fbpx
Browsing Tag

morning meeting

4 Ways to Include Academics in Morning Meetings

Morning Meeting
Photo of Noggle Board.

Are you looking for an awesome way to kick-start your classroom mornings and engage your students right from the get-go? Morning meeting activities with an academic focus is the answer you are looking for! These brief but powerful gatherings provide the perfect opportunity to set a positive tone for the day while seamlessly integrating important academic concepts. By infusing your morning meetings with academic content, you can create a fun and interactive environment where learning begins right from the start. Let’s explore some exciting ways to make your morning meetings educational and engaging for your students. Get ready to supercharge your mornings with meaningful academic connections!

Morning Meeting Greeting

Photo of 4 kids giving a high 5

Greeting is the first part of Morning Meeting and a great way to start the day with a positive tone. It can also be a time to review current academic skills. Here are a few ways to include academics into your greeting:

  • Greet a classmate and share a fact you learned about _____ (moon phases, 3 branches of government, etc).
  • Greet a classmate and share two nouns (verbs, adjectives, etc).
  • Snowball Greeting with a Twist – Hand each student a blank paper and have them write their name and a math problem on the paper.  Then, once in the Morning Meeting circle have students crumple up their paper like a snowball.  Next, they throw their “snowball” in the middle of the circle. They all grab one and that is who they greet and solve the math problem on a white board.  Can repeat a few times. (You could have this focus on whatever math skill you are currently working on.)

Morning Meeting Share

Photo of kids sitting in a circle outside and talking

Share is often a time to get to know each other, but as the year goes on and we’ve established a classroom community, I like to throw in some academic questions. These Morning Meeting questions could be answered one at a time going around the circle or having students find a partner and/or small group.

  • Share and describe your favorite character from _____ (read aloud or book of the week).
  • Share 3 nouns and tell if they are common or proper.
  • Solve this math problem (give them a problem type that you are currently working on) and share your strategy and thinking.
  • Share 3 facts you learned about _______. (Social studies or science topic you are studying.)

Morning Meeting Activity

Photo of Noggle Activity

Activity is an easy time to add in review of academic content. Below are a few of my favorite activities that are focused on academics…

  • Digit Place – Place Value game that can be differentiated. See directions for how to play >>> HERE.
  • Cards – I hand each student a different card from a deck of cards.  While the music is playing they are dancing around and switching cards with each other. When the music stops, they need to find a partner and add their two cards together.  Then, we share out whole group. This can be done a variety of ways – addition, subtraction, multiplication, making numbers, adding 3 numbers, etc.
  • I Have, Who Has – Great game to play during activity with really any skill. Here is an example of some Phonics versions – I Have, Who Has – Phonics Bundle.
  • Story Starter – This activity is a great way for students to be creative with their writing. Students begin their story with the story starter and can then take it wherever they want! I love seeing them use their imaginations and try to choose fun and silly story starters. Afterwards, students can share their writing with a group/partner.
  • Noggle – Noggle is just like Boggle but with numbers! For this activity, students create as many number sentences as they can with the given numbers. They can use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and/or division.

If you are interested in Morning Meeting activities already created and ready-to-go with an ELA, Math, and community building focus – check out my Themed Morning Meeting Activities >>> HERE.

Morning Meeting Message

Photo of Morning Message on white board with a math problem for students to solve on sticky notes.

The message component of Morning Meeting is another wonderful opportunity to review and practice new and old content.

  • Write a word with the /oa/ sound (or whatever sound you’re focusing on).
  • Which character would you be friends with? (from the read aloud or story of the week)
  • Pose a story problem and have them solve it.
  • Fix the errors in a sentence.

Here’s an idea for an Academic Schedule Routine for Your Morning Meetings:

Monday – Math Monday

The activity and message fit around math topics. It could be review, it could be building background for new content. Either way – it’s all math!

Tuesday – Fluency and Phonics Fun

I’ve had a hard time fitting in fluency whole group, so now it is a part of activity on Tuesdays. We also discuss our phonics focus during the morning message and greeting.

Wednesday – More Math…

This day has been about fact fluency during the activity and review during the message.

Thursday – Vocabulary

Vocabulary is another area that I touch on, but haven’t given enough time.  Now that vocabulary is our focus on Thursdays, I tailor our greeting, activity, and message to it. For example, when students greet each other they have to also use one of their weekly vocab words in a sentence. I’ve also found a ton of fun vocabulary games for them to play during the activity.

Friday – Fix It Friday

Another skill we always need to review is grammar and editing. On Friday, our morning message sentence always needs to be fixed. This gives us a chance to review editing skills and continue to add in new grammar skills as we go.

