• All 6 of the language arts (reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing, and visually representing)? Check.
• Social/Emotional Learning (SEL)? Check.
• Routines, rules and procedures? Check.
• Community building? Check.

What is a morning meeting?

If you ask me, that is a pretty powerful 20-30 minutes! There are many ways to run your morning meeting. If you are just starting out, I highly recommend The Morning Meeting Book by Roxann Kriete and Carol Davis. That was the book that started it all for me. There are so many great, helpful tips in this book. There are also dozens and dozens of other bloggers extolling its praises. Everyone does things just a little bit differently, so I am going to share what has worked best for me.

My morning meeting consisted of Greeting, Share, Activity, Schedule, Rules and then I wrapped it up by picking our “lucky duck.” Other people also do News and Announcements, where the teacher handwrites or projects a message about the day’s events; Reflection, where students reflect on their learning; Poems; Singing/saying a class song or motto; Exercise or movement (GoNoodle is great for this); Reviewing behavior expectations and/or learning targets for the day; or Mindfulness/Yoga. The possibilities are endless! You have to decide what will give you the most bang for your buck and meet the needs of your students. For me, the routine listed above did just that.

Teach the kids first

Before I ever began morning meeting, I taught the procedure we would follow. This step is crucial no matter what you are trying to implement. Kids need to know what is expected of them to be successful. So we take each component on its own at the beginning of the year and teach the routine and procedure specifically. For example, I started by teaching the way we would begin the meeting each day. I called the students one table at a time to hang their things up and go to the carpet.

Then I showed them how to sit (we sat in a circle around the perimeter of our carpet—and I sure enough did use those words, so now we can add math to the list of standards met during this time!). I explained that although we normally sit in our assigned squares, for this time of day, they would get to choose where they sat as long as it was a good choice (and we discussed what “a good choice” meant in this instance as well). We also went over how to sit on the carpet and do whole body listening. I used the “Criss-Cross Applesauce” song by Harry Kindergarten to review exactly how they should sit.

We talked about the fact that morning meeting is a time when we could feel free to share our ideas without fear that anyone will laugh or think they are silly. I let students know that participation was voluntary (but it isn’t long before they are all participating in some way!) We discussed how they would respond (each section is different) and that it is important to always treat each other with kindness and respect. Then I began teaching the components of morning meeting we would use.

Step 1: Greeting

The first part for me is the greeting. This is when students greet one or more students depending on which greeting you choose. To begin with, I simply have one student turn to the one next to them and say “Good morning, __________.” Eventually we add a wave, a high five or some other gesture, but we build slowly. It is important for kids to feel comfortable with one step before moving on to another. There are lots of greeting ideas in The Morning Meeting Book, and I am working on a comprehensive product for my ‘teachers pay teachers’ store that will have many of them listed.

Step 2: Sharing

Next, is sharing time. This can also be done in many different ways. I typed all of my student’s names in a two column chart and just used a clothespin on the first and last student to share. We picked about 4-6 per day so that everyone had the chance to share once during the week. I let them share anything that they wanted to. Very rarely did I have to cut a student’s time off, but I did have the occasional chatty Cathy that would talk all morning if I let them! This was a great way to get to know the children as individuals. Another option would be to pick a discussion topic and let everyone contribute their idea on that topic.

Step 3: Activity

Next was an activity. For my class, I loved using the Chit Chat Messages from Deanna Jump. These were a perfect ELA review for my kiddos, and I had enough to last almost the entire year. She has several versions available in her TpT store. Sometimes, I would do sight word review or listen to an alphabet song (Jack Hartmann has lots of great options on his YouTube Channel!).

Step 4: Schedule for the day

Finally, we would go over the schedule for the day. When I first came to my school, we studied the work of Ruby Paine in high poverty schools (mine is about 80% low socioeconomic status) and one of the things that was stressed was the need for a visual schedule. Many times children of poverty live in homes with much randomness to their day, so providing them with the step-by-step plan of how our school day will unfold helps them understand planning and routine and allows them to feel in control of what will be coming next. I had a pocket chart with all of our daily activities with picture cues listed, and trust me, they noticed right away if something new popped up on our board!

Step 4: Review the rules

To wrap up our meeting, we would go over the rules. I used Whole Brain Teaching rules, which have gestures to accompany them. We would stand and say the rules and then I would pick our class helper (we called them the lucky duck because everyone wanted to be chosen!) and begin the rest of our day.

Morning meeting looks different in every classroom, but I think if you try it, you will find it becomes one of your favorites too!

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