Morning Meetings play an important role in my classroom. I do them almost every morning.
Five Major Components of a Morning Meeting
1. Greeting: This is a chance for all students to greet someone and to be greeted. All students are involved and there are many ways of doing a greeting. I start the year with greetings that are less involved and eventually work into more complex greetings demanding greater comfort level between students.
Examples:
Handshake
High Five
Squeezing a Hand
Thumb Wrestling
2. News and Announcements: I tell the students what to expect for the day and the upcoming week. I have the students contribute any relevant pieces of information.
Tests Coming Up
Special Schedule
Presentations
School Business
3. Activity: This is a team building activity where the students work to accomplish a task as a whole group. I do not do competitive or winner/loser activities.
Examples:
Passing a ball around the circle as quickly as possible.
Passing a can around with only feet.
Lining up in birthday order without talking.
One person hides in the classroom while another is out in the hall, the hallway student returns and guesses who is missing.
4. Sharing: This is a structured "oral paragraph" where the student constructs a response using four sentences. The sharing topics are generated by me ahead of time and are assigned to/chosen by the students before coming into Morning Meeting. I do not force anyone to share but I do try to encourage and empower those who don't share.
Example: A time they were proud of themselves, a funny vacation memory, a time they were angry with a friend, etc.
At the end of the sharing the student says:
"I am now ready for questions and comments."
The sharer will then pick four people to ask a question or provide a comment.
5. Reflection: A sentence is passed around the circle by the students with each student completing it in his or her own way.
Examples:"My favorite color is...." or "I am happiest when I..."
The students do NOT have to share and when it comes to be there turn they can simply say: "Pass" and move on.
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| This book is a great resource for anyone looking to implement Morning Meeting in their own classroom. |