How To Have a Morning Meeting With Social Distancing

Morning Meetings may look a little different but should not affect building teacher-student relationships and classroom community. Investing the time in building teacher and peer relationships and classroom community in Morning Meetings during the first 6 weeks of school is the most important thing to focus on.

What is Morning Meeting?

Responsive Classroom’s Morning Meeting is a 15-20 minute daily routine used to begin the school day. All classroom members gather in a circle to greet one another, listen and respond to each other’s news, and practice academic and social skills. It serves as a transition from home to school, helps children feel welcome and known, and sets the tone for the day. The 4 components of Morning Meeting should be introduced in the first two weeks of school, starting off slowly introducing one component at a time.

Morning Meeting for Building Classroom Community

Morning Meeting is our favorite time of the day and is the first thing we do to start each day off on the right foot. Responsive Classroom says that Morning Meeting fulfills two human needs: the sense of belonging and significance and the need to have FUN! Morning Meeting merges social, emotional, and academic learning, which is something we will have to particularly focus on after students have been home for a long period of time due to COVID-19. Morning Meeting also builds trust and strengthens relationships with peers, as well as with teachers.

But now things have changed. Education has changed. Schools have changed. There’s a new normal with social distancing. Morning Meeting will look different but it doesn’t mean we can’t have Morning Meetings. So, here are some ways in which we can still have our daily Morning Meeting but also follow the guidelines that are now in place.

Let’s Talk Physical Space

Now gathering in a circle may be our first obstacle and most likely will not be an option. Since classrooms come in all different shapes and sizes, we will need to think about the physical space first. We will also need to think about the number of students in each classroom. Will class sizes be smaller? They should be smaller but that may not happen.

Thinking about my classroom space with about 22-25 students, we will try some of these options for gathering:
• Stand in a circle 3-6 feet part, students can bring a chair
• Stand around the perimeter of the room
• Students stand behind their desks
Most likely students will want to stand instead of sitting in their seats. It allows them to move, to stretch, and to see all students.

Morning Meeting Greeting

Children greet each other by name with a smile and eye contact. This means there doesn’t have to be any physical contact. We can still do some of the greetings we know and love. Simple, quicky lefty, righty greetings are good for any grade level. Here are some varieties for social distancing:

Quicky Lefty, Righty- Students turn to their right and greet their classmates by name, “Good Morning, Jayden” and then turn to the left to do the same. You can do quicky lefty, righty greetings in many different ways.

Quicky Lefty Righty Varieties:

• Wave
• Thumbs up
• Bow or Curtsy
• Air Hug (instead of a hug)
• Salute
• Foot Bump (this may still be ok to do as long as students keep the distance)
• Foreign Language  (“Bonjour, Mrs. Weis”)
• Formal Greeting- students greet each other using a Ms. or Mr. followed by their last name

For a little movement and fun, I may add in a ball (plastic ball or beach ball) or balloon because they are easy to wipe down afterward. Students can toss the ball to the person they are greeting.

For the younger grades, song greetings are perfect! Get them greeting each other with a song and a smile. This definitely gets your day started off on a bright note.

Here’s a PDF of some greetings from the Morning Meeting Greeting book, Morning Meeting Greetings that I found in my search.

This book is a great resource to have to get you started.

Morning Meeting Share

A few students share each day with some news of interest to the class and respond to each other with thoughtful questions/comments, practicing communication skills, and learning about one another. Students can share standing in the circle 3-6 feet apart or while students are seated at their desks. Ask students what they prefer. Perhaps the student who is sharing can come to the front of the room and share. It’s always best to ask your students what they feel most comfortable with. Let them decide and try different ways with your students.

Remember that Share is not a show and tell. Students do not have to bring in anything to share or show. Students can share something about themselves, something they’re looking forward to, a special event, an achievement, or something that is happy or sad. It’s a way for peers to get to know each other better and build classroom community. It also strengthens speaking and listening skills. I model preparing Morning Meeting Share by having students think about the main idea of what they are going to share and then using the 5 finger rule to stay focused on sharing the most important details. A share might sound like:

Main idea: My birthday

1. Today is my 10th birthday.
2. I am going to have dinner & birthday cake with my mom, dad, grandma, and sister tonight.
3. This weekend I am going to have a sleepover with my cousins.
4. I am really excited about it and I can’t wait.
5. I think it’s going to be my best birthday yet.

“I’m ready for thoughtful questions and comments.” Allow for 3 in total.

Give your students these response stems to reply for comments:

• It sounds like… you will have a really nice birthday. Happy Birthday!
• I noticed that… we will both turn 10 this week. Happy Birthday to us both! (make connections)

Questions:

• Did you wish for anything special for your birthday?
• What kind of birthday cake is your favorite?

You can create a schedule or sign up to have a certain number of students share each day or have a voluntary share each day.

Morning Meeting Activities

Morning Meetings activities are meant to be fun. The activity involves the whole class doing a short activity together, building class cohesion through active participation. Here are some class favorites with keeping social distancing in mind.

Fact or Fiction, or otherwise known as Two Truths and a Lie- One student says three things about themselves, 2 statements are facts and one is a lie. Classmates have to guess which statement is a lie. (Getting to Know You Activity)

Buzz- Students count from 1-100 and “buzz” on a specific multiple. (ex. Multiples of 6: 1,2,3,4,5,buzz,7,8,9,10,11,buzz,13,14,15,16,17,buzz…math activity)

Sparkle-Students stand 3-6 feet apart in a circle and the teacher announces a word. The students spell the word one letter per student. When the word has been spelled correctly, the next student in the circle waves his/her hands in the air and says “Sparkle!” A new word begins and follows the same way. *Students who spell the word incorrectly sit down.

Introduce some activities and then have your students practice and play them over and over. They’ll soon have their favorites!

 Morning Message

In Morning Message students develop language skills and learn about the events in the day ahead by reading and discussing a daily message posted on a chart or dry erase easel. The possibilities are endless with morning messages and are such a big part of our day. Make it a part of your daily routine that students greet you when they stagger in, unpack their belongings, and then respond to the Morning Message. I only allow 3 students at a time at the Morning Message whiteboard but due to social distancing, only one will respond at a time. That doesn’t mean that students can’t read it from afar and think ahead to respond quickly when it’s their turn. This is something you’ll have to teach and model.

I tie our morning message to the big ideas we are learning in class. Sometimes it revolves around a unit of study, theme, interest, book we are reading, subject area, holiday, event, etc. I write the morning message either before I leave for the day or as soon as I walk into the classroom in the morning. Either way, the Morning Message is always ready for my students to respond to every morning when they walk in.

Here are a few examples:

More MUST-HAVE resources for Morning Meeting!

Take-Home Points:

• Morning Meeting will look a little different with social distancing but still can be done.
• Morning Meeting is essential for building teacher-student relationships and classroom community during the first weeks of school (this is a must-do especially if we need to go back to remote learning
• Morning Meeting has 4 components that should be introduced slowly during the first 6 weeks of school.

Be sure to check out the resources that will support you with implementing an effective Morning Meeting. I know you will love having Morning Meetings with your students and it will become an essential part of your day. Please follow social distancing guidelines to stop the spread.

Have any more ideas to share about having Morning Meeting with keeping social distancing in mind? Share in the comments.

Related Posts: 

Starting The Year Off Right With Responsive Classroom

3 Ways to Effectively Build Student Teacher Relationships

Managing Student Behavior Responsive Classroom Style

How To Use Positive Teacher Language To Empower Students

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