Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Rolanda S. Hardy
Part 1
Stage 1- Standards
Language Arts
Literacy
Math
Science
Social Studies
1. Objective 30: shows basic understanding of people and how they live
MORNING MEETING PROJECT 3
Physical Education
Arts
Stage 2- Assessments
Pre-Assessments
1. I will observe students counting how many days have been used this month
2. Jump, jump morning song (physical education). When students hear their name (or a
word that rhymes with their name) they will jump on one foot.
3. What color card comes next on the calendar (patterning)? I will ask students what color
the number should go on. They will have to complete the pattern to answer correctly.
4. Focus wall leaders (speak clearly). Students will be the teacher and review the days
Ongoing Assessments
3. Students are assigned numbered lunch bins. They get a different bin when they are able to
4. Bell ringer job, which includes leading calls/chants, helps to assess and scaffold students
5. When students read their journal entries to the class, they are being assessed on their
6. For patterning: banana, banana, meatball song. Students create their own dance pattern.
Post-Assessments
1. Transition
Students transition into morning meeting from snack time. As students make their way to
the carpet, they must share their answer to a question of the day (what did you do this
weekend, what is your favorite holiday, etc.). They should also ask a question to a
2. Call/Response
To gather students, I say something like Hello Puppets (in a British accent) and
Were so glad that you came and I hope you feel the same.
5. Calendar
Students identify the current month and count how many days we have used in the month
thus far. The calendar numbers are displayed in a color pattern. Patterning skills are
displayed through students identification of the color that todays date should go on.
Pictures are placed on the calendar each day and students develop time concepts by talking
about something they liked that they did 1 week ago, during a weekend, or yesterday.
6. Focus Wall
The focus wall contains content we will focus on for the day. Focus shapes, letters, and
numbers change daily. The days focus helper comes up to the wall to tell the class what
we will be focusing on. If a focus shape is a circle, we look for the circle in magazines,
7. Activity
MORNING MEETING PROJECT 6
This is the portion of morning meeting during which we incorporate a hands-on activity,
8. Morning Message
The morning message tells students what they will be working on that day. Letters are
often missing and students practice handwriting by helping to fill in the missing letters.
9. Transition Activity
Students usually transition from circle time into centers, journaling, specials. Journaling
often requires that students take activity materials with them for an extension activity.
Lesson 1
Lesson Name: Erase Me (community helpers edition) Date: April 26, 2017
overview
Grade/Subject/Class: PreK-4 Unit/Theme/Topic:
Community Helpers
Objective 15a: notices and discriminates rhyme
Standards
Objective 30: shows basic understanding of people and how they live
Student will be able to generate the rhyming words (parts of the body and tools).
Objectives
Lesson
Expo markers
Eraser
Book: Firefighter Ted
Book: Doctor Ted
MORNING MEETING PROJECT 7
The lesson will accommodate diverse learners by allowing those who are dual
Learning
Planning for
language learners to contribute words in their home languages. Those who
cannot yet generate rhyming words, may identify the correct rhyming word from
options.
During the lesson, I will check for understanding by watching which part they
Assessment
erasers
1. Read the book Firefighter Ted
Instruction/Activities:
Core
Lesson 2
MORNING MEETING PROJECT 8
Lesson Name: Colores, colores song activity Date: April 26, 2017
overview
Community Helpers
Standards
Objective 30: shows basic understanding of people and how they live
Objectives
Lesson
Students will identify each community helper and what they do.
Rationale
This lesson covers objective 30. This student helps students to appreciate others
Materials
music
The learning will accommodate diverse learners by allowing them to work with
Students will be assessed by their ability to sing along and respond appropriately
Differentiation
Introduction:
After reading the The ABCs of Jobs, I would
Core
Lesson 3
MORNING MEETING PROJECT 10
overview
Community Helpers
Standards
Lesson
Materials
tape
popsicle sticks
glue
straws
scissors
markers
pompoms
stickers
foam lines and curves
childrens tools
construction vests
hard hats
goggles
book: Alphabet Under Construction
MORNING MEETING PROJECT 11
Learning
Planning for
This lesson will accommodate diverse learners by supplying specialty scissors
for left-handed students and those with low muscle tone. Those who exhibit
and sound knowledge prompts. I will also observe students abilities to use tools
Differentiation
MORNING MEETING PROJECT 12
Introduction:
Oh my goodness friends! Letters are missing Differentiation occurs
from our morning message and theyve only through the use of partner
left their shadows behind (letters written in or buddy work to build the
could build the missing letters for us. Who do individual work.
