Our Morning Meetings are AMAZING

Doing the LUMBERJACK GREETING!  WOoOOOT!

Lumberjacks abound in room 306! 

This was hilarious.  A GROUP lumberjack greeting!

Concentric circles in action!

We continue to do learn new greetings, ways to share and group activities during our meetings.  So.  Much.  Fun.  They are mingling with one another, learning new things about one another and hopefully feeling more and more a part of our classroom community.  I really love watching them interact with one another.  It’s so fun to them giggling and enjoying themselves while they learn such important interpersonal skills. 

Here are some questions to ask your kids about our morning meetings:

Can you tell me about one of the GREETINGS you did in school? 

What sort of things do you share during the sharing part of your meetings?

Tell me some things you’ve learned about your classmates during morning meeting activities.

Here are some GREETINGS we did last week:

Roll Call (a fun chant!):  Roll call!  Check the beat.  Check, check, check the beat!

Mix-It-Up Ball Greeting – Passing a ball to the person sitting next to you, you say “Good morning, Ellen!” Meanwhile, I turn the person on the other side of me and pass another ball in that direction. 

Secret Handshake – This was SO fun.  Make a family secret handshake!

Lumberjack handshake – They LOVED this greeting.  Ask them to show you how it’s done!

Here are some SHARING activities we learned:

My Favorite Food – It was fun hearing the wide varieties of food people love!

What I Like to Do on Weekends – and Why!

Who Remembers My Favorite Book?  This was fun!  They continue to scramble to get to the copies of our new books (Tom Gates and The 13-Story Treehouse).  Such a great way to talk about books!

You Like That Movie?  Me, Too!

Concentric Circles – Students form concentric circles so the inside circles is facing outward.  We will use this one a LOT!  They get to move, they can share, and it’s fun! 

GROUP Activities

Charades – we acted out something they did over the weekend.  So much fun! 

Mix and Mingle – I play two versions of this.  I learned a similar game years ago when I went to training at Spring Arbor College.  It’s called Mix, Pair, Share.  This is a similar version, but quick and easy.  In Mix and Mingle, they dance around the room and when the music stops, they find a partner.  They tell the partner something (what you did over the weekend, what you’re going to do after school, etc.).