After children arrive and settle in we begin each day in kindergarten with Morning Meeting.  Children meet on the rug and we start our time by sitting quietly for about a minute to help get our bodies and minds ready for learning.  Children are encouraged to pay attention to their breathing or their heart beating or to just listen and see what they might hear as we sit quietly.  We have talked about how this small moment of quiet makes us feel, with words like calm, peaceful, and happy the most frequent descriptors.  I have also shared that while that is generally how I feel, sometimes I might feel a little restless or wiggly during this moment, and I have to work a little harder to just sit quietly.

We then begin our meeting with a greeting.  We have learned several greetings so far and will continue to add more, but the one we have used most frequently is passing an object and greeting the people on either side of us as we do so.  We have practiced looking at the person we are greeting and using a friendly tone as we say good morning.  Another favorite greeting is the ball greeting.  For this we say good morning to someone across from us and then roll a ball to them.  After everyone has been greeted we try to repeat the sequence silently.

Next is an opportunity for sharing.  I have told children that with a small group there is no need to have assigned sharing days, but they may only share once a week.  I strongly encourage shares that aren't toys, for example books, objects of special significance, or telling shares.  However, I have had really interesting conversations with past classes about what constitutes a toy (legos are toys, but may involve some really creative building), and sometimes toys make for really interesting shares.  With that in mind, children may share anything that is a reasonable size, but once it is shared it will need to remain in their backpacks for the day.  While children are sharing we practice really listening.  Ask your child about the image we use to help us pay attention and listen. (I included it below in case they forget!)  Children who share can call on classmates to ask questions or make comments about the share.  We have worked on making our comments specific, for example instead of just saying "I like your bracelet" saying "I like your bracelet because it is purple and shiny."

After sharing we often have an activity that involves a little bit of movement.  Sometimes this is going for a walk down the hall to drop off rocks, other times it might be a sorting activity that involves moving on the circle, or playing a game.

We finish our morning meeting by reading the message together.  The message follows a predictable pattern and is a great tool for working on early literacy skills.  Right now students have been circling specific letters in the message as well as the words is and the.  As the year goes on we will continue to use the message reinforce specific skills we are working on.