Kindergarteners thrive on routine, and we start every single day with morning meeting so my students are set up for success first thing in the morning. This is a time when we learn to greet one another and learn about our classroom family, we share what is happening in our lives, build team players with an activity, and learn about our plan for the day.
Morning Meeting has become the foundation of everything that happens in our class, and is a staple in building our classroom community. In 15-20 minutes, we do 4 parts:
In kindergarten, we use the same few greetings on rotation so that the kids can learn to do them independently. We do a traditional handshake, give a high five, fist bump, wave, and do a whole class chant usually to learn names, or celebrate birthdays/Star Student). We learn greeting expectations: to make eye contact, smile, and use a clear speaking voice.
This is the one part of our meeting that we discuss is a good way to show respect and I set the expectation from day one that everyone participates. If there is a child who is refusing, they take go to our time out spot and can join us back on the rug when they are ready.
This follows the same format, so that children are able to read the message as a whole class. This usually includes the day of the week, day of school, and what we will learn or any special activities that day. We also review previously taught concepts in our daily message.
This is typically what my message looks like for the first few days – I like to keep it simple!
Kids practice partner sharing and whole class sharing. We learn how to listen, and take turns during our share time. At first this is guided, and later in the year, children learn to ask questions on their own, and share independently.
A great way to let students take ownership of this time is to let one child come up with the class question for the day. I usually wait a month or two into school (depending on my students’ needs), and then teach them how to do this. Sometimes, I will have families help with this if need be to help support the student’s ability to ask a question, not tell a story, when it is their turn.
We do a number of activities, beginning with hot potato. This whole class game is a great team-building time that quickly becomes a class favorite as we learn to take turns, cheer on our friends, and work together.
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