Grab FREE Week of Morning Meeting Activities

Photo of example of Free Morning Meeting Activities - Picture of Story Starter

If you’d like to try a sample of my Morning Meeting Activity Slides, I have a free week for you to try HERE. This FREE week includes 5 different activities to give you a taste of the Morning Meeting Fun. CLICK HERE TO GET THIS FREEBIE!

Here are some other ideas for Morning Meeting:

Morning Meeting Round-Up Blog Post

Morning Meeting Activity Slides – Volume #1

3 Favorite Morning Meeting Activities

Morning Meeting Activity Slides BUNDLE

November Classroom Ideas

Holidays
Photo for November Classroom Idea
Blog header for November Classroom Ideas - photo of Menu activity

Thanksgiving is coming and today I’m excited to share some November classroom ideas with you!

November Book Suggestions:

Photo of Thanksgiving books for November Classroom Ideas

Please note Amazon affiliate links are included in this post for your convenience.  As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Here are five fun books that you can share with your class during the month of November.

November Classroom Ideas – Menu Math:

Photo of Menu Math November Classroom Activity Idea

Thanksgiving can provide a fun opportunity for students to practice their math skills in a variety of ways! Students could share a family recipe with the class and focus on the measurement and fraction aspect. While sharing their family recipe, students could also work with money totaling up the cost of the ingredients.  Students could also work to plan their own Thanksgiving Meal. They would need to figure out the total number of guests, menu, etc – providing multiple opportunities for math practice!

November Classroom Ideas – Resource Suggestions:

Here are 2 of my favorite resources to use during the month of November.

  • November Morning Meeting Activity Slides – These fun fall/Thanksgiving themed Morning Meeting Activity Slides will keep your students busy the whole month of November. Click HERE to grab them for your class and save time in your Morning Meeting Prep.
  • Thanksgiving Word Problems – Story problems are a great way for students to practice a variety of math skills and build their problem solving abilities. These Thanksgiving themed word problems are great for independent practice, can be used as an Around the Room Activity, and more! Get these word problems HERE for your math students!

Thanksgiving Writing FREEBIE:

Photo of Free Thankful Writing Prompt

November is a great time to practice gratitude! Grab these FREE Thankful Writing Prompts to share with your class. Click HERE to get your FREEBIE.

Pin for November Classroom Ideas

October Classroom Ideas

Holidays
Blog header for October Classroom Ideas

Halloween is coming and today I’m excited to share some October classroom ideas with you!

October Book Suggestions:

Photo of 5 fun books for October Classroom Ideas

Please note Amazon affiliate links are included in this post for your convenience.  As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Here are five fun books that you can share with your class during the month of October.

October Classroom Idea – Create a Jack-o-Lantern:

Photo of FREE create a digital jack-o-lantern activity

Students can use shapes and/or pattern blocks to create their own jack-o-lantern. I also have this activity as a digital FREEBIE in my TPT store >>> HERE. Students can use the shapes in Google Slides™ to create their own jack-o-lantern.

October Resource Suggestions:

Here are 2 of my favorite resources to use during the month of October.

  • October Morning Meeting Activity Slides – These fun fall/Halloween themed Morning Meeting Activity Slides will keep your students busy the whole month of October. Click HERE to grab them for your class and save time in your Morning Meeting Prep.
  • Halloween Word Problems – Story problems are a great way for students to practice a variety of math skills and build their problem solving abilities. These Halloween themed word problems are great for independent practice, can be used as an Around the Room Activity, and more! Get these word problems HERE for your math students!

October Writing FREEBIE:

Photo of FREE Writing prompts - Student writing example of a scary story

These Halloween-themed FREE Writing Prompts are perfect to use during the month of October! Click HERE to get your FREEBIE.

Pin Image for October Classroom Ideas. Photos of books and writing prompts

February Classroom Ideas

Holidays

Please note Amazon affiliate links are included in this post for your convenience.  As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Blog Header for February Classroom Ideas

Today I’ll be rounding up a variety of teaching ideas that you can use during the month of February. I will share some engaging books, activities, and a FREEBIE that you can use with your class.

February Book Suggestions:

Photos of February Classroom Books - photos of covers for Love Monster, Crankenstein Valentine, Valentine's Day Jitters, I Am Love, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose

Here are five fun books that you can share with your class during the month of February.

February Classroom Idea – Heart Attack:

Photo of hearts for heart attack - sharing things I love about my class.

