Last month, I shared four simple morning meeting greetings about math. You can read that post later for low to no-prep ways that reinforce and review math concepts like place value, skip counting, and much more!
Not a math teacher? Not a problem! I’m here today with four more greetings for Morning Meeting that reinforce academic content across the curriculum:
The Describing Name Game
Academic Focus: Language Arts – Adjectives
In this greeting, each student chooses an adjective that begins with the same sound as their first name. Going around the circle, have students introduce themselves by saying, “Hello, my name is (adjective) (first name).” For example, I might say: hello, my name is creative Crystal. Classmates can then respond, “Hello, (adjective) (first name).”
Before starting the greeting, I like to take a few minutes to brainstorm a list of adjectives. (You should discuss at length prior to this greeting kind ways to speak to and about ourselves. Words matter!) Add adjectives to a whiteboard or chart paper for students to reference. It’s important to have several describing words listed that begin with the same initial letter or sound. If time allows, we play a challenge round where students go around the circle and try naming each classmate by their chosen adjective.
Passport Prompts
Academic Focus: Foreign Languages – Cultures & Customs, Geography
Short and sweet, this greeting exposes children to different cultures and customs. Each week, say hello in a new language! I like to use Google Translate to help me perfect my pronunciation. You could also give students a world map to stamp/color countries as you learn several greetings. For an added layer of fun, incorporate a prop from the country of origin. Students might, for example, pass around a wooden shoe symbolic of Holland as they say “goedemorgen” to their neighbor.
Guess Who?
Academic Focus: People of Interest – Historic Figures, Book Characters, Scientists, Etc.
In social studies, we learned all about different occupations of the past. For this morning meeting greeting, students were assigned an occupation and named one aspect of that person’s job description Monday through Thursday. On Friday, kids tried to guess which classmates had been labeled anthropologists, geologists, paleontologists, historians, archaeologists, and more. It was a lot of fun and a great review of academic vocabulary!
You can also do this with student interests. The Morning Meeting Book suggests having kids wear a name tag with their favorite book character for a week. At the end of the week, students can remove their name tags and see if they can remember one anotherโs character names (Kriete and Davis, 72).
Science Friction
Academic Focus: Science – Scientific Process, Friction, Making Observations
This greeting comes straight from my Morning Meeting book! My students really enjoyed this one. Assign partners or let students choose a partner. Have each pair of students touch their palms together gently and greet one another. Next, have them rub their hands vigorously against their own clothing for 10 seconds. Again have them touch their palms together and greet each other. Once everyone has done this, ask the students for a quick reflection on what they noticed. Discuss observations and differences between the two greetings. (Kriete and Davis, 81)
ACTIONABLE STEPS: Try an academic morning meeting greeting! You can even take the math greetings from earlier this month and modify them for your unique curriculum needs.
WORK CITED: Kriete, Roxann, and Carol Davis. The Morning Meeting Book: 3rd Edition. Center for Responsive Schools, 2014.
