Morning Meeting for the Smart Board

One of my favorite parts of the day is MORNING MEETING!

It's a great daily routine for the students and well as for me. It's an essential way to build a sense of classroom community and belonging. Morning meeting may look very different in each classroom. Some teachers use it primarily for socio-emotional development while others use it for a focus on academic skills and some use it for a little of both. Some morning meeting range from 3 minutes to 30 minutes. It all depends on what your purpose and objectives are and what grade level you teach.

There are some great books to read to get you started or to jump-start your creativity if you're getting stale. Here are a few recommendations: 

This one also come in another book for grade 3-6.

Lots of great ideas!

My morning meeting went through a huge change when I got my Smart Board. My kiddos are much more engaged and excited about Morning Meeting. I've had several request to explain how I use my Smart Board for Morning Meeting. So here goes.

I have 2 'Happy Helpers' whose job it is to conduct Morning Meeting. We start off with the pledge every morning and the Star Spangled Banner on Mondays. Then we move on to calendar.

I have the kids write the numbers on the calendar, then track the weather, plus find yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We also note birthdays and holidays.
We keep track of 'How Many Days' we've been in school on a chart making a pattern as we go.
Then it's time for any business that needs to be discussed. We'll talk about our schedule, celebrations, or goals we need to work on.
Next comes spelling or wordwork review. We have several different activities that I rotate through so the kids don't get bored.

Then we go on to Math review.

I like to link videos and songs right on the page so I remember to play them.

It's a great time of me to do some observations and see who is really getting it, who really has it, who doesn't get it, and who is forgetting it.

I've been working on a packet most of the summer and I finally got it finished.

 

 

There are blank calendars for each month of the year and activities for spelling, language arts, and math. Also included are the charts for 'How Many Days in School, Star Spangled Banner, Pledge, Months, and Days of the Week. The spelling activities are editable so you can program YOUR words into the slides. Plus lots of fun math review slides as pictured above.
So if you have a SMART BOARD you might want to check this out. It is on sale until Saturday 7/19/14.

Well that about covers it in a nutshell. Morning Meeting is a vital part of my day. Even before my days without a Smart Board I would use my document camera to project charts and activities. I had laminated charts on my calendar that we would discuss, we'd play games and sing songs. The Smart Board just is a great way to organize it all and have all my resources together. No matter what tools you have, Morning Meeting can still be a powerful part of the day.

I'd LOVE to hear how you do Morning Meeting!!
Thanks for stopping by.

Word Study Questions and Word Family Charts

Hi everyone. I hope ya'll are having a great week. I had a pretty good day today at school. My kiddos were really well behaved even though they are getting excited. I say that because it's only 3 days before spring break and the weather is getting nicer and Easter is on Sunday!!!

I've had a few questions regarding my word study post from yesterday. So I'll try to answer them.

1. Homework: Do we do anything special for homework with the study words?
Our homework is a packet that we send home on Monday. Students have the whole week including the weekend to complete it. (I've been a mom of 4 kids and sometimes it's just really hard to get all the homework finished from Monday to Friday. You need the weekend to get caught up) Our packet consists of a writing sheet which includes the spelling words and sentences, a poem or song that usually goes with the word family, a math practice sheet or math game, and a reading chart. We ask the kids to reading 20 minutes each night.

 Here is a sample of the writing/spelling sheet.

Here is a sample of the poem/song. This is from the Scholastic Word Family Sing Along Flip Charts. We just typed them on a sheet with a picture for the kids to practice.

If you click on the picture it will link you to Amazon.com for more information.

I also send a Spelling Activity list home at the beginning of the year so my parents have lots of ideas and resources to practice the spelling words. Many of the activities we do in class also so the kids are familiar with them.

If you'd like a copy of this list click HERE to download.

2. Word Family Charts: Where can you get the word Family Charts and/or word wall?

You're in luck! I've been working on these charts all year long and they are FINALLY finished and on my shops!

I don't have a lot of wall space. So I made my charts 8 1/2 x 11 and after the week is over I put them in a binder that the kids can have access to during reading and writing.

3. Smart Board Activities: Where did I get them?

The dice activity is just from the Smart Notebook software  'Gallery' called "Dice- Keywords". You drag it into your Smart board page. Then click on the arrows and type in your words.

 This slide I made with the Word Family Charts from my TpT/Teacher Notebook packet. I just used the 'Snipping Tool' to take a picture and then I drag it onto the page.

This slide I made in the Smart Notebook software by typing the sentences in a text box. The words that fill in the blanks are locked in on the 'allow to move' mode. My kids just drag the right word onto the blank. 

I am still learning the Smart board and I would like to make and sale some of the things I do but I'm still exploring all the copyright laws and stuff. Hopefully, I'll be able to get my act together soon.

THANKS for all your wonderful comments and questions. Let me know if you have more and I'll try to answer them.