A few years ago I started this whole “Heart Attack” on February 1. Each day up until Valentine’s Day I added a new heart onto the white board sharing something that I loved about our class! It’s a great way to show kids how to focus on the positive and promote kindness and compliments.

Valentine’s Day Party Ideas:

Minute to Win It Valentine’s Day Party is one of my favorite classroom parties ever! Click HERE to see my whole blog post all about it!

February Resource Suggestions:

Photo of February Classroom Ideas resources - pictures of word problems and Quick Draw activity

Here are two of my favorite resources to use during the month of February.

  • Valentine’s Day Word Problems – Word problems are a great way for students to practice a variety of math skills and build their problem solving abilities. These Valentine’s Day themed word problems are great for independent practice, can be used as an Around the Room Activity, and more! Get these word problems HERE for your math students! (Digital and Print and Digital Bundle are also available in my store).
  • February Morning Meeting Activities – You’ll have ALL of your Morning Meeting Activities planned out for the month of February with these easy-to-use slides! These Valentine’s Day themed activities will keep your students engaged and having fun! Includes activities like Noggle, Word Creator, Story Starter, Quick Draw, and more! Grab them HERE.

February Classroom Ideas FREEBIE:

These FREE Valentine’s Day Writing Prompts are perfect to use in your classroom during the month of February! This FREEBIE includes 4 different prompts total. These engaging prompts are great to use as a writing warm-up, for homework, literacy stations, and more! Grab this FREEBIE >>> HERE.

Pin Image for February Classroom Ideas

3 Favorite Morning Meeting Activities

Morning Meeting
Blog header for 3 Favorite Morning Meeting Activities

I polled my class recently to see what their favorite Morning Meeting Activities were and I wanted to share them with you! I wasn’t surprised by the results as these are some of my favorites too! Check them out below and don’t miss the FREEBIE at the bottom.

Favorite Activity #1 – Story Starter

Story Starter is my classes favorite activity! For this activity, we work on a creative writing prompt. I have done this activity whole group, with a small group/partner, or independently. Everyone starts with the same writing prompt, but then they get to use their creativity and imagination and take the story wherever they want! My class literally cheers when I tell them that we’re doing this Morning Meeting Activity.

Story Starter Prompt - I walked into a haunted house and then....
Photo of story starter completed as a class - I walked into the haunted house and then...
From October Morning Meeting Activity Slides.

Favorite Activity #2 – Quick Draw

Quick draw is another fan favorite in my classroom! Quick draw is a great activity for days you are a little shorter on time. I put up a slide and students have 2 minutes to draw the set item or task on their white board. Then, students share their drawing. For sharing, students will sometimes just stand and share, share with a partner or group, or we’ll do a gallery walk. I often will do 2-4 quick draw prompts in an activity slot.

Quick Draw Slide - words - Draw a beach.
Photo of drawn beach scene with clouds, sun, ocean waves, and sand.

Favorite Activity #3 – Word Creator

Word Creator is another great ELA activity. Students have to look at the letters on the board and use them to create as many words as they can. We turn this into a little self-competition where their goal is to try to beat the number of words they created the previous time. The one kicker – the letters have to be touching! Students love trying to see how many words they can create.

Image of Word Creator board with 16 letters for students to use to make words.
Photo of Word Creator game showing example of how words are made.

Morning Meeting Activity Slides

To make life easier, I have already created sets of Morning Meeting Activity Slides for you in my TPT store. I have themed sets and generic sets that can be used all year long! Check out my Morning Meeting Activities >>> HERE.

Morning Meeting Activity Slides – Volume 1

Morning Meeting Activity Slides – Volume 2

Morning Meeting Activity Slides – BUNDLE

Themed Morning Meeting Activity Slides – BUNDLE

Grab Morning Meeting FREEBIE

Photo of example of Free Morning Meeting Activities - Picture of Story Starter

If you’d like to try a sample of my Morning Meeting Activity Slides, I have a free week for you to try HERE. This FREE week includes 5 different activities to give you a taste of the Morning Meeting Fun. CLICK HERE TO GET THIS FREEBIE!

Pin Image for 3 Favorite Morning Meeting Activities

Ask Me Anything – Morning Meeting

Morning Meeting
Ask Me Anything - Morning Meeting. Photo of class sitting in a circle with boy looking at camera.

Morning Meeting is one of my favorite times of the school day. I know many teacher can use it in many different ways! Recently I asked my Instagram audience what questions they have about Morning Meeting. Today I’ll be answering those questions here on the blog.

How do you set up Morning Meeting?

