Morning Meeting Templates for Teachers

Get ready for morning meeting in the classroom with ready-made templates created by teachers for teachers just like you! This collection of morning meeting activities and ideas has editable Google slides with questions, messages and more to start your students' day off right.

Thinking of adding morning meeting to your classroom? Read on for a primer from our teaching team!

What Is Morning Meeting?

Morning meeting is a regular gathering of students and teachers that typically takes place at the beginning of the school day— hence the word "morning" in the name!

This structured time involves students greeting one another, and it can include anything from sharing feelings and news to group discussions and collaborative decision-making. It's a means for students to learn to respect each other, build relationships and develop a sense of belonging within the classroom community.

Drawing inspiration from various educational philosophies and practices — including Responsive Classroom and the work of educational theorists like Rudolf Dreikurs and Alfred Adler — morning meetings have gained popularity in many elementary schools in the past few decades thanks to their positive impact on classroom climate and student well-being.

Why Is Morning Meeting Important?

The pedagogy behind morning meetings is rooted in social-emotional learning (SEL) and positive discipline approaches.

The goal is to create a safe and inclusive space where students can develop those important social and emotional skills, such as empathy, active listening, communication and problem-solving.

There's educational research to back up the value too. A 2003 study from the University of Virginia, for example, found a boost in positive teacher-student relationships from morning meetings, leading to improved classroom climate and student engagement. In a 2017 look at SEL intervention as a whole, Penn State researchers linked morning meetings (and other SEL activities) to both improved behavior and academic success.

How to Run a Morning Meeting in the Classroom (And How Long Should It Last?)

OK, so they're important. But how do you actually run a morning meeting that is fun and engaging but also serves its purpose? And how long should your morning meeting be?

Morning meetings typically run for 10 to 15 minutes and serve as a start to the day before your first lesson begins.

Exactly how to run your meeting will vary based on the grade level of your students, but here are some ideas from our teacher team that make for a fun morning meeting. We have included options for a variety of grade levels including pre-K and kindergarten, 1st and 2nd, and so on all the way up to middle school!

• Share a "joke of the day."
• Talk about a challenge that you're dealing with, and have students share their input on how they have handled it. Alternatively, you can present ethical dilemmas, challenging students to come up with the best way to respond in that type of situation.
• come up with captions. This is fun to do on Mondays for "Meme Monday."
• Share a fun fact (explore Teach Starter's fact round-ups for ideas!) on "Fact Friday."
• Sing a good morning/affirmation song.
• Celebrate Throwback Thursday by going around the room and allowing students to share a favorite memory.
• Celebrate Thankful Thursday by asking students to share something they are thankful for.
• Quiz students after morning announcements (to see who is paying attention), and award your winners for being attentive.
• Pose a question to spark discussion (explore Teach Starter's question prompts ready-made to save you time!).
• Post a meme on your interactive whiteboard, and have your students create a caption.
• Share a morning message (to add an instructional element, you can add a few mistakes to the message that students have to correct such as misspellings or missing capital letters or punctuation!).
• Round out your week with "Finished Friday" by exploring all that your class has accomplished during the week!
• Play a video regarding a grade-level appropriate current event, and lead a group discussion.
• Choose a particular student each day, and have their classmates compliment them. Note down each compliment, making a chart building up that particular student!