Activities
Pretty much every aspect of teaching has changed in one way or another this school year. Whether it’s teaching through a screen or eliminating small group work when teaching in person, it’s all just different! Safe morning meetings are one aspect of the school day that many teachers have had to reimagine.
How to have safe morning meetings
Morning meetings consist of four parts, according to the Responsive Classroom Approach, and should last around 20-30 minutes each school day. It’s a time for students and teachers to connect, to incorporate SEL activities, and to introduce skills that will be taught during the school week.
The four components to a successful morning meeting are:
- Greeting: Students greet one another in fun and differing ways each day.
- Share: Students get a chance to share some type of information, whether personal or academic, and classmates practice listening and responding.
- Group Activity: The class participates in an active game together. The activity could focus on social learning and/or academic learning.
- Morning Message: A short message from the teacher read together by the class.
Socially-distant ideas for morning meetings
Note: I like picking one item from each category and using it for an entire week of morning meetings to build routine and rhythm as the week progresses.
Greetings
1. Greeting Race
Students will be timed to see how quickly they can greet around the room. The teacher starts by saying “good morning” to one student, addressing them by name. The student says “good morning” back, using the teacher’s name. Then the student says “good morning” to a classmate, using their name. It continues around the room with each student greeting the person who just said “good morning” to them and then saying “good morning” to someone new as well. The teacher should time how quickly the students can make it all the way around the room. They can try to beat it the next day. Repeat each day for a week!
2. Good morning to anyone who…
Have a student leader come to the front of the classroom. They should fill in the phrase “good morning to anyone who…” with different facts that could be true for students. For example, the leader could say, “ Good morning to anyone who is buying lunch today.” Any students who are buying lunch that day should then stand up and wave “good morning” to other students who are also standing and have that item in common.
After all students return to their seats, the leader should continue on with the next fact. Students love to lead this greeting!
3. Compliment chain
This one is sure to make teachers smile. Have students greet neighbors around them including a genuine compliment. Model for students what a genuine compliment is. For example, Sam might say, “Good morning, Emma! You try so hard in math and never give up!” Everyone deserves a compliment or two every day!
As an alternative, if students are feeling shy, have students write down compliments on post-it notes and deliver them to recipients later in the day after saying good morning to one another.
4. 1, 2, 3, Look!
Students should hang their heads down while the teacher says “1, 2, 3, look!” On the word “look,” students will lift their heads and look at one person in the room. If two students make eye contact, they wave good morning across the room to each other. If a student does not make eye contact with someone, they just place their head back down.
The greeting moves along quickly as the teacher continues to say “1, 2, 3, look” until every student has made eye contact with someone and been greeted at least once.
5. Closed eyes greeting
Students place their heads down on their desks with their eyes closed. The teacher chooses one student to say good morning to. The chosen student then pops their head up and says good morning to someone else who will then pop their head up and takes over as greeter. This continues until all students have their heads up, eyes opened, and have been greeted!
Sharing
Teacher tip: Try not to force students to share if they aren’t comfortable doing so. Allow the option for students to pass.
6. Would you rather?
Present a handful of “Would you rather?” questions one at a time. If one question states “Would you rather eat pizza for breakfast or eggs for dinner?” have students stand if they prefer the pizza or remain seated if they prefer the eggs. Take a moment to pause after each question and have students notice who else is standing or sitting with them. They might realize they have something in common with a classmate!
You might also choose to allow students to ask the other group questions about why they would rather that option. Need ideas? See these free “Would You Rather?” prompts!
7. Partner share
Provide a prompt or question for students to chat about for a few minutes with a classmate. For example, you might ask students to talk about something they’re excited about or looking forward to. The catch is that after they share with each other, students will then share out with the class what their partner shared with them. Listening skills are key for this share!
8. POP!
Pick a topic or question to ask students about, like “What’s one thing you learned about Thomas Jefferson yesterday in social studies?” In order to get a chance to share, students have to say “POP” at a time when no one else says it. In other words, if two or more students simultaneously say “POP,” none of those students get to share yet. Once a student says a solo “POP,” they can then share an answer to the posed question.
Topics or questions presented can be academic or personal.
9. Book talk
Give students a chance to share a book they’ve been reading and would recommend. Model for students how to talk about a book with details and in a manner that would really get other students interested in reading it as well. Perhaps you could take the first day ever doing this share to watch an example on the smartboard, like this one.
10. Chain reaction
Present a discussion topic to students and have one or two of them begin by sharing with someone near them. After listening to someone share, they should turn to someone new and answer the question themselves.
Say the topic of discussion is “What’s the best thing about winter?” Student A would share with Student B what they love most about winter while Student B listens attentively. Then Student B would share their favorite thing with Student C. It’s a chain reaction!
Group Activities
11. Guess who?
On a Monday, have students write down three facts about themselves that their peers would not know. The teacher should collect the fact cards and read a few out loud each day throughout the week during morning meetings. After reading aloud the three facts, the teacher should ask the class “Guess who?”
Students will have 3-5 opportunities to guess who the card belongs to. If a student guesses correctly, the person should reveal themselves immediately. However, if the person is not guessed, the card should go back into the pile for later in the week after the options have been narrowed down.
12. Coseeki
Coseeki is a twist on “follow the leader.”
- Pick one student to go into the hallway.
- Once the student is in the hallway, pick a different student to be a leader.
- This student will start a body motion, like patting their lap or tapping their head. They will lead the motions and make changes that the rest of the class will need to follow.
- If the leader changes from clapping his/her hands to stomping his/her feet, the rest of the class must follow suit.
- The student in the hallway will come back and try to guess who the leader is.
The trick is that students should try not to make eye contact with the leader as to not give it away to the person that is trying to figure out who the leader is! This is a student favorite.
13. Rock paper scissors championship
Have students stand up behind their desks and push their chairs in. Give each student a partner (from six feet apart) to play rock paper scissors with. Best out of three wins.
The winner should remain standing while the “loser” takes a seat. Once all winners in original pairings have been determined, the teacher should pair up winners with new partners. The second round winners remain standing while the new “losers” sit down. Continue on until you only have two students left that will play to determine the champion!
If you have an odd number of students during any rounds, simply have one student play the winner of a round before moving on to the next championship round. Students love to cheer each other on in this game, and it really brings the class together!
14. Get to know you questions
Ask students a get to know you question. Have them write down their answers. Go around the room and have students share their answers. Ask if anyone else had the same answer. Here’s a list of 50 awesome “get to know you questions” to get you started!
15. Do what I said, not what I say!
The teacher starts by saying two directions in a row, like “stand up, then touch your toes.” The students must do the first action stated, which in this case is to stand up. Then, the teacher adds on an action, like “jump once.” Students must do the previously said action, though, which was to touch toes. That’s why the game is called “do what I SAID, not what I SAY.” Continue to add on actions and speed up the pace to really get the game going!
Scheduling morning meetings
Here is an example schedule of how you might use these activities in your own classroom. This utilizes our suggestion of implementing the same greeting, share, and activity daily for a full week of school in order to gain momentum!
Don’t forget to include a personal morning message after completing the group activity each day!
