Brenda's Page

Hi Brenda,
Try looking at www.responsiveclassroom.com
I use the Responsive Classroom resources and they give me many ideas on how to build community trhough Morning Meeting (a time specifically set aside to teach children how to greet each other, how to share and listen to each other and how to create and uphold classroom rules together). They have great ideas on how to do this through song and games. Basically, Morning Meeting includes a song, a greeting, a game, morning news, and a "share" in which one child gets to speak and the others listen and comment. It works! I know that it works because I saw what happened when the time for Morning Meeting was taken away due to schedule changes. Special needs children and ELL students are accepted and are engaged in these activities because the games are fun and interactive. The other children don't see them as being different (at least in my first grade classroom).

I'll try to think of some other resources as I prepare my classroom today. Good luck!