Soft Starts Sucesses

Over the summer, I did some professional reading in the text The Curious Classroom by Harvey Daniels. There were several ideas in that text that I immediately wanted to implement in our fifth grade classroom this school year. One of those ideas was creating a "soft start" environment when the kids come into the classroom first thing in the morning. Soft starts allow kids to come into a more peaceful and individualized atmosphere where they have a voice in the way they begin their day. It puts the students in the driver's seat from the very start of their day. There are many different types of soft starts, but we chose to focus on a daily soft start theme.

Here are some of the different themes we have done so far this year:

Monday is "Weekend Wrap-up" where the students find a partner and talk about their weekends. This brings the natural conversations from the hallway to a safe place in the classroom where everybody has a voice and someone to share it with.

Tuesday is "Today in the News Tuesday." This looks different each week. Some weeks we have an article that we assign from a current news website and other days we let them browse the headlines. When we assign an article we ask for the students to jot down interesting parts, connections they find, or questions that the article brings up.

Wednesday varies between "Wonder Wednesday" and "Wordy Wednesday." On Wonder Wednesday, the kids jot down some things that they have been wondering on the wonder wall (which is available all week), and then are able to investigate those wonderings. Sometimes on Wonder Wednesday when the students are struggling, I have them go on Wonderopolis to help guide their thinking. On Wordy Wednesday, the students investigate vocabulary words that they have been struggling with in their reading. A lot of times, these words lead to a study of different prefixes and suffixes or allow the students to make connections to similar words that are familiar to them.

Thursdays are labeled "Thoughtful Thursday" where the students brainstorm ways they can make a difference in our school. Some of the ideas they have come up with are: making cards and crafts for their first grade buddies, writing kind words on post-its and posting them on random lockers or in random library books, and writing letters to teachers that have made a difference in their lives.

Friday is "Fuel for Thought" where we post a quote and give the students an opportunity to reflect on it. They really take this day seriously and use it as a time to better themselves!

 


Since implementing the soft starts this year, I have seen tremendous growth in students' independence and confidence! It is important that the kids feel safe and valued in the classroom, and especially important that we start each day acknowledging their strengths and abilities!