Every morning, each classroom starts off the day with morning meeting. Made up of four sequential components – greeting, sharing, group activity and morning message. The primary purpose of morning meeting is to build pilina, or relationships amongst the students and teachers. Moreover, it allows for intentional opportunities for children to practice the skills of greeting, listening, responding, group problem solving, noticing and anticipating. It sets the tone for day preparing the students to be ready to learn!
Mrs. Nihipali’s kindergarten class started off the morning with the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a the song, “You’re a Grand Old Flag”. The class then gathered in a large circle. Mrs. Nihipali instructed her little ones to think of one favorite thing they like to do. One by one they each shared the favorite thing to do and if others like the same thing, they would step into the circle and say, “me too!”. I had a chance to play along with the keiki. I have to say, they listened to her instructions ONCE and proceeded to “share” their favorite thing to do. By the end of the sharing activity, I had a better idea of what each of the keiki enjoyed doing!
Take a moment to ask your child what they do in morning meeting – I am sure they will have many exciting things to say! Wishing I was back in kindergarten!
