Wrap Up
Monday-Thursday, 3-3:30pm
Individual reflection is particularly important for children’s positive mental health (Waller, 2006). Class reflection provides a summary and recall of the day.
Monday: Writing Activity
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The class sits in a circle on the carpet with a miniature handmade paper booklet. On the first page everyone draws a picture of anything they are thinking about, which must be appropriate.
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Students pass the booklet to their right, and then write a sentence describing the picture they see.
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Pass it to their right, however they can now only read the sentence and then draw what they read on the following page.
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This process continues until everyone has had the opportunity to participate in all the booklets. The final drawing or sentence is usually quite different from the original drawing, which makes the activity fun for children.
“[Reflection allows children]...to take intellectual risks, to question, to contribute to community knowledge, to think out loud, to think. A learning process that places this much value on students’ ideas is transformative, empowering students to translate their knowledge, sense of agency, and appreciation for the natural world into stewardship behaviour”
(Natural Curiosity, 2011, p. 155)
Objective:
The purpose of having a wrap up session is to end the day with reflection and agendas, so students can organize their thoughts and materials.
Wrap up schedule:
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Short activity
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Reflection
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Individual- What did I do well today and what can I do better tomorrow?
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Group- What did we learn today and what will we learn tomorrow?
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Both
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Agendas
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Get Ready for home
“The more you write, the better you will write. The better you write, the more you will write”
(Cunningham & Allington, 2011, p. 203)
Tuesday: Read to a Partner
Students take turns reading leveled books of interest to them, that are on their desks, to a partner. This develops fluency and reading expression. They may read anywhere in the room for 15 minutes.
Wednesday: Meditation
This meditation session will be a continuation from last week. A parent volunteer came in for 20 minutes last Wednesday afternoon to complete a yoga session that focused on relaxation. This week, she will come in for another 20 minute session focusing on channeling positive energy within oneself.
Thursday: Vocabulary Activity
To reinforce the new vocabulary addressed throughout the school year, a short vocabulary game is played weekly. The games differ each week, and this week will be a variation to the Frayer Model used on Monday’s vocabulary lesson. In this game, the Frayer Model is filled in, except for the main word. Students must determine the word that describes the given definition, characteristics, examples, and nonexamples in the Frayer Model which is displayed on the Smartboard. Once the word is determined, the game continues for a total of 15 minutes.