Morning Message

Many moons ago, I posted about how I did my morning message each day.  You can read that post here.  My messages have evolved (like everything else in my classroom!!) over the years.  Today, I am going to show you how I conduct the message this year.

Sample message with skill review at the bottom

Students engaged with slates during the whole message

Sample messages with skill review at the bottoms

The kids have specials right away, and after they get back, they know to get their slates, rags, and markers and come to the rug for the message.

I never have my message written ahead of time; instead, I write it as we go, and really model good handwriting, spacing, and phonetic spelling.  I leave blanks for sight words, word family words, and phonics chunk words for students to spell on their slates.  TIP: I draw the number of lines to represent the number of letters in the word I want them to spell to help students (esp. my struggling readers and writers).  I will also always cue, "It's on the word wall, under the w and on a red card" to help them find the word if it's a tricky one we don't use often.

I sometimes make my message shared, and draw sticks to have students come up and fill in the blanks for me after everyone's had a chance to do it on their slates.  This isn't always the easiest with 25 kids...it gets crammed on our rug!

I typically write 3-5 sentences and then use the space at the bottom to review a skill we've covered previously or are currently working on.  Sometimes it is a reading skill and sometimes it is a math skill.

After we've finished, we will echo read and then choral read.  Finally, I will have my helper of the day come up and select a pointer and read a sentence for us to echo.  Then they choose another student, and so on...

Lots of good aspects of teaching have come and gone over the years, but this is one thing that I believe is worth gold.  Morning message is a great chance to review (and even introduce) many, many skills!

xo
Megan

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?