Start the day off on the right foot with this morning meeting setup for 4th grade that students will love.
The concept of a morning meeting is not new. Morning meetings have been around for several years and are a strategy many teachers use to help set their students up for success throughout the day.
Today, we’ll explore some suggestions for creating a morning meeting setup for the fourth grade that your students will absolutely love and that is appropriate for their grade level.
Fourth grade students tend to be full of ideas. They are really starting to come into their own, deciding what they like, what they don’t like, what they want to share, and what they’re not as excited to share.
When working with fourth grade students, it’s important to have times throughout the day when they can share their thoughts about things happening in their lives, at school, or just in their heads.
Fourth grade students are brilliant, creative, active, and have a variety of interests that make them a super fun class to teach.
As we go through this morning meeting setup for 4th grade, we need keep in mind exactly who the students are and what they enjoy doing. This setup is specific to 4th grade and was created with them in mind.
A Morning Meeting Setup for 4th Grade
Fourth grade students are very social. They are entering a time when they are increasingly excited to spend time with each other, learn from one another, and figure out where they fit in the ecosystem of their school.
With this in mind, we have created a morning meeting setup for the fourth grade that is social. It gives students a chance to share about themselves with both the teacher and their peers.
Holiday of the Day Writing Prompt – Bell Ringer
A great way to start the day is with an activity that begins as an individual task and then evolves into a group or class activity.
Choose a prompt that varies each day to keep this activity engaging throughout the school year.
Personally, I love these Holiday of the Day writing prompts. They are different every day, with each holiday discussed being specific to the day it’s written about. The holidays presented in this resource are not just the typical ones; they also include lesser-known holidays such as National Ice Cream Day or National S’mores Day.
Holiday of the Day Daily Writing Prompts
These writing prompts allow students to write about the topic and then discuss what they’ve learned and their thoughts on the prompt.
Considering that 4th grade students are highly social, we suggest approaching the Holiday of the Day writing prompts as a two-part bell ringer. When students first enter the classroom, they will pick up the Holiday of the Day writing prompt or read it off the board, and then respond to it. After all students have completed the prompt, put them into small groups and ask a few follow-up questions based on the day’s prompt. Give students a chance to discuss these questions and share their personal experiences related to the topic.
To help students get to know each other, keep them in the same groups for at least a couple of weeks at a time. This allows them to become familiar with a smaller group of peers before rotating into different groups.
For more information on using the Holiday of the Day writing prompts in your classroom, click on the images below to read some of our other blog posts on these resources.
What Do You Want Me to Know?
The next part of the morning meeting setup for 4th grade is all about giving students a chance to share with you. Students may complete this task right after finishing their writing prompt if they are ahead of schedule, or they can complete it after their group has finished discussing their questions for the day.
During the “What Do You Want Me to Know?” segment, students will use a tool like Flip or another response-based tool to tell the teacher about something they are excited about right now. This allows students who are enthusiastic about various aspects of their lives to share with you in a way that ensures you’ll hear them.
Some students might share about a recent Minecraft build, the results of a weekend baseball tournament, or something concerning them at home. This part of the morning meeting is intended to be confidential, and students should be encouraged to move to a quiet space or the hallway to share their information with you via a video tool.
The most important part of this segment is giving students your undivided attention. For this to be effective, you’ll need to take time to respond to whatever students share at some point during the day so they know you have listened and understood their thoughts and concerns.
Calendar Management
The next part of the morning meeting will include calendar management. This involves going through your weekly or monthly calendar as a group, noting upcoming events or activities, and discussing anything students need to feel comfortable with the scheduled events.
While working through the calendar, you may ask students to take notes or add reminders to their take-home folders to ensure they don’t forget important dates.
Remember, calendar management is both a school skill and a life skill. It’s essential for students to improve their organizational skills for both their academic and daily lives. Consider ways to help students become more organized, such as adding notes to a physical planner, updating a Google Calendar, or trying other basic calendar management strategies.
Data Tracking – Something Local/Relevant
Next, engage in data tracking. The data tracking done during your morning meeting should be something students care about. This could include stats from weekend sports games, weather-related data for your area, sales and music data for their favorite artists, or any other data relevant to their interests.
This daily data tracking helps tie in topics students are interested in, provides data that can be used in math lessons throughout the week, and gives you insight into what your students find important.
Goal Setting
Finally, finish up the morning meeting with some daily goal setting. This will be simple: ask students to focus on one thing they can do that day to improve their educational experience or that of someone else.
Encourage students to set various types of goals each day. For example, Monday might focus on math, Tuesday on showing gratitude, Wednesday on planning for the future, Thursday on sharing talents, and Friday on preparing for the weekend. By approaching goal setting through different lenses, students can see how resolutions and goals benefit their lives and those around them.
In this blog post, we’ve discussed five different elements to add to your morning meeting setup for fourth grade students that they are sure to enjoy. We’ve included must-dos like calendar management and a variety of engaging activities like holiday-themed prompts and sharing personal interests.
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