Morning Message helps students connect with the day’s plans and transition into the rest of the day. It builds excitement about the learning that will happen each day, inviting and preparing children for new experiences. Morning Message builds community through choral reading and discussion of shared written information, as it simultaneously reinforces language arts, math, and other academic skills in a meaningful and interactive way.
For Morning Message to be successful:
- Prepare the message
- Using repetitive text and language patterns from day-to-day.
- Using 1-3 sentences
- Using picture cues to support understanding
- Connecting the message and (questions or prompts) to your BIG IDEA and classroom curriculum
- Initially, read the message out loud to the class, pointing to each word as you read.
- Move to choral reading. First read through the message once. Then invite the group to choral reads with you. We do not advise asking one child to read the message or fill in components, as this can become a performance and you risk losing the rest of the group.
- If children enter the classroom on a staggered schedule or have first-thing-in-the-morning jobs, you can add a marking or writing task to the morning message.
Morning Message can do more than give information about the day. A message may have a question or a prompt that solicits a response. If this is the case, the message may become the catalyst for the Learning Activity and should be read beforehand. The Morning Message can also connect to content and integrate many curriculum areas – math, science, social studies, and play.