Core
Closure/Wrap-up:
Superb building guys! Now that we have the
it!
Lesson 4
Lesson Name: Community helpers scratch and find Date: April 26, 2017
overview
Community Helpers
Standards
Lesson
Students will match pictures that begin with the same sound.
Rationale
This lesson will cover objective 15b. This activity provides opportunities for
Materials
Scratch-a-picture cards
Learning
Planning for
This lesson can accommodate diverse learners by intentionally (as opposed to
randomly) distributing picture cards to pair students who will need more
assistance.
Assessment
Students will be assessed by their ability to sing along and respond appropriately
Differentiation
Introduction:
Core
Closure/Wrap-up:
Does everyone have a match? Great! How did
Part 2: Reflection
Morning meeting is a brief but significant portion of the young childs school day. The
songs and activities of morning meeting help to build community and set the tone for the day. I
chose to complete the morning meeting project for the prekindergarten three and four-year-old
class. I chose this age group because I currently have a group of three and four-year-olds.
Previously I have worked with either the threes or the fours. This is my first year teaching them
together and I have found that I will have to make some changes since mixed ages requires
increased differentiation. I also chose to do the community helpers theme. I chose this theme
because children are learning about the world around them. As we take walks, we see all kinds of
people. People the students often have questions about. Because my classroom, and their
community, is not very diverse in terms of appearance, I consider their understanding and
appreciation for all of our community helpers a vital component of the curriculum.
This is my second class at Trinity that focuses on literacy in early childhood. A constant
theme literacy and other early childhood courses is the creation of a print-rich environment. I have
been taught to conduct read-alouds, have books and writing utensils in each area, and involve
MORNING MEETING PROJECT 16
parents in young childrens literacy development. All of this is literacy development is important
because one of the best predictors of whether a child will function competently in school and go
on to contribute actively in our increasingly literate society is the level to which the child
In older grades learning is compartmentalized. Students have reading blocks and time
designated for each subject area. The beauty of early childhood is that the curriculum can be
integrated teaching taps into childrens natural desire for active learning through the senses. By
singing, dancing, imagining, and connecting their bodies and minds, children learn more deeply
and meaningfully, especially in subjects like reading, math and science (p. 17). Children are
explorers by nature. They enjoy singing, dancing, tasting and feeling. When we integrate things
that are natural to them, it makes sense that learning becomes more meaningful. Thinking about
myself as an adult, when learning is engaging, multidimensional, and appeal to my interests, I have
learning.
Integration not only makes learning more natural and enjoyable for students, but it also
helps to determine and support the students varying strengths or intelligences. Eric Gardners
multiple intelligences theory tells us that students learn and are intelligent in multiple ways.
Integrating the curriculum allows for students to learn according to their intelligences. Chen and
McNamee (2007) claim that the more teachers value the diverse strengths of young children and
provide environments to support them, the earlier children enjoy school life and the more likely
they are to experience school success (p. 17). Some students may be better able to express
themselves through visual arts, while others may excel in dramatizations or math skills.
MORNING MEETING PROJECT 17
Compartmentalizing subjects and teaching literacy in isolation, could lead to overlooking a childs
When I first looked at this assignment, it seemed it would be an effortless task. This is
considering the fact that I conduct morning meeting daily. However, I cannot recall ever writing a
lesson plan for morning meeting. As I have learned, it is one thing to know what you are doing,
and another to communicate your practice to another. Much thought went into my reasoning for
contemplating its appearance during my morning meeting. So, before I began drafting this project,
I conducted morning meeting, paying close attention to all the aspects of the lesson plan. This is
my first encounter with backwards design. I usually plan large group activities by linking standards
to lessons and activities that I have already put together. My only vague experience with backwards
design is small group instruction. For small groups, I check an early learning standards chart to
ascertain which students need to develop which skills. Then I grab an activity that focuses on that
standard. However, I have not written a formal lesson plan in this capacity. Therefore, the process
of creating these lessons was challenging in the sense that it was unchartered territory for me.
In conclusion, while my current teaching setting does not require that I plan morning
meetings this way, I value the experience because it allows me to look at my morning meeting in
depth. Creating these lesson plans was challenging. I had to really evaluate why I do things such
as having students coming up as opposed to providing smaller versions for partnering. I also had
to think in terms of putting the standards first. The goal of an effective educator is to be intentional
References
Chen, J., & McNamee, G. D. (2007). Bridging: assessment for teaching and learning in early
Learning to read and write: developmentally appropriate practices for young children.