Kaitlyn Kohlhepp
Morning Meeting
Lesson Plan
School of Education
The College of New Jersey
Title/Topic and Grade Level: Science Morning Meeting; 1st Grade
Lesson Essential Questions: What is a living thing? What is a non-living thing? What is a once
living thing? What are the differences between these three things?
Standards:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.1
Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with
peers and adults in small and larger groups.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.1.a
Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others with care, speaking one at a time
about the topics and texts under discussion).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.1.b
Build on others' talk in conversations by responding to the comments of others through multiple
exchanges.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1.1.c
Ask questions to clear up any confusion about the topics and texts under discussion.
A. Learning Objectives and B. Assessments:
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to categorize things into living, non-living,
and once living things.
Students will be able to explain what a living thing is/needs.
Students will be able to explain what a non-living thing is.
Students will be able to explain what a once living thing is.
Students will be able to appropriately greet one another.
Students will be able to add tally marks and create an addition
number sentence
Students will be able to accurately say the dates of yesterday,
today, and tomorrow.
Students will be able to accurately count the number of days we
have been in school.
Materials:
• Smart Board
• Chime
•
Assessments
Greeting, Group Activity,
Morning Message/Math Talk
Oral response during News
and Announcements
Oral response during News
and Announcements
Oral response during News
and Announcements
Greeting
Oral response during Math
Talk
Oral response during
Calendar, Place Value, and
Schedule
Oral response during
Calendar, Place Value, and
Schedule
Living, non-living, and once living
sort and pocket holder
•
•
•
Calendar
Straws
Days of the Year place value chart
•
•
Daily Schedule
Easel with The Living Song lyrics
Pre-lesson assignments and/or prior knowledge: The students have participated in Morning
Meeting everyday since the beginning of the school year. They have also been studying living, nonliving, and once living things in their science unit the last two weeks.
Lesson Beginning: Students will sit around the rug in a boy-girl pattern after they put their
attendance sticks away, unpack, unstack their chairs, and put away their Homework folders and any
papers (homework or notes).
Instructional Plan:
Greeting: Students will be given a card with a picture of a living, non-living, or once living
thing on it. The students will be given 1-2 minutes to greet as many people as they can who are the
same type of thing (ex. living things greet living things, non-living things greet non-livings, once
living things greet once-living things). The students will then be given another minute or two to
greet someone who is not the same type of thing that they are. The end of the time will be marked
when the teacher hits the chime. Once the last chime rings, the students will go back and sit around
the rug.
News and Announcements: One at a time, students will hold up their object, name it, decide
whether it is living, non-living, or once living, and explain how they know.
Group Activity: Students will sing The Living Song that is written on the easel. They will
then take turns and place their card under the correct header. We will check the sort as a class.
Morning Message and Math Talk: After the activity, students will sit in a front row, middle
row, and back row facing the Smart Board. The calibrator will calibrate the Smart Board once it is
turned on. The teacher will read the message to the class and then the class will read it together.
Each row will line up and students will come up to the board and place a tally mark under their
answer. Once every student has answered the question, the class comes up with an addition number
sentence and finds the sum. The students share some of the strategies that they used to solve the
problem.
Calendar, Place Value, and Schedule: After Math Talk, volunteers are chosen to state what
yesterday’s date was, what today is, and what tomorrow will be. The students are asked how many
days we have been in school and what to do to the straws in the place value chart. One student will
clearly give each step and then count the number of straws to make sure we are correct. The same
student will double check because all good math students double check. Then the teacher and the
class will review the schedule for the day. Any changes will be made when needed.
o Differentiation:
• The lyrics for The Living Song will be available as a reference.
• Students have the opportunity to listen to other students’ responses and strategies.
o Questions:
• What is a living thing?
• What is a non-living thing?
• What is a once living thing?
• What do living things need?
• What was yesterday’s date? What is today? What will tomorrow be?
• How many days have we been in school?
• How did you solve this problem?
o Classroom Management:
• The teacher will wait until class settles down.
• Students must raise their hands in order to answer a question or make a comment.
• Students will be sent back to their seat if they continuously act disrespectfully.
• Students will be reminded how to be respectful listeners.
• Silent signals will be used. (Sit like a pretzel, have an idea, etc.)
o Transitions: The teacher will have students go back to their seats by calling the quietest students
first. Each part of the morning meeting smoothly flows into each other or is changed when the
teacher asks a question.
Closure: At the end of the meeting, the quietest students who are sitting like pretzels will be called
to get their hand sanitizer and their snacks.