
      - You start by reading the sentences and having the students figure out what word will go there before you introduce it.
      - This allows the students to use what they already know, and make predictions and inferences based on what they know about the topic
     -Then go into the Word Prediction, Trying Out Words and Vocab Journals
~ELL/ESL Students - have them make a connection to the word in their native language
~This will take longer at the beginning of the year, but it is an important step to building a student's vocabulary and understanding of words.

How do you introduce vocab?

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Word Nerds 1-2

I'm a little late to the party (what else is new?!) but I thought I would share my thoughts on Words Nerds, which is put together by the awesome Sabra at

Chapter 1-What's the Big Deal About Vocabulary Instruction
~We can't use the words correctly unless we understand it
~Words have many meanings-we need to know which meaning they're talking about
~Some meanings have many words-which one fits best/is appropriate?
~It's all through the CC (what isn't?)
~Just looking the words up in the dictionary won't help them remember
~It also doesn't reflect a true understanding of what the word means or how to use it
~Some words are more important than other to know-divided into 3 tiers-with Tier 1 being the most common and Tier 3 being subject-specific (Science/Social Studies)
~Students need to travel the step of a ladder (from having no knowledge, to having heard it, understanding meaning, etc) for each new word they learn
~Words need to be experienced multiple times
~Looking up a word doesn't help them learn it
~Students build word schema...just add it to the filing cabinet!
~Readers usually have more words/meanings than nonreaders
~They can learn new words through conversation
~Words can be learned through play-as well as direct instruction
~Most students need strateiges to help them learn new words while reading

Chapter 2-Classrooms That Foster Confidence
~Routine, Routine, Routine
~Vocabulary should be directly taught-but as a part of a whole group lesson
~Words should come from reading-Shared Reading, Small Group Reading, Text Books-and they should be encouraged to use the words in their writing
~Choose words from your Reading Program (or use the words your Reading Program tells you-like me!), as well as content area words that are important for students to know (i.e. I taught my students what siege meant while studying the American Revolution...and it turned up in our reading a few days later!)
~Have a routine to teach words, so students become familiar with the predictable rhythm and can focus on the words and their meanings

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Monday Made It

Happy Monday!

It's time for Monday Made it with Tara

First off- I made it through the school year! (and getting a renewal contract-I loved not having to worry about looking for a job or packing up my room!)

Although my room looks sad now : (

So clean and empty!

I was also a busy bee this weekend as well:

That's 1 dishcloth, 7 flower coasters (one not shown...it's the same as the multi-blue/purple but with a bigger hook), and 1 star coaster.

Let's take a closer look, shall we? :)

I got the pattern for the dishcloth from this pin...It's my first hexagon! It'll probably be a gift for my sister-she's moving into a self-contained dorm (almost like an apartment) in fall with some of her friends...she'll need it!

These are for me! I'm moving into a better/nicer apartment, and I'm 'nesting'-although I haven't moved yet! The pattern can be found from this pin

These are the same as above-but with using some of my scrap yarn! It also sparked an idea for a blanket...

This is my first star! It's a little wonky-but at least it's recognizable!

Thursday's Outfit

Shirt: Burlington Coat Factory
Shorts: LOFT Outlet
Shoes: DSW









Friday's Outfit

Shirt: Maurices

Skirt: Old Navy (I found this is the store and loved it-but not in my size. A few weeks later, I found it at the Old Navy outlet in the clearance section and snapped it up!)
Shoes: Famous Footwear

Outfits will be a little more sporadic this summer...there are only so many ways I can style t-shirt and shorts! When I have something I think is cute, I'll share!

Yay summer! (Although I go back in 2 weeks for PEP camp-though it's only 3 days a week for 4 weeks!)

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn