Читать книгу Social-Emotional Learning and the Brain - Marilee Sprenger B. - Страница 39

Morning meetings are a wonderful way to build community in a classroom. Generally considered a gathering for lower grades, many schools find the meetings rewarding and use them throughout the grades. Here are the typical components of a morning meeting:

 Greeting: Even though you have already greeted your students at the door, the meeting is a great way to greet them again and offer a welcome to the day.

 Sharing: Students have an opportunity to share something in their lives and give classmates a chance to ask questions.

 Group activity: The beginning of the year is a great time for a "getting to know each other" activity. My favorite is "A River Runs Through Us," which was introduced to me decades ago at a workshop I attended. I have used it in my classrooms and my workshops ever since. Here are the steps:Chairs are arranged in a tight circle, with no spaces in between.Students sit in the chairs, and the teacher stands in the middle of the circle.The teacher begins with, "Hi, I'm Miss (or Ms., Mr., Mrs.) ___."Students respond with, "Hi, Miss ___."The teacher continues with personal content, such as "I have a dog … and a river runs through us."At this point, all students who also have a dog must get up from their seat and find an open seat to sit in. At the same time, the teacher tries to grab a seat.The person left standing goes to the middle, introduces herself, and makes a statement.

Students at all grade levels enjoy this activity. We play until I am sure all students have been in the middle and shared something about themselves. By the time the activity is over, I know everyone's name and some things we have in common, making future interactions (like 2 × 10) much easier.

 Announcements: This segment could include mention of special events like an assembly or anything else that has come up and needs to be shared.