Morning meeting, circle time, group huddle, whatever you want to call it- every good ECC should have one! Morning meeting is one of our favorite parts of the school day. Let’s look at some of the things that make it so meaningful.
ROUTINE: Children thrive on a schedule. Starting off your school day with the routine of morning meeting and conducting it in the same order every day ensures children know what to expect. Routines help children feel safe and secure, allowing their brains to be free to learn. This routine sets the tone for the rest of the day.
SUCCESS: When children know the expectations, they are more likely to take a chance in answering a question and fully participating. The more chances they take, the more success they will have.
SKILL BUILDING: A morning meeting in April can look very different from one in September. Once children master a skill during calendar or weather, you can keep increasing the level of difficulty to foster increased critical thinking, inferential and academic abilities. These can all be built off the same structure and routine of the original morning meeting, just to a higher degree as the school year progresses.
LEADERSHIP/OWNERSHIP: Morning meeting is a great time to assign jobs to students: greeter, attendance taker, calendar helper, weather worker, music conductor and more. Get creative with simple tasks that can become a job. Children at this age don’t often get to be the leader. Morning meeting is a great opportunity to provide this role to students and give them a sense of accomplishment.
SONGS: Music has so many benefits, and we love a good, classic nursery rhyme! Singing simple nursery rhymes might feel unnecessary, especially if your students have higher language levels, but never underestimate the power they can provide. Nursery rhymes, chants and simple songs can develop language skills, build memory, be used as a teaching tool and contribute to socialization.
COMMUNITY: This time is a wonderful opportunity for children to build relationships, social communication and pragmatic skills. Children can greet each other, hear names being repeated, sing songs and say chants together and take turns interacting with one another.
ASSESSMENT: There are so many ways to informally assess children both in a group and individually during morning meeting. During calendar time alone you can assess the following: rote counting, one-to-one correspondence, matching numbers or images, left-to-right progression, patterning, number recognition, pencil grip, writing/tracing skills, rhythm, fluency and more! Think about what other skills you can assess during other parts of morning meeting.
INDIVIDUALIZATION: Once you have completed some informal assessment, you can individualize instruction to every child in the classroom. One music conductor might benefit from a choice of two songs with images to select from, while another student is able to request a song with no options provided.
Don’t overthink the structure of morning meeting. Keep the routine simple and successful. Reflect on your morning meeting. What do you love about it?
Abby Meister, MSDE, CED is the Content Coordinator of the Emerson Center for Professional Development at CID – Central Institute for the Deaf. She has been a teacher of the deaf for over 10 years, primarily working with children ages 2-5. She has presented at professional conferences with content focusing on early intervention and listening and spoken language strategies for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. She received her master’s degree in deaf education through the Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences (PACS) at Washington University.
