Pre-Birthday Freebie! Morning Routine

Friday is my birthday!!!

Yesterday I read an amazing post on Clutter- Free Classroom about a great idea for a morning routine. A similar idea had been growing in the back of my mind ever since The Book Whisperer read along and an earlier post about using music in the morning from Clutter-Free Classroom. Thank goodness for Clutter-Free Classroom!

As Donalyn outlined in The Book Whisperer that any time that the students can steal for reading is good! Practicing with your students to know to pick up their books whenever there is an interruption in the day, while they are waiting for an assembly, and in the morning when they enter the classroom allows for there to be all sorts of extra reading time in the school day. I can identify with everything that Clutter-Free Classroom wrote about the varying types of "bell work" they have used in their rooms...nothing ever really works the way you want it to. I am super excited to try this new method of having my students read their books as soon as they enter the room and sit in their desks.

The basic idea is this:
- when students enter the room they will put away their belongings and sit down
- I will play a new song each morning (I will probably choose 5 songs- one for each day, and perhaps will let students suggest songs or make a soundtrack as a reward)
- students are responsible to be seated and reading their book before the music ends

In order to promote this system I have created a "poster" along the same idea as Clutter-Free Classroom, however I will project mine on the LCD every morning when the students enter the room. I am not going to have my students read for a full 20 minutes though, just until the morning announcements start. I also hope to tie this into my behaviour clip chart as well (more on that on Friday...my birthday!!!) I will be on the look out for students who are settled in and reading right away and have them move up the behaviour chart one level from "Ready to Learn".

Only two and half weeks left of my mat leave and until school starts!!