If you feel like your Morning Meetings are getting a little stale, these greetings will help you to change things up.
1. 1, 2, 3, Look!
Have students stand in a circle and look down.
Say, "1, 2, 3, Look!" When students look up, if they are making eye contact with another student, have them come to the center of the circle, greet that student, and take their place in the circle.
Repeat this several times.
Some rounds you'll have lots of movement and greeting, and others you might have none. That's OK! Sometimes you'll also find that some students haven't been greeted yet, so after a few rounds, ask students to raise their hands if they haven't been greeted yet. This will help your students to practice empathy.
I like this greeting because by having students take each other's spot in the circle after a greeting, it prevents kids from sitting next to the same friends every single day.
2. Name Card
Prepare ahead of time by writing your name and each student's name on an index card. Shuffle the index cards and place them face down in your meeting circle.
Peek at the bottom card. Tell that student to start the greeting. They'll start by turning over the first card, reading the name on it out loud, discarding it (putting it in a second pile facing upwards), and greeting that person.
After the greeting, have the student who picked the card take the place of the student he or she greeted. Just like the first greeting I shared, this prevents students from always sitting next to the same friends.
You can change it up by making the greeting different each time (high fives, handshakes, fist bump, using a different language, etc.).
The last person will greet the first person who started the greeting (remember, their name was at the bottom of the pile).
3. Hullaballoo
This one gets kids moving. I display the picture below on my smart board, but I suggest limiting the options when you start this greeting. You could also create a quick chart with some fun options if you don't have a projector.
I announce one way students should move to find each other (from the first column), one way students should greet each other (from the second column), and one thing students should share (from the third column). I might say something like, "baby crawl, fist bump, favorite snack." That means students will crawl like a baby until they find a partner, then stand up and fist bump them and say "good morning," and share what their favorite snack is.
You'll need to model how students can find a partner, because they are going to be walking around and mingling. For students who need more support with this, you might want to have them walking for a few seconds until calling out the directions. This prevents kids from picking the same person to greet each time.
Students should only greet one person until you call out the next directions, so if they finish sharing, they can say, "Tell me more!" to keep conversation going. Then you simply repeat 3 more directions. I usually do this 3 or 4 times. If you're short on time, you could count this as your greeting and share, but I still like to fit in an official morning meeting share, even if it's a super short partner share. Your choice!
4. Floppy Fish
This one is fun! It can be done in a mingle (like the last greeting), or you can choose to make it a circle greeting.To do this at one time as a class, have students stand in a circle. Call on someone to be the first greeter. (Pro tip: if someone usually gets picked last, pick that student to eliminate hurt feelings).
The first student will go to the center of a circle, call out a classmates name, and mime reeling them in on a fishing rod. The student who was chosen will mime swimming to the center of the circle like a fish. In our class we put our hands together (almost like a prayer position) and wiggle them from side to side.
When both students are in the center of the circle, they greet each other. The student who went "fishing" will take the place of the student who was the fish and sit down. The greeting is over when everyone is sitting. The last person standing should greet the first person who started the greeting to make sure everyone is greeted twice.
Comment below and let me know which greetings you try. I hope these keep things fresh in your classroom!
By the way, if you're looking for a fun and challenging Valentine's Day math activity, you may want to check out my Great Chocolate Disaster logic problem. It's differentiated, and you can just print it and go! Click here or on the picture below to snag it.
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