Handling the Holidays: Morning Meeting Group Activity

Here are some tips for using Morning Meeting group activity to set a positive tone during the build-up to winter holidays and vacation.

Consider Levels of Movement and Activity

How does your class respond (especially right now) to activities that get them moving, singing, and playing? You might need to scale back on an activity if the class gets too wound up. Think ahead of time about how you might do this with the activities you’ve got planned.

Set Kids up for Success

“I noticed that our energy level has been a bit high lately. How can we play a fun and active game and get ourselves back in control and calm afterwards?” A quick discussion like this before the activity can help it run much more smoothly.

Consider Doing More Calm Activities

Try these:

• Silent line-ups—by birthday order, alphabetically according to the third letter of your last name, etc.
• I Have, Who Has—great for reviewing academic content (If you’ve taken the Responsive Classroom Advanced Course, directions for this one are in the  resource book.)
• A Variation on 20 Questions—also great for review of academic content (The Responsive Classroom Course Resource Book has directions for this variation on the classic game.)
• Sparkle (Watch a 3rd grade class doing “Sparkle” with spelling words. Get directions from the Morning Meetings Activities DVD page on our website.)
• Guess My Number
• Telegraph (If you’ve taken the Responsive Classroom course, directions for this one are in the resource book.)

In this series, we share ideas for using Morning Meeting to set a positive tone for the day during the build-up to winter holidays and school vacation. Read tips for the other components of Morning Meeting: greeting, sharing, and message.