Greeting

Greeting every child at the beginning of the day provides children with a sense of community and belonging.  Children learn one another’s names, build connections, and develop caring and welcoming practices.  Greeting others and being greeted by others sets a positive tone for the day.

Start with a simple greeting. Initially, the teacher can model by greeting each child in a simple manner.  This may be a name song or a handshake and saying “good morning.”  Once children have developed comfort with being greeted by the teacher, explicitly teach the children how to “pass” a greeting from one friend to another around the circle.

For a greeting to be successful, teach children to:

  • Orient their bodies to face their peer
  • Make eye contact
  • Say “Good morning, ______,” or any other verbal greeting
  • Use their peer’s name
  • Complete the movement (elbow tap, handshake, high five, etc.)
two children greeting each other with a handshake

Greeting Trajectory: Working Up to a Reciprocal Greeting

Introduce greetings in a scaffolded order:

  1. Teacher greets individual child by name
  • Welcome Song (Second Step) 
  • The More We Get Together Song
  1. Child says own name
  • Name Song
  1. Greet neighbor by passing a greeting
  • Pass a heart shape as you greet person – “I am passing kindness to _____.”
  • Pass a new material (such as a pattern block) as you say, “Hi _____.  We could play with pattern blocks today.”
  1. Reciprocating Greeting with neighbor
  • Shake hands while saying, “Good Morning.”
  • Greet as many people as you can in one minute (end of the year)

Repeat new greetings for 2-4 weeks until children have reached mastery.  Then, add new greetings one at a time, occasionally practicing previously introduced greetings. Once your class has developed a repertoire, children can choose the daily greeting.  Having a visual chart of the greetings they have mastered supports children in selecting a greeting.

Year-Long Trajectory

The Year-Long Trajectory is your scope and sequence for learning experiences across the year.