Monday Motivation

Today’s Monday Motivation with Teacher by the Beach is all about Morning Routines!

I mentioned in my Daily Schedule post that our bell rings at 8:45am.  The students line up out on the playground (we all have our room number painted on the blacktop) and that’s where I meet and greet them.  I always always always bring gold tags with me because handing each student a gold tag just for showing up is what it’s all about!  Plus, it gives me a chance to say good morning or hello or hey, cool shoes to every single student and that’s important when you have 32 kiddos.

Next, we walk up to our classroom (it’s kind of far so we chit chat) and unpack our backpacks.  Our backpacks stay outside on hooks THANK YOU AND HALLELUJAH.  It’s fairly new so I’m still obsessed and excited about it.

My kids put their things away or in the proper places (water bottles, lunch boxes — they can’t stay outside because of the heat and – it’s just gross) turn in sight words or math facts if they need to be tested . . . and meet me at the carpet.

Our entire goal in the morning is TO GET TO THE CARPET — ONE AND ALL — BEFORE MY PRINCIPAL BEGINS HER ANNOUNCEMENTS.

She starts off by playing a trumpet sound.

That’s the signal.

We always want to all be on the carpet before the pledge.  It’s a thing.  It’s a competition.  It’s like Survivor in first grade.

We say the pledge of allegiance followed by our school character pledge (the entire school is doing this at the same time), and then we listen to morning announcements.

FOR A LONG TIME.

My principal loves her announcements.  When our assistant principal does the announcements, it’s over and done with in the blink of an eye, and I can’t stand it because I really enjoy sitting down and sipping coffee to start my day.  I mean, who doesn’t?  Sometimes, I’ll take attendance on the computer during this time, but I strive to be sitting still and listening quietly just as I expect my kiddos to do.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

🙂

We sit next to this wall.  You could call it the CALENDAR WALL because it is, in fact, a CALENDAR WALL of sorts, but we don’t necessarily “do calendar”.  Years ago, our former principal told our first grade team we were no longer “allowed” to do calendar.

I rely heavily on our Kindergarten teachers to teach all things calendar, and then wish and pray and hope my first graders remember it, learn it, and become future users of Erin Condren’s life planners.  😉

We “check” the calendar for birthdays, special events, count down to something important, etc, etc, etc, and we use A LOT of it during math, but we aren’t doing a whole big calendar thing.  You can read more about Teacher’s Pet {HERE}.  The “Who Lost a Tooth” graph is just super simple.  When that kid wants to tell you all about his lost tooth, you say oh, how exciting, let me see your window, cool, so cool, go color the graph!”  And they do.  They just color a square on the month it is and then the best part?  They take a sticker out of that big chevron pocket hanging up and it’s a TOOTH STICKER that says I LOST A TOOTH.  So when you have a kid that wants to tell you 14,932 times that she lost a tooth, you can pretty much stop it after the 323rd time by repeating I SEE YOUR STICKER, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND ALL THAT IS HOLY, I KNOW, YOU ALREADY TOLD ME AND YOU ARE WEARING A LOST TOOTH STICKER!

When my kids are on the carpet, they sit facing this wall.  It’s our Focus Wall.  I’ll try to post about that on another day because I think it will be a long one.

So . . . after announcements, I go over our Morning Work.  This can be different day to day depending on what we’re learning, doing, what spilled over from yesterday, if we need extra practice on something, etc, etc, etc.

My tried and true morning work is mine, though.  I created it, it follows the Common Core State Standards, skills build upon one another, it has language arts AND math, and it’s a great spiral review.

 

To differentiate for my kiddos, I also use my Kindergarten Morning Work for students who might be struggling.

After students finish their morning work, they write in their journal.

We use Annie Moffatt’s Journal Prompts for Beginning Writers.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these!  I am a HUGE FAN of these and HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM.

Here’s why.

I tell my kids that they can write about ANYTHING THEY WANT TO.  ANYTHING!  That baseball game last night?  Sure!  The new Star Wars movie?  Of course!  The bee that swarmed our super straight and quiet lines making us run all zig zaggedy like crazy people led by the most frightened one of all, Mrs. Oldham?  Well . . . fine.  That’s fine.

But what they CANNOT say is I don’t know what to write about.

Because look!!

There are two versions AND picture clues with words.

I personally like the blank lines so that’s what we use, and at the beginning of the school year, after LOTS AND LOTS OF MODELING, I’ll put a sentence frame up on the whiteboard for kids who need it.

But they can’t say that they have nothing to write about.  Just pick a picture then and write a sentence!!!  I’m not asking for a novel, people.  PICK A PICTURE AND WRITE ABOUT IT.  I’m looking for a capital and a period.  Sound out some words.  Pretend you’re trying and I’ll be a happy little camper, let me tell you.  🙂

Towards the end of the year, I’m looking for four to five sentences and most of my kids end up writing novels.  It’s so fun to see their progress!  I collect one of these a week and attach a writing rubric (we have two rubrics depending on the time of the year) so that I can get a grade (I have to, please don’t look at me like that, it’s required) and send it home for parents to see.

After about 15 minutes of Morning Work/Journal time (or 30-35 minutes of Guided Reading which I promise to talk about soon), I’ll play our Good Morning Song (I can’t find it on iTunes to share with you all.  It’s by Greg & Steve) and everyone comes to the carpet for a read aloud.

A read aloud in which I just read.

I read a book for PURE ENJOYMENT.

I KNOW!

When things pop up, such as setting or author’s purpose, or how characters change or blah blah, I’ll talk about it.  Of course.  I mean, I am a teacher.  But the main point of this read aloud is TO ENJOY IT.  I seriously cannot skip my read aloud, nor will my kids let me.  I think we all need it.  🙂

After our read aloud, we start Language Arts which you can read about here!  🙂

Before I go, I feel the need to talk about why I don’t have Morning Tubs.  You know — they’re the new thing!  And I love them!  I do!  And I have all the stuff that is required to implement Morning Tubs!  I mean, I have IT ALL.  I’ve got dominoes and geoboards and dice and STEM stuff and Legos and pattern blocks and regular blocks and magnetic stuff and all kinds of things.  Hello?  I’ve been teaching for 20 years.  I HAVE THE STUFF.

However, my kids play before school begins.  They go to the playground and they PLAY.  OUTSIDE.  ON A PLAYGROUND.  I KNOW!!   Two days a week, they can participate in 100 Mile Club if they choose.  But when our bell rings at 8:45am, I’m picking them up on the playground and they have all been playing and talking and chatting for at least 10 minutes.

We are not a school where I’m in my classroom and my kids trickle in for 10 – 15 minutes and I don’t want to start an activity because who knows when we’ll all be here at the same time.  THANK GOD.

And if you saw my Daily Schedule, then you know I don’t really have time for trickles.  I have enough spillage as it is.

Ending my day with Centers where the kids get to play with ALL THE STUFF and I’m not teaching any kind of directed lesson is what works for me.  And my kids.  ESPECIALLY IN THE BEGINNING because our Kinder program is still half day which means my beginning first graders have no clue how to hang for the WHOLE LIVELONG DAY.  When lunch comes, they’re grabbing their backpacks and making for the door like it’s dismissal.  So Centers or Afternoon Tubs or whatever you want to call it works for me best AT THE END OF THE DAY.  I hope that makes sense and you’re letting me off the hook and thinking oh, I get it, totally.  Makes sense.  Yes.

🙂

So there you go!

My morning routines!

🙂