A productive classroom begins with engaging morning meeting activities. These routines set the tone for a successful day. Each activity is designed to engage students and encourage active participation with discussion, movement and songs.
Get started today with a FREE sample of the morning meeting question of the day.
Benefits of Morning Meetings Activities
Why do you need a solid morning meeting?
A consistent routine can make all the difference in a student’s day and morning meeting activities are just what you need.
Brief, yet structured morning meeting activities provide an opportunity to:
- Foster classroom community
- Builds predictability and structure to the start of the day
- Work on conversation skills (turn taking, active listening, etc.)
- Socialization prior to the academic routine
Solve classroom problems as a community
6 Classroom Morning Meeting Activities Ideas
Let’s discover 6 ways to make your classroom morning meeting meaningful with minimal planning and loss of instructional time.
The first thing you need is digital slides that include most or all the information you need to run the routine smoothly, organized & consistent.
Carpet Song & Greeting
Begin with a quick morning song & expectation review to welcome and prepare students for the meeting.
What You Need:
- Carpet or welcome song (more morning meeting song suggestions below)
- Chart with pictures to remind students of the expectations while on the carpet
If you need an expectation chart, click here to learn more.
How To Get Started:
- Start with a morning meeting song to welcome and get students sitting calm on the floor
2. Review expectations using the chart with expectations and visuals
3. Morning greeting to welcome students-use a song or model a greeting that students can do.
Visual Schedule
A visual schedule is key to building predictability, consistency and preparing students for schedule changes.
What You Need:
- Visual schedule cards
- Pocket chart or magnets
How To Use The Visual Schedule:
During this routine the teacher leads by using a visual schedule, to go step by step through the activities for the day. The teacher encourages students to read along or repeat. Eventually this routine can become student led. This is my favorite way to eliminate the endless “when are we going to lunch” question.
Throughout the day, as you complete each task, remove the completed activity or move an image to the current activity (see the Crayon image below).
Morning Share Activities
During this morning meeting group activity, students take turns talking about a prompt with a partner. Next, the teacher selects a few students to share.
During Morning Meeting Share students will practice…
- Oral Language & Vocabulary
- Social Emotional Learning
What You Need:
How Morning Share Works:
- Select one prompt each day
- Share the prompt with students using card or slide
- Model how to answer the prompt
- Students will talk to their assigned partner
- Teacher selects a few students to share
Thinking of morning meeting share topics can take planning, but thankfully I have created a year long set of guiding questions.
Morning Meeting Song & Movement Break
There are a variety of morning meeting songs to start your day. I prefer to use a song that includes movement. If the song I am using doesn’t include movement, I take a small brain break before moving onto the next step.
Morning Meeting Song Suggestions:
- “Hello Song” by Miss Linky
- “It’s Time to Start” of Day-tune of Farmer and the Dell
- “Have a Good Morning, Have a Good Day” by Jack Hartmann
- “Spread a Little Sunshine” by Jack Hartmann
Morning Meeting Message
A morning meeting message is a consistent routine that allows students to participate with reading of the small passage written by the teacher.
What You Need:
- Chart paper & marker(s) OR use digital slides
How Morning Message Works:
- Before students arrive, write or type the message (digital slides reduced prep time).
- Read the message, pointing out important details
- Engage students by one of the below suggestions:
Question of the Day Data
The last morning meeting activity is to review the data from the question of the day.
What You Need:
- Paper or print question of the day
- Print option requires: pocket chart, name cards for each student
How To Use Question Of The Day:
- Students answer the question as part of the arrival routine by placing their name onto the correct side of the chart
- Young readers can accomplish this task by using picture prompts or reading the question to students as they are putting away their belongings.
- Read the question aloud and count how many students for each side of the chart.
- Determine which side has more/less, greater/fewer answers
Grab a free sample of the morning meeting question of the day.
Making the Most of Morning Meetings
Engaging morning meeting activities are a powerful tool for creating an enriching classroom. A productive morning meeting has a variety of activities that teachers can use to foster community, support student development, and set the stage for a successful day.
Embrace the power of the morning meeting!
Get started today with a free sample of the morning meeting question of the day.