Building Social Skills and Academics with Morning Meeting!

I am so thrilled with my schedule this year! Last year my students had RTI first thing in the morning, so I was never able to spend mornings with them. They came in, dropped off their stuff, and ran off to their Tier 2 assigned groups. This made it tough to build relationships with my students, and build community within my group.

 

 

This year, the children stay in the classroom in the morning, and we are encouraged to start our day with Morning Meeting!

Most typical Morning Meetings have these parts:

1. Greeting

2. Sharing

3. Group Activity

4. Morning Message

There are many ways to do each part, and hundreds of references for ideas, but here are a couple: 

     

Why do Morning Meeting?

Morning Meeting helps build social and emotional skills. It builds community and helps children learn to work as a team. It helps children develop a positive tone to their day, and affects their focus and productivity for the rest of the school day. Morning Meeting helps establish a climate of trust and motivates students to feel significant. It builds relationships with classmates and teachers.

Looking for some ideas for the group activity? Try these:60 Team Building Games and Activities for Classrooms.

I did Morning Meetings ages ago (I'd estimate 20+ years!) but I haven't been able to do it recently, so it's like starting over. I'd love to hear what other teachers do during their morning meetings!

Acts of Kindness Holiday Countdown

Ever notice that wonderful feeling that comes from doing something for others? 

I suspect you know it well, 

since that's what teaching is all about!

I decided, instead of just a "Countdown to Christmas", I wanted to do a more special countdown.

I made this Acts of Kindness Holiday Countdown Set, which is a paper chain countdown with a twist - each link of the chain is an act of kindness to be done by the child, each day between now and Christmas!

First, the children will choose a "topper". There's a star, a tree, and a Christmas Bear. The topper is mounted on a piece of construction paper or tagboard, and a slit is cut near the bottom to hold the first link. Personally, I think this guy is going to need some glitter, and a big red bow at the top to tie him to a special countdown spot! (You could also design your own toppers!)

The "How Many Days" poem goes on the back. I think this needs glitter, too!

Next, the children can put the individual strips into a chain, putting just the right amount so that one can be removed per day until Christmas. These can be printed on colored paper, or simply print on white paper and let the children decorate each link on the chain. (with glitter?) (Again, you or your students can make up their own acts of kindness as well!)

It's a fun challenge to let the children figure out how many links to put on. Make sure you know the correct amount, but it's interesting to see their strategies!

As another act of kindness, I always apologize ahead of time to the custodians when I plan to use glitter. Plus, I've trained my students on using the dustpan to make the custodian's job a little easier!

I have to admit, I'm excited about my new resource, and can't wait to put them together with the kids!

How can you encourage kindness this time of year?