Creating a Classroom Community

  In our classroom we are working hard at creating a safe and welcoming community.  Each morning we begin our day with a Morning Meeting.  We gather in a circle at the carpet and review our class rules while going through the hand motions for each rule ;). Next we go around the circle greeting our neighbor while making eye contact and asking how they're doing this morning.  After that students close their eyes and reflect upon one thing they did well yesterday and one thing they could do better today.  Those that want to share their reflections raise their hand and the "talking ball" gets bounced their way.  To end our meeting some students share how they're feeling, we might sing a song or complete an activity, and finally go over what we will be learning for the day!

We have talked about what it means to be a bucket filler and a bucket dipper.  Throughout the school year we will be "filling" our classmates buckets by jotting them notes (more to come!). 

We work with partners a lot in the classroom.  Sometimes I assign partners and sometimes I don't.  To avoid students ALWAYS working with the same buddy or to avoid the dreaded, "I don't have a parter," we completed Musical Partners. Each time I would shout out a colored iPod (to go along with our Rockstar Theme of course!) each child would partner up with a classmate and record one another's name on their sheet.  Now when it's time for partner work, I will simply announce what colored iPod to work with.  Simple!

During the week I read the book Chrysanthemum to the class.  This book is about a mouse who loves her name until she goes to school and many of her classmates make fun of her name.  We had a discussion about the importance of always being kind to others.  After the read aloud and discussion, students went back to their seats and made a Chrysanthemum craft and filled out a "I bloom when . . . I wilt when . . ." sheet. 

Finally we brainstormed our hopes and goals for second grade.  To help children think of their goals this year, we discussed what their favorite thing to do in first grade was, the hardest thing about first grade, what they're looking forward to this year, and what they may be a little worried about.  Then they created guitars and wrote down their hopes and dreams for second grade.