Morning meeting is an important routine in many elementary classrooms. It can help build community, reinforce concepts and skills from previous days, and support social-emotional development.
In the first weeks of school, many teachers focus on establishing a strong morning meeting routine. As students master the basics, you might wonder, “How can I make morning meeting even better?”
We have a few ideas!
TAKE THE PULSE OF YOUR CLASS WITH A FEELINGS CHECK IN
Starting the day with a feelings check in sets a positive tone for the day.
A feelings check in gives students space to express any feelings or circumstances on their minds. And it equips teachers with the insight they need to build caring relationships that support the whole child.
You might be familiar with this strategy. You might already use it in your classroom! Often, feelings check ins take the form of one-on-one conversations, whole group surveys (like thumbs up and thumbs down), or questions on strips of paper.
Technology can make feelings check ins even more empowering for students and teachers.
| Without Technology |
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| • With paper/pencil, students can feel limited by expressive language skills |
| • Whole-class surveys can make students nervous to share how they really feel |
| • One-on-one check ins with every student can be hard to fit into busy mornings |
| With Technology |
|---|
| •Multimodal tools like drawing, video, and audio help students express themselves |
| • Students can share just with the teacher, so they feel safe to be open about their lives |
| • All students can complete the activity, and teachers can check in with kids who need it |
Transforming your feelings check in is simple with Seesaw. You can even choose one of our ready to go options in the Seesaw library.
Find a lesson you like and click assign. Students love using Seesaw tools. You’ll be able to see who needs a little extra support and use your precious class time to follow up with the students who really need it.
USE CALENDAR TIME FOR INTERACTIVE CALENDAR MATH
Calendar time is a favorite way to start the day for many teachers and students. It’s so fun! It can also be used to reinforce foundational math skills in a real-world way.
Calendar time is perfect for math practice. Students use the date to practice math skills like one-to-one correspondence, place value, counting money, patterns, graphing, adding, subtracting, and more! Instead of a few lessons on these important skills, students get to practice core skills every. single. day.
You might create a bulletin board with a physical calendar. Or you can take your calendar time to the next level using Seesaw and your interactive whiteboard!
Here’s how to level up calendar math with Seesaw:
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On your interactive whiteboard, sign into your Seesaw teacher account -
Find the week’s calendar math lesson in the Seesaw library
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Click ‘Present to Class’
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Complete the activities as a class
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Check out the printable lesson plan included with each lesson for more details!
If you’re new to calendar math, here are a few things to consider. In the beginning of the year, consider leading calendar math to teach the routine and establish expectations. Create a culture of making mistakes and asking for help by modeling these behaviors. When you feel your class is ready, choose a student helper to lead calendar math. Random name selectors are great for this.
Making calendar math part of your morning meeting supports students to practice any math skill they learn throughout the year. Plus, it gets students listening to each other, practicing being leaders, and having authentic conversations about math.
A great way to start the day!
GET KIDS CONNECTING WITH RELATIONSHIP BUILDING ACTIVITIES
For many teachers, one goal of morning meeting is to foster a positive classroom community. What’s at the core of community? Relationships!
Using morning meeting time for students to share about themselves and discover what they have in common can help students build relationships with each other.
A favorite way to get students interacting and building relationships is a classmate scavenger hunt.
In a classmate scavenger hunt, students are given a handout with a list of descriptions like “find a classmate who plays a musical instrument” or “find a classmate who has the same favorite food as you”. Then, they wander around the classroom and talk to each other. When they find someone who fits a description, they write down their classmates name.
With Seesaw’s multimodal tools, this activity becomes even more fun. Students don’t just write down each other’s names. When they find a classmate who fits a description, they can take a picture! Or record an interview! Or draw a picture! The interaction goes from a quick exchange to a collaborative experience.
This also makes the activity more accessible for emergent readers, multilingual learners, and students with diverse needs.
We have a ready to go lesson you can use tomorrow. Explore our Find a Classmate Who… lessons in the Seesaw library.
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Grades PreK-2 includes audio recordings of the prompt and photos
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Grades 3-5 includes an extension activity
Morning meeting can set a positive tone for the day, prime students’ brains for learning, and support classroom community. With Seesaw, you can take what you’re already doing and make it even more empowering, accessible, and engaging.
