Inside Scoop on Incredible Morning Meeting Greetings

Morning meeting greetings set the tone for your WHOLE day! That’s a lot of pressure, so what will it be? Hiya? Howdy? Aloha? Bonjour? Good day? Well there is a little more to it than that, let’s dive in together! Psst- there will be FREEBIES at the bottom!

The greeting is the first component of a Morning Meeting. The other parts are sharing, the activity and the message. The graphic below shows how they flow into each other to create a cohesive meeting.

What is a Morning Meeting Greeting?

The purpose of the greeting is to welcome everyone to the classroom. Rather than a general blanket greeting to the whole class, this is passed around the morning meeting circle. Each student is welcomed by name and gets to greet another student as well. Students only speak when it is their turn, and they watch each classmate be greeted and greet someone else. There is a huge array of greetings that can be used to keep this time fun and engaging for the students.

An important principle of Responsive Classroom is that the teacher should be waiting at the door when students arrive as they enter and greet them by name as they walk in. Students should know from practicing during morning meeting to stop and reciprocate the greeting with their teacher’s name. The teacher should also participate in the circle greeting.

Take a moment to think about who greeted you today. Did they use your name, make eye contact, wave, show respectful body language, etc.? How did those details of how they greeted you make you feel? This time of morning meeting is essential to beginning a successful day. It is important for you to make sure that your students each give and get the type of warm greeting that they deserve.

Importance of Morning Meeting Greetings

helps students to learn each others’ names & practice the value of using someone’s name when addressing them
recognizes the importance of each and every classmate
encourage kids to talk to peers that they might not usually
works on social skills– eye contact and turning body towards the person who is speaking or who you are speaking to
using names makes the experience feel more personal and acknowledges individuality of each student

Tips about Morning Meeting Greetings

it is helpful to begin teaching and practicing morning meeting greetings that as passed around the circle to get down a routine before branching into more interactive categories of morning meeting greetings
it is important for kids to not always greet the same person so if you use assigned circle spots make sure to utilize the category of greeting that has them moving around the circle sometimes
if there is a student from another class or another staff member in the room during your greeting, they should be included! (I have had admin come early for observations and we just work them right into our greeting, not stressful at all! lol)

I am happy to share 4 fun FREE animal themed greetings for you to try out with your class! Click the picture above or the button below to access the free download. I hope that your students enjoy starting their morning off with these fun morning greeting ideas!

Click Here for FREE Animal Morning Meeting Greetings