Handling the Holidays (Part 5): Morning Meeting Message
Original Article: http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/blog/handling-holidays-morning-meeting-message
Tips on using Morning Meeting Messages and the last part of Morning Meeting, reading the message together, to set a positive tone during the build-up to winter holidays and vacation.
Winter themes. As with sharing, you might include timely questions/themes in your morning messages at this time of year. Just as with sharing, make sure everyone in the class will feel included. Here are some ideas:
Check the boxes to show who you will spend time with over vacation: friends, your family here, family from other places, other visitors.
What’s your prediction for when we’ll see the first snowflakes? (You could graph the results as a quick math activity.)
What’s something you love about winter?
Write some adjectives to describe winter weather.
Focus on Academics. Remember also that a message with an academic focus can help students transition from their excitement about the time of year to the learning they will be doing in school that day.
Transition from Activity. Remember that reading the morning message can help settle a class after the activity. Once the activity is finished, have students settle back in the circle and calm down. Then once they are ready, begin reading the message.
There’s no doubt that this can be a challenging time of year in school. Giving students the opportunity to settle into a comfortable and safe routine each morning can be a great gift for them in December! Try it, and let me know how it goes!
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