Morning Meeting has 4 different components – Greeting, Share, Activity, and Message. To help me plan out my meeting time, I use a planning page that you can grab here for FREE. When planning I consider what content we are covering and try to find activities and messages that will either provide an opportunity to review content or offer a chance to introduce or find out background knowledge on new content.

Morning Meeting is always the first 30 minutes of the school day. In a normal – not pandemic year – I would have students create a circle on the classroom rug. This year to be socially distanced students stay at their desks and more of the activities are independent where in a normal year the would be group activities.

What is the most valuable part of Morning Meeting?

This is a tough question to answer. Each part of Morning Meeting is important in it’s own way. Greeting is important because it gives each student a chance to feel welcome and seen in the classroom each day. Share is important because it provides opportunties for students to get to know each other and practice speaking and listening skills. Activity is important because it often gives kids a chance to move and can include get to know you games or content activities/games. Morning message is also important for content review and background knowledge. I really wouldn’t say that one is more valuable than the other. They each have their important aspects that they bring to the meeting.

How long does it usually last?

The meeting is supposed to last around 30 minutes give or take. Here is roughly the amount of time that each component takes (obviously depending on the day things might take longer or less time):

Greeting: 2- 5 minutes

Share: 5 – 10 minutes

Activity: 8-10 minutes

Morning Message: 5 minutes

How do you have time to fit it in?

Morning meeting is what we do at the very beginning of the day so I make sure to make time for it. That being said some days and years I have to cut components. For example, this year due to all of the constraints with COVID and how everything seems to take longer, I have cut out the Morning Message. So that saves a bit of time so I can make sure I fit it in each day. You can definitely shorten the components and run a 20 minute morning meeting – whatever works with your schedule.

How do you do Morning Meeting (circle style) while socially distancing?

So this year due to socially distancing and since I was virtual the first semester I don’t do the traditional circle for Morning Meeting. In a normal/typical year, I would have students sit in a circle on the rug, but I don’t have a rug space this year due to social distancing. If you do have a rug space and a small amount of kids you could potentially still do the circle, just make it a very spread out circle. This year students are in their seats for Morning Meeting. They are able to move around for greeting with their masks on, but still need to keep their distance.

What are you favorite greetings?

In a typical year, below are a few of my favorite greetings…

Ball Toss Greeting – Stand in a circle and have one person start with the ball.  The person tosses the ball across the circle wishing good morning to who they passed it to.  This continues until all students have had a turn. To add a challenge, we’ve used two or three balls.  We start with one and add in more.  When adding more, kids have to pass to the same student each time.

Handshake, high five, fist bump, elbow bump

Snowball Greeting – Hand each student a paper and have them write their first name on the paper.  Then, once in the Morning Meeting circle have students crumple up their paper like a snowball.  Next, they throw their “snowball” in the middle of the circle. They all grab one and that is who they greet.  Can repeat a few times.

With our social distancing this year, here are a few greetings students can do without making physical contact and getting too close…

Mirror Greeting – Student completes an action (dance move, silly pose,etc) and says “Hello, my name is Jordan.”  The other students mirror the action and say “Good morning Jordan.”

Silent Greeting – Students have to figure out a way to silently greet each other.

Foreign Language Greeting – Students greet each other using a foreign language. For example, Buenos dias Matt,  Bonjour Cindy, etc

Air High Five or Air Fist Bump

FREE Morning Meeting Planning Page

To help you get started or organize your meetings, check out my digital or printable planning sheet and guide with activity ideas. Click below to grab your FREEBIE today.

FREE Digital Morning Meeting Planning Page

FREE Printable Morning Meeting Planning Page

For More Info

If you are looking for more information about Morning Meeting, check out my blog post – Morning Meeting Round-Up >>> HERE.

Ask Me Anything - Morning Meeting. Photo of class sitting in a circle with boy looking at camera. Long Pin

Morning Meeting Activity Ideas

Morning Meeting

Are you looking for ways to freshen up your Morning Meeting Activity time for virtual learning or in-person?? Then, you are in the right place! These activities below can be used in a virtual, in-person, or hybrid classroom. I have used these as activities during Morning Meeting, but you could also use them in different ways!

Let’s check them out…

Boggle

Boggle is not only fun, but also academic! Students have to create as many words as they can using the letters given on the board. The tricky part is that the letters must be touching! I always challenge my class to see if they can beat the number of words that they came up with the last time.

Image of Boggle Directions for activites
Image of Boggle Board for Morning Meeting Activities

Noggle

Noggle is just like Boggle above, but with numbers! For this activity, students create as many number sentences as they can with the given numbers. They can use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and/or division.

