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Morning Meeting
(Mine is actually a PM Meeting!)
 In
order to develop social skills and a classroom community, we
will be having a daily "Morning Meeting". Ours is actually
in the afternoon and is called a "PM Meeting" due to the
morning being blocked off for language arts instruction.
 Our
PM Meetings will follow the same format each day. Providing
a predictable routine is one of the ways to develop a
feeling of safety for students in the beginning of the year.
We
begin by gathering on our rug and sitting in a circle. We
choose a greeting and each student greets the person next to
them (or whatever the greeting requires). To make
remembering the steps to greetings easier, I compiled them
into a set of cards
that I laminated, hole punched, and put on a ring. I keep
this with our
easel and other meeting materials.
We all squeeze into a circle around the rug!
In
the beginning of the year, we spend time doing a "normal"
handshake greeting. Students learn how to look the person
they are speaking to in the eye, speak clearly, and give a
firm handshake. They also learn how to politely ask a
person's name if they have forgotten. After students are
comfortable with the "normal" greeting, we move on to
other greetings.
After
the greeting, we participate in an activity. I also have a
ring of activity
cards that stay with our materials for easy access.
The activity should not take longer than 5 minutes. This
is a great opportunity for students to laugh with one
another in a non-threatening way.
One more view of our meeting area!
After
the activity, I move from being a part of the circle to a
chair so that I can facilitate shared writing during our
"PM Meeting Message". This is an interactive writing where
we write together about our day or school events. During
this time I always incorporate the grammar skill that our
reading series is focusing on for the week. When I began
doing a morning meeting the 2008-2009 school year, this
was the only way I taught grammar. Because it was such an
engaging, interactive, and authentic way to practice, my
students retained their grammar lessons better than in my
previous years of teaching!
Here's our easel and the box that I sit
on (it holds all my bulletin board stuff inside!). You can
see my bins of "stuff" on the bottom of the easel. The
table below gives more information about my PM Meeting
essentials- that's what you see on the bottom of the
easel.
After
the message, the meeting is over!
This is one of my favorite times of the
day and my students love it too. It is a great way to
build community and work together as a group.
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PM Meeting Essentials...
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*Easel and easel paper
I LOVE my easel
from Teacher Direct!
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*Markers in various colors for writing and making
things in the message stand out. I love scented Mr.
Sketch markers!
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*Pointers for students to use when reading the
message
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Tubs with supplies for activities:
I store these under my easel
*Soft ball (ball toss greeting, "Pass the Chicken"
activity)
*Items for "It looks like a... but it's really
a..." activity
*Picture books to use for quick activities
*Student name cards for various activities
*Small items (I use bells) for "Stuff Greeting"
*Some type of word cards (sight words, antonyms and
synonyms, vocabulary, etc...) for "Find Your Match"
activity
*Sometimes I use the comprehension becah balls to
tie our activity in to our reading
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Professional Books:
*Morning
Meeting & Afternoon Wrap-up by Donna Whyte
*The
Morning Meeting Book by Roxann Kriete
*99
Greetings and Activities by Melissa Correa-
Connelly
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