Morning Meeting

We start each morning out with a meeting. Our format goes like this:

* Review 5 Rules

*Mission Statement

*Sharing

* Pledge Announcements

*Morning Message

Review 5 Rules.

We use Whole Brain Teaching in our classroom so our 5 rules are:

Rule #1 Follow Directions Quickly
Rule #2 Raise Your Hand For Permission To Speak
Rule # 3 Raise Your Hand For Permission To Leave Your Seat
Rule #4 Make Smart Choices
Rule #5 Keep Your Dear Teacher Happy

The student of the day leads the class through the rules which are posted on the board.  As the students choral chant the rules, they also do hand gestures for each one. You can find free printable posters for the 5 Rules here.

Mission Statement:

After we review our five rules, we recite our class mission statement.  Our mission statement is just a slight revision of our school mission statement.

Our School Mission Statement: 
To create a community that can collaborate, communicate, create, and critically think through reading, writing, math, and technology.

Our Class Mission Statement: 
We are a community of learners that can collaborate, communicate, create, and think critically through reading, writing, math, and technology.

I found a pledge on Mrs. Gold's website that would also work for a class mission.  You could also have the students create their own mission statement.

                                                           I pledge today to do my best,
                                                           in reading, math, and all the rest.
                                                           I promise to obey the rules,
                                                           in my class and in my school.
                                                           I'll respect myself and others too,
                                                           I'll expect the best in all I do.
                                                           I am here to learn all I can,
                                                           to try my best and be all I am.
Sharing:
While we wait for the morning announcements on the loud speaker, we have sharing. Sometimes it is structured with specific Q&As while other times I let them share whatever they would like to share from show and tell items to stories.  They LOVE this time!

Pledge and Announcements:

Our pledge and announcements come on over our loudspeaker led by the secretary at our school.  If I have any additional announcements I let them know after the school announcements.

Morning Message:

I usually prepare a letter to the students to let them know what we will be learning that day.  Sometimes I will intentionally make mistakes for them to edit and other times I will throw in review questions.  I stopped doing the morning message for a little while and they begged me to bring it back.

Additional Resources:

For more Morning Meeting Ideas, Follow my Morning Meeting Pinterest Board here.
You can also follow me on Pinterest for all of my teaching related pins!

I have gotten tons of ideas for Morning Meeting with this book:


I love this morning meeting from The Teaching Channel. I've been thinking about ways to add some of these structures into our meeting as well.