End of the Month Reflections, the Easy Way

It's important for kiddos to reflect on their learning.  Back before Common Core, my master teacher would have her kiddos reflect on their learning at the end of each month.  I saw how powerful it was and have been doing it ever since, so thanks Mrs. Gates!  I've been asked to explain a little more after a few of my Instagram posts, so here you go!

I'm a fan of thinking maps so we like to use a bubble map or tree map (as shown). At the top of the chart, I write "In ______, I learned about..."  Later on, students will use that as their topic sentence. I create headings for Language Arts and every month, on cue, they ask "What's language arts?" I also include math, social studies, science, and other, for those other things like PE, art, holidays, and such!

At the beginning of the year, I add commas at the end of each idea, the word "and" between the second-to-last and last thought, and a period at the end of each last thought to remind my kiddos to use proper punctuation.  

I also use sticky notes to model how to organize these ideas into a complete sentence.  I'll ask a friend to choose something from the language arts column and put a sticky.  Another friend chooses something from math, sticky.  We follow this pattern until we have gone through all of the columns.  Then, I would model how I use those ideas and write them in a complete sentence.  

Most times, my friends like to put their fancy paper on a clipboard and come to the carpet to see the easel better.  When they're done writing, they go back to their desk to color it and then they add it to their memory book.  It's a perfect addition to their memory book!  I've blogged about how to make these easy memory books before!

In the past, I'd save the anchor charts and we'd review them at the end of the year.  I hope this is something you find valuable in your class!