It is so important to provide structure and routines for your students! I start every class with a Do Now activity. The Do Now activity is always posted on the Smartboard as students enter the room. I explain to my students that it’s important to maximize our learning time and the Do Now helps get everyone settled, focused, and ready for class to start. Students have about 5 minutes to independently complete the Do Now. Recently, I purchased a Free Voluntary Reading library (woohoo!) and I give an extra 5 minutes for students to read once they finish the Do Now. After students complete the Do Now and FVR, it is time for our class meeting! I have them stand up and form a circle around the room. My class meeting is inspired by Morning Meeting from The Responsive Classroom. The purpose of my class meeting is to build classroom community and to provide comprehensible input to students in a relaxed atmosphere.
Part 1: Greeting!
My students go around in a circle and say good morning or good afternoon to each other in the target language. I make sure that they use each others’ first names when greeting each other! It is important for them to know their classmates names.
Part 2: Sharing!
Option 1: Question of the Day
I pose a personalized question in the target language for the students. I make sure that the question is comprehensible! The students go around in a circle and share their answer. I usually write a sentence frame on the board so that students can respond in a complete sentence. After students share, I use a questioning technique called circling to talk about students’ answers to the question of the day. Circling is a great way to provide repetitions of target structures and/or vocabulary.
Examples:
Do you prefer to watch or play football?... I prefer to ________ it.
How many siblings do you have?... I have ______ siblings.
Do you prefer to eat Chipotle or Chic-fil-a?... I prefer to eat ___________.
Option 2: Person of the Day
I have one student volunteer (or I choose a victim from my popsicle sticks) to sit in my teacher chair! He or she is the person of the day! I interview the student in the target language. Afterwards, I ask the class questions about the student to see if they were listening. This is another opportunity to use the circling technique. Once my students build their confidence, I have them interview the special person of the day with their own questions.
Part 3: Activity
I have students participate in a brain-break type of activity. I try to explain and model the activities in the target language as much as possible.
Some of my students’ favorite games are:
Hello!
Caught Red-Handed
Coseeki
Splash
4 Corners
Giants, Wizards, Elves
Let me know if you want to chat about any of the brain-break activities! I will be more than happy to explain the activities that I do.
Part 4: Review the Learning Target
After the class activity, my students are ready for learning! However, the trick is on them! They’ve already been learning and acquiring language throughout the entire class meeting! Sometimes we will spend 15 minutes on the person of the day and my students think that they’ve tricked me into wasting so much class time. However, in my teacher brain, I am thinking, “Wow! My kids and I were just speaking in Spanish for 15 minutes!”