Morning Message

Each day, my students and I read through a morning message.  Most of the time, these are pre-written.  However, sometimes we will write them together.  Things that I focus on in the message are:

-Punctuation
-Phonics dance chunks in context
-Word family of the week in context
-Capital letters
-Spacing
-Correct letter size/formation
-Sight words

This is a shared writing activity, where students come up and "share the marker" with me to help spell words, hunt for specific words, etc...It only takes about 8-10 minutes.  They enjoy doing it.  Sometimes, for a change, I will type the message in a document and project it onto the front board.  They like coming up to use a dry erase marker...No smart boards at my school yet!  I keep my messages simple; some messages are only 2-3 sentences and others are longer.

I leave the old messages in the spiral tablet, and the kids are obsessed with coming up and reading them.  I also type them up and put them in a binder for them to read at their seats or in their laps.

Here are some fun tools I use to keep the message engaging:

-Wikki Sticks (make into rings or ovals and have students "circle" specific words/letters)
-Highlighter tape
-Yellow markers
-Fun pointers/flyswatters
-White-out tape...for mistakes!

             

What ideas do you have for your morning messages?