A great addition to middle school classrooms is morning meetings. Start each school day with a set morning routine. The basic components of a morning meeting are greeting, sharing, small activities, and morning messages.
Taking the time each morning to meet as a class can really help with a positive classroom community. Here are 22 ideas to add to your morning meeting routine!
1. Set Classroom Expectations
At the beginning of the year, this morning meeting can be an excellent opportunity to set expectations about classroom behavior and procedures. Canva has some really awesome presentations you can use and edit to display in the classroom as you're working on your classroom management routine.
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2. Greetings
This meeting time will be the start of your student's day and the perfect time for greetings. Some teachers opt for fist bumps in the hallway or superlatives in the classroom.
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3. Poll of the Day
Start your sharing time with a poll of the day! Ask the students a question about current events, current classroom situations, or even just their personal preferences. This is a great way to build community.
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4. Sticky Note Questions
Wanting to switch up the basic poll idea? Write your morning meeting questions on a large paper pad and students can stick their responses to the pad with Post-its. This can make the question reusable for other classes and all grade levels love any excuse to use sticky notes!
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5. Interviews
What better way to achieve the component of sharing than through interviews? Set the students up speed dating style, assign them each an interview question, and give them a set amount of time with a partner before rotating to the next one!
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6. I Wish My Teacher Knew
The students don't only have to share with each other; they can share their thoughts with you as well. Asking your students to submit a private note to you gives them the opportunity to share a thought or desire they may be too timid to normally share.
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7. Student Shout Outs
Include student shout-outs in your sharing time. Throughout the week, collect shoutouts and share a couple every day. The students will love the positive reinforcement from their classmates!
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8. Memory Game
Only have time for 5-7 minutes of morning work? Have your students play the memory game! Start with a sentence stem such as "over the weekend I..." and have a student complete and toss a ball to another student. That student has to repeat the first sentence and then make their own. The process continues all around the classroom. Your students will be working on both their social and memory skills.
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9. Art Break
Time for an art break! You can show videos to guide the students through drawings they may want to recreate or you can let them have their own free art time and play a podcast or audiobook while they create.
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10. Writing Time
Another creative break you can give is writing time. There are so many sources for fun writing prompts available! Give the students a prompt and a set amount of time and let their creativity flow.
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11. Bellringers
Bellringers for morning work are a great way to start the class with all of the students on the same task. They don't have to take much time, but they're helpful for both the students and the teacher.
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12. Project-Based Learning
Make your morning routine more valuable by assigning a weekly or monthly project that the students can work on during the morning meeting. Your students will learn to work together and apply their critical thinking skills.
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13. STEM Challenge
Another long-term activity idea is a STEM challenge. You can break a challenge down into multiple days and the students can complete a challenge over a week.
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14. Choice Reading
Let your students start their day with some free reading time. I always allowed my students to read while I was checking homework. This kept the class on task and quiet and sometimes was the only free reading time in their day.
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15. First Chapter Friday
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Want to get your students excited about reading? Use Friday morning meetings as a time to introduce new books to your students. Miss G reads the first chapter of a book to her middle school students every Friday morning and she says it not only helped her students fall in love with reading but it also improved the classroom culture.
Learn More: Write on with Miss G
16. Book Trailer Tuesday
Another engaging morning meeting activity is Book Trailer Tuesday. With book trailers, you can get your students more excited about books and reading while also introducing them to many new options to add to their personal reading list.
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17. Morning Trivia Questions
A fun activity for your middle school meeting is trivia questions! Start each morning with a fun question and keep a running score throughout the week. Winners can get a special reward decided on by the class.
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18. Minute To Win It
Limited on morning meeting time? All you need is a minute or two and you can complete the activity component of the meeting.
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19. Game Time
There's no harm in having some mid-week game time. Start your morning meeting with a quick round of Kahoot or Quizlet live and get your brains working early!
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20. To-Do List
At the start of each week, have your students create a weekly to-do list. Chances are your students won't take the time to think about their week on their own, so you can have a block of time reserved each Monday for them to think about what they need to complete in the upcoming week and set goals for themselves.
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21. Friday Feels
At the end of each week, an effective teacher checks in with their students. We want to know how their emotions are and how they feel about their week and their goals.
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22. Motivational Speeches
A fun component to add to your morning routine is a motivational speech. Your students are probably used to hearing them from you, so show them a video from this list and get them excited and pumped up for their day or week!
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