Our morning routine

I thought I would share how our mornings are structured, for those family members who haven't been able to visit in our first hour! When the kindergarteners arrive, they first complete their word sorts, which are essentially a hands-on, age-appropriate version of spelling words. They sort the words based on their common features. For example, the words "cat" and "hat" would go in the same column, and the words "dot" and "hot" would go in another column. Each student gets a new word sort each week, depending on whether or not they've mastered each level of difficulty.

After reading their word sort to me (or another adult in the room), their next task is to answer the question of the day. This question is written on our morning message, which I post on the board each morning. The morning message always includes the day of the week, which specials we have (gym, art, music, etc) and a question of the day.

After everyone is done with their word sorts, we meet at the carpet for Morning Meeting. At Morning Meeting, everyone greets one another and then we go around the circle to share. I often pose a share question like "What did you do this weekend?" or "If you could be one animal, what would you be?" and each person gets a chance to share their answer. This gives everyone a time to talk in front of the class and have their voice heard. I usually incorporate the question of the day from the morning message into our sharing time. Sharing time is also a chance for kids to share anything they found for the "Wonder Table."

After Morning Meeting, we go to a special class of some kind, such as computer lab, library, or guidance. I just wanted to quickly share yesterday's question of the day, and the answers that we shared!

Here are their answers, which we shared during Morning Meeting:

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Brett: artist
Isabella: artist, lifeguard, vet
Max: engineer
Robbie: artist
Dana: lifeguard, vet
Gracyn: Build a Bear worker
Karley: teacher, lifeguard, author
Brock: artist
Carter: a tree so I could be lazy, a psychologist who helps people get unscared
Nolan: gymnastics player
Cayden: Lego Master builder, soldier in the Army during World War I
Libby: artist
Jessie: lifeguard, artist, doctor
Ayla: everything!
Saige: vet, nurse
Tim: I don't know
Helaina: a mom
Vance: basketball player
Colyn: Lego Master builder, soldier in the Airforce