The Best Way to Start the Day: Morning Meeting

Lower School at ACDS uses Responsive Classroom to help teach the children to take care of themselves, each other, and the school environment so that everyone can do his/her best learning.  You can read more about the guiding principles of Responsive Classroom in my September letter to parents.  Today’s post delves more deeply into one of the daily teaching practices--Morning Meeting.

Each Lower School classroom begins the day with Morning Meeting, a 15-20 minute gathering during which they practice academic skills, as well as important social skills, such as listening, speaking, problem solving, and participation.

Morning Meeting has four parts:

• Greeting--Each child is greeted by name and welcomed. Greetings can be as simple as a handshake or high-five or as exciting as a ball toss or match-the-shoe-to-the-owner greeting.

Peyton gets ready to toss the ball during the Ball Toss Greeting.

• Sharing--A few children share news and interests, which helps them get to know each other.

Alexandra shares about a family event.

• Group Activity--The class might play a cooperative game, recite a poem together, sing a song, or do a math or language arts activity together.

  

  Mrs. Sutton's class plays Double Double.

  
  

  

  First grade sings Mother Gooney Bird.

  
  

  

  Mrs. Stein's class practices multiplication and division facts using a volleyball.

• Message--The children read a message the teacher has written that helps them look forward to the day ahead. They also review the daily schedule.

  

  Aiden reads the Morning Message to his class.

  
  

  

  James shares the kindergarten schedule.

As you wander our halls in the morning, you may want to linger a bit to see Morning Meeting in action.