Morning meetings are a VITAL part of the day! Taking that first 10-20 minutes to share, grow socially and emotionally, build in some academics, but most importantly make each individual student seen and heard is so incredibly important to building our classroom communities! If you have ever wondered why morning meetings are so important, read on! Also, looking for some fun digital games to incorporate some extra team building and fun into your meetings, look no further! Everything you need to know about morning meetings is right here!
Getting Started!
First off, morning meetings build confidence! The stronger and more confident students feel, the more willing to try, fail and try again when it comes to academics! Confidence is built through students being proud of who they are as individuals. Celebrate individuality at that morning meeting by sharing important life events, and favorite video games, or trips to the beach. Listen and build upon students’ interests. Billy had a soccer tournament; remember that and ask him about it. The pride in knowing his teacher and classmates want to hear about his weekend, will set the tone for the rest of the day, week, and year.
Why are Morning Meetings So Important?
Bonding. Classmates need time to bond and when they have the time to listen to their peers, they begin to change their perspectives about others. Friendships are born. When classmates are given the time to open up, community is built. Respect becomes a driving force. Empathy is created without much effort just with morning meetings!
Morning meetings can be a time for problem solving. No classroom is perfect. Maybe there are student concerns that can be addressed. A great way to combat problems is talking about them, but read-alouds are also really helpful to see problems from a different perspective! Teacher concerns can be addressed here too. Give time for students to problem solve. Not only is it an important skill, but it is necessary to build and grow as a classroom family.
All voices matter in morning meetings. Making this a pivotal foundation for morning meetings will ensure everyone has a voice and everyone is seen and heard. Build community through empathy. Talk about what matters to the students. If a student wants to share an emotional experience, embrace it. If a student needs to open up about a situation that is bothering them, listen. Your class can embrace empathy and build relationships that include everyone.
There’s More…
Morning meeting can also be a low pressure way to review some academics. Literacy standards across the board can easily be accomplished in morning meeting. Discussion is typically a literacy standard! Making connections, reviewing character traits, building off of each others’ ideas, problem solving, and so much more. Take the time to include some of your standards and you are getting even more out of your morning meeting.
Social emotional skills are everything right now. The pandemic has really strengthened the need for building social emotional skill sets. Growth mindset is a huge one. Setting goals, and following through, and then setting new ones is another one. Learning how to persevere and be kind are two others that are extremely important.
Morning meetings can be fun and engaging and may be everyone’s favorite part of the day! Besides setting up socially, emotionally, and academically for the day, it is a time to share some fun! Group activities should absolutely be part of the morning meeting for students to work together. Digital games are one way to bring the group together to bond and grow together. I have some really cool digital games in my TpT store available now with no prep for you to check out.
Digital Games Included:
There is Trivia, which is for older elementary students. Some of the questions can be pretty tricky, but so much fun!
Memory Lock can be for any age, as students practice letters by remembering which one is missing!
Spot It is one the students love. Kids have to find the difference in the pictures the quickest! Students will be cheering each other on and complimenting each other on their perceptiveness! I feel like adults could really enjoy this one too!
True or False Digital Games are always a hit! I have a few of these available! There is one about weather and one about dinosaurs! There’s space too!
A great one for the beginning of the year is any of the Favorites Games. This just has students choose from a themed list and write down their favorite! Another great one for class bonding!
Picture Study is another one for observing and reporting back. Students see a picture and then are asked a question about it to work that working memory!
Read My Brain is kind of like Guess Who! This one is so much fun for students to ask and answer questions!
Come over to TpT and grab a bundle of digital games and be set for the whole year! Morning meetings will be perfect once you add in an element of learning and fun!
Morning meetings are so essential to building classroom rapport and building rapport among your students. Take the time to listen, share, and build connections. Don’t forget to have a little fun with digital games too! Morning meetings will always be a special part of each day!
Don’t forget to check out these blog posts before you go!