Do you use morning meetings in your classroom? When I implemented them about five years ago, I quickly realized how powerful and meaningful they could be to create a positive classroom culture. I was learning so much more about my students than before because we had a dedicated time each day to check in with each other. I knew more of their likes and dislikes, dreams, worries, and about their own experiences and culture.
What is a Morning Meeting?
A morning meeting is a designated time each day to make sure each child has been greeted, to build relationships with peers, learn new things about each other, and enjoy a quick activity or game. You can read more about morning meetings and how to structure them in the book, The Morning Meeting Book by Roxanne Kriete and Carol Davis.
Why I Needed Morning Meeting Plans
As much as I knew morning meetings would be essential for my class, I was overwhelmed with one more thing to plan and prepare for! Planning for a day in an elementary classroom is no joke! I often tell friends and family that its like preparing for a 7-8 hour presentation. So many subjects, small groups, and activities to plan for each day can definitely feel overwhelming.
That’s when I realized I needed to have my morning meetings ready to go in advance and how amazing would it be to have them planned out for an entire month. I decided to put in the time it would take to plan them out in the form of digital slides and to give them a cohesive look each month. I knew if I would be thankful for this product there would be lots of other teachers who could benefit from it as well!
Ideas for Morning Meetings
Every month, I have my morning meetings planned and ready to go. All I need to do each morning is type a quick message. We always started our morning meetings with a message from me which is just a few quick sentences about what we might be doing that day, special events, or reminders. Sometimes, I even type these in advanced the day before so I don’t even have to do that in the morning!
I have several morning meeting greetings, morning meeting sharing questions, and morning meeting activities to choose from each month. I can move the slides around to change what question or greeting we might do that day. Most of the time, I leave the slides in order. The greetings and activities spiral which is so helpful because then I’m not explaining directions all the time. My students got used to them and looked forward to their favorites to come back around. To keep it fresh, I introduced new greetings and activities each month or changed them up to coordinate with seasons or holidays.
Get My Free Morning Meeting Slides
If you’d like to start implementing morning meetings in your classroom or you need some plans to save you time, download my FREE Week of Morning Meeting Slides below. Enter your name and email and I’ll send you the plans!
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