Rethinking Morning Meeting in Kindergarten

Discovering a New Approach to Morning Meeting

In a course I took with author Julianne Wurm, author of Working in the Reggio Way, she described how the morning meeting in Reggio Emilia, Italy, where she once worked, is more student centered and different than what we have come to know as the morning meeting in the United States.

She shared that Reggio teachers usually begin each day with a less formal morning meeting, where they gather together with children to discuss current projects and inquiries, solve problems, and develop new ideas.  There was something so authentic about this type of morning meeting and I was curious to try it out in my own kindergarten classroom.

Making a New Student-Centered Morning Meeting Plan

That evening, I jotted down some ideas of what I might talk about with children at the next day’s meeting.  Here’s what I wrote:

• seeds have started to sprout
• headphones are getting tangled
• Syracuse basketball has made it to the final four

When I got to school the next day, there were flyers in my mailbox about renaming the district newsletter, so I added that to the list.

On my way down to the classroom, our school social worker mentioned the possibility of a “buddy bench,” a playground project for our character ed committee, so I added that too.

Before the kids had even arrived, I was starting to see the many possibilities for using the morning meeting in kindergarten in this way.

Giving it a Try

So the first meeting went a little something like this.

Wondering About Seeds
I brought the sprouted seeds down to the carpet and asked the kids what we should do now.  They said we should water them and we discussed how often that should happen and who might do it. We also talked about how we would know when they needed watering. Their ideas led to a demonstration of the “soil test.”

Then, one child noticed they were tilted in one direction and another child said it was because they wanted to face the sun. We discussed their “hypothesis” and decided to try an experiment where we would put them back on the counter facing the other direction.  I was witnessing deeper learning opportunities than I had ever seen with traditional plant lessons and it wasn’t even, “science time.”

The Tangled Headphone Problem
Our discussion about headphones led to a suggestion that we make a sign to remind others to put the headphones back in the bags so they wouldn’t get tangled.

I used this opportunity to talk about persuasive writing and how the words they chose for their poster would need to persuade others to change their behavior and put things back where they belong.

Pep Rally Project
There was a lot of enthusiasm for our local basketball team making the final four and the children were anxious to talk about it. Out of this conversation, came the idea to wear team colors and hold our own pep rally similar to the big one happening at the University.  The children made posters (and we worked on our backward S’s), compared basketball scores, and discussed what it meant to work as a team.

Making the Shift to a Student-Centered Morning Meeting

From that day on, I continued to hold a morning meeting that was used to solve behavioral issues, attend to “housekeeping tasks,” connect us to the school and larger community, and follow up on projects that were happening in our classroom.

A natural outgrowth of these more student-centered meetings, which may seem like a bonus, but is actually the point, is that my students came to know that their ideas and suggestions were valued and that they had a voice in our classroom community.

As time went on, I began to see a need for the children to have the opportunity to bring up ideas at our meeting.  I posted a sheet of paper on our art easel and directed kids toward it when they came to me with problems.

They wanted to talk about things like bus spots, Ipads not being put back, and the toilet not being flushed.

Reflecting on the Experience

When I told Julianne about my experience with the meeting, she said, “I think this is the heart of a Reggio program.” I would agree.  I see my relationship with the children changing and learning experiences developing in a more natural and organic way.

And yet it is so simple!

So, if you think you might like to lean into the idea of a more student centered morning meeting, try this. Grab a paper and pencil, and start capturing those things that are happening in your classroom and community that either need to be talked about or might spark and idea for a new project or inquiry. And let me know how it goes – I’d love to hear about it!

To find out more about our mornings in kindergarten, check out Routines and Rituals to Welcome the Day.

And check out the Student-Centered Classroom Toolkit, for more ideas on giving children a voice in your classroom.

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