Image of Noggle Directions
Picture of Noggle Game Board for Morning Meeting

Mystery Word/Make a Word

This is another great ELA activity. Students are given a mystery word with the letters scrambled up. They have two tasks. One – create as many words as they can with the letters. Two – figure out the mystery word.

Image of Directions for Mystery Word
Picture of scrambled up letters for the mystery word activity

Guess the Picture

For Guess the Picture, students are given a photo that is mainly covered up with only a tiny part showing. (I’ll be honest this is not the best example since the photo was dark. Normally you can see the small circle that is uncovered much better). They then have to guess what the picture is. You give 3-4 clues before revealing the hidden picture.

Picture with tiny part of image being seen for activity
Picture with tiny part of image being seen for activity and clue
Photo of 3 jack-o-lanterns

Finish the Doodle

This Morning Meeting Activity is great for your creative artists! My class loves to use their imagination with this one. Students are all shown a doodle (it can be honestly anything) and then they get to turn it into whatever they want! After students share in breakout rooms or in a small group or with a partner.

Image of Finish the Doodle directions
Finish the Doodle Image- two lines angled to start a triangle
Directions for sharing Finish the Doodle

Scavenger Hunt

This activity works best for virtual students, but could possibly be done in person. For this activity, students are given an object or something to find in their house and then they come back and share it with the group.

Photo of Scavenger Hunt example - Find something that makes you happy

This or That

This is a great Morning Meeting activity to get to know kids and get them up and moving. Students are given 2 different choices and they have to choose if they’d rather have this or that. Then, to show their choice they complete the exercise chosen. This day’s activity was done with breakfast foods, but you could do them with all sorts of topics.

This or That example photo.  Photo of waffles or cereal.
This or That example photo.  Photo of pancakes or cereal

Quick Draw

My kids love this activity! For Quick Draw, students have 2 minutes (you could change the time) to draw the item you tell them to. They love sharing these in breakout rooms or with a partner.

Directions for Quick Draw Activity
Quick Draw example - Draw a castle.

Mystery Bag

Mystery Bag is a super easy activity for Morning Meeting. You hide a mystery item in the bag and the kids have to guess the mystery item. I give clues to help them guess what I put in the bag. I often just use things I have around my classroom.

Image for Mystery Bag Morning Meeting activities

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

This is another favorite game! I love this game because you can have more than one correct answer and you can cover many different areas and categories. Students have to decide which item, number, or word doesn’t belong. When they make their decision, they also have to explain why. It’s always very interesting to see the different ways the kids look at things. For this activity, I’ve included numbers, words, and photos (and I try to include an academic focus when I can.)

Image of One of These is Not Like the Other Activity. Includes numbers 22, 44, 88, and 65

Scattergories

I’ll be real about this – I have no idea if this is how you play Scattergories, but this is how we’ve been doing it in my classroom and it’s working for us. For my version, the students have 5 minutes to come up with as many words that begin with the chosen letter and fit the categories. Then, we see how many words people came up with and the kids share their responses.

Image of Scattergories Slide for letter D with 5 minute timer

Story Starter

This activity is a great way for students to be creative with their writing. Students begin their story with the story starter and can then take it wherever they want! I love seeing them use their imaginations and try to choose fun and silly story starters. Afterwards, students can share their writing in breakout rooms or with a group/partner.

Image of Story Starter Slide with prompt - 3, 2, 1 - Blast off! The rocket ship was headed to....

Morning Meeting Slides

If you are interested in grabbing the Morning Meeting Activity Slides to use in your classroom, you can grab the October set > HERE. More monthly sets are coming soon!

*You can grab my BUNDLE of Themed Morning Meeting Activities for a discount >>> HERE.

Click to check out the Morning Meeting Activity Slide Sets:

Back to School Part 1 – Morning Meeting Activity Slides

Back to School Part 2 – Morning Meeting Activity Slides

September Morning Meeting Activity Slides

November Morning Meeting Activity Slides

-December Morning Meeting Activity Slides – Christmas Version

December Morning Meeting Activity Slides – Winter Version

January Morning Meeting Activity Slides

February Morning Meeting Activity Slides

March Morning Meeting Activity Slides

April Morning Meeting Activity Slides

May Morning Meeting Activity Slides

June Morning Meeting Activity Slides

GRAB MORNING MEETING FREEBIE

Photo of example of Free Morning Meeting Activities - Picture of Story Starter

If you’d like to try a sample of my Morning Meeting Activity Slides, I have a free week for you to try HERE. This FREE week includes 5 different activities to give you a taste of the Morning Meeting Fun. CLICK HERE TO GET THIS FREEBIE!