Morning Meeting

Greeting & Sharing:
In our class, we start every morning with a greeting. Sometimes we do a simple handshake greeting or high five greeting. Most days, we do the "Hello Neighbor" song and dance by Dr. Jean. On Mondays, we also have sharing time, where we pass a stuffed beanie animal around the circle and children can share if they would like to. This is a great time to practice speaking and listening skills. 


Songs:
We always sing a song specific to the current month. I love the ones from Growing Kinders. Then we sing Months of the Year (Tune: Ten Little Indians) and Days of the Week (Tune: Oh My Darling). CanTeach has some great songs.


Calendar:
For our morning routines, I choose helpers using these cute star sticks. We do yesterday/today/tomorrow, read the date, count the days in the month, read the pattern on the calendar, count the days in school by tens and ones, and do the weather. Everyday, we also practice counting by ones and tens by clapping or hopping to 100. Sometimes I will also mix in some review of other content. 

Morning Message: 
Finally, we read our morning message. I invite children to come up and circle certain letters or sight words that we are currently learning. They also help me write letters and words, or fix errors. Usually, the message contains a question or fill in the blank statement. The children turn and talk to a partner to discuss the question and then children can volunteer to share. Finally, we break for some stretching or dancing.