Bright Ideas: The Importance of Morning Meetings

Do you start the day with a morning meeting? Do you have a class meeting once a week? Many elementary and middle school classrooms around the U.S. start each day with a morning meeting. It is a time where teachers and students gather in a circle, greet each other, and listen to each other share news and respond to each other. It is a time to practice social skills and build a community of caring and motivated students. When each day is started with everyone gathered face-to-face, welcoming each other while sharing news and listening to each other, it sends a powerful message that everyone matters. It creates an environment of respect and trust. It promotes positive behaviors and most of all improves academic learning.

There are different kinds of class meetings. The Morning Meeting has the following components:

• Greeting
• Sharing
• Group Activity
• Announcements

Morning Meetings are everyday at a set time. If you work in a Title I school or have lots of behavior issues in your class, you may want to consider having a morning meetings. The 20 or so minutes spent each day will be well worth it to help make your whole day and year run smoothly. Less behavior problems equals more teaching and learning time! Morning meetings are for all grade levels. Here is just one example of a morning meeting that I wanted to share.

I recently came across "Dialogue Circles" which is another type of morning meeting. Dialogue Circles promote a safe and supportive space where sensitive topics can be talked about, differences can be worked out, and consensus can be reached. Having worked in a Title I school, I know that many of my students lived in gang infested neighborhoods and their home environment was far from ideal. They knew that the one place they could count on was school and the teachers and staff to be there for them. I hope you will take a few minutes to watch this video.

Establishing positive behavior and getting your class management under control during the first 2 weeks is critical for setting the tone for the rest of the year. I hope you will consider some type of morning meeting to get your year started on the right foot. Hope it's a great school year!

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For more Bright Ideas from over 100 bloggers, please browse through the link-up below and choose a topic or grade level that interests you. Thanks so much for visiting and thanks so much for making a difference for you students.

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Using Sentence Frames to Help Students Get Started with Writing

I'm so excited about being part of the 1st "Bright Idea" Blog Hop. Although I'm retired, I love being able to share some great tips and ideas to help you make a difference for your students. I spent the last 9 years as an ESL Resource Specialist at a Title I Elementary School in Anchorage, Alaska. For so many students, especially your ESL and struggling students, writing is a very difficult skill as they have a limited vocabulary and understanding of sentence writing. In order for students to write, they need to have words and ideas to write about.Here are a few tips to think about when you plan your writing instruction to help students become successful writers. For those of you who have implemented the CCSS you may already be using these tips when students write about topics in science and social studies.

1. Students need to write about a topic that they are learning about.
2. They need to have many vocabulary words in their word bank.
3. They need to talk about the topic during Read Alouds.
4. They need to read books at their reading level about the topic.

Writing should begin as a Teacher-Directed activity with lots of guided practice to help students become more independent writers. I like to start with building background by using a word wall and pictures in Whole Class Activities. I love integrating writing standards through themes or content areas as it gives students many opportunities to use the new vocabulary words over and over again. First, students need to understand what a sentence is. Here is an example of a chart you could make for yours students.

Then I make cards with sentences and phrases like the ones below. I hold them up and ask students to give me a thumbs up if it is a sentence or a thumbs down if it isn't. This is a great way to informally assess all the students in your classroom.

Then I make Parts of the Sentence Frame cards and give each student a set. I also put a set in a pocket chart.

I'm using the theme of "Winter" in the example below as so many teachers teach about winter.  Then I hold up cards like the ones below (out of order) and have students hold up the card that tells which part of the sentence it is.

 The I place the cards under the correct part of the sentence in the pocket chart and we read the complete sentence. I continue with other examples to make sure that all my students understand the parts of a sentence. Hope you liked my "Bright Idea". If you are looking for another great "Bright Idea" head on over Ariane's  at The Science Penguin. She shares some great tips you that you will definitely want to check out. Just click on the image below.

Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. Hope you find lots of "Bright Ideas".


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