Morning Message For Kindergarten and Elementary
Elementary Introduction
Many primary grade teachers use a "morning message" in their classrooms. The morning message goes by many different names such as "daily news", "morning writing", etc. but the main objective of the message is essentially the same - to provide children with a daily, predictable, shared writing experience. It is a writing activity that is done on a daily basis and provides students with guided writing instruction in a shared experience.
What does a morning message look like?
A morning message can be used to teach a variety of different skills and can come in many different formats. It can be written as a friendly letter, a graphic organiser, a graph or response chart, etc. Some teachers write out the entire message before students arrive to class, some teachers write out a partial message leaving blanks for students to fill in, and other teachers write out the entire message with students. There is no right or wrong way to do a morning message - it simply depends on the skills and standards you want your students to be exposed to and master.
How do I begin to use a morning message in my classroom?
Before deciding to use a morning message in your classroom, you need to make some organisational decisions.
Two Colour Writing
Two Colour Writing is a writing "game" activity where the students compete against the teacher or each other to write a morning message or other shared writing piece. I use this writing game for my morning message and I have found that my students' writing skills improve tremendously by the repetition and modelling used in this activity.
Each month, we work on a different kind of writing format. In January we work on writing a sentence and by May we are working on writing 5 sentence paragraphs with a introduction, three details, and a conclusion sentence. In May, most of my kindergarteners are able to complete a 5 sentence paragraph outline independently. Here are the skills that we focus on each month:
At the bottom of your writing space (on your whiteboard, chart paper, or whatever you will be using) draw lines to keep "score" with the colour name next to the line. Your writing space should look something like this:
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
_____ blue
_____ red
Choose a student to be the "reporter" today. The reporter's job is to come up with an idea for the morning message. If you are writing a sentence, he/she will come up with an idea for a sentence and if you are writing a letter, he/she will need to choose a person that the letter will be addressed to and decide what he/she wants to tell that person in the letter.
After choosing a reporter, you will begin writing the message that he/she gives. Ask the children what letters/sounds they think should be written for each word. If the children guess the correct letter then you will write that letter in the colour that your students chose. If they guess wrong, then the teacher gets the point and you will write the letter in your colour. The goal of using two colours is to show how many letters the children were able to guess correctly and to show where the children needed help from the teacher. At the end of the message count how many letters were written in each colour and record the numbers on the bottom. Compare the numbers with your children and decide who "won". Even at the very beginning, the students usually "beat" me which really strengthens their confidence.
I tell my students that if they ever get ALL of the points (meaning they guessed every letter correctly) then they get a special treat that they can vote for (like popsicles, dance party, etc.). After the children "beat" me, I let them compete against each other - boys against girls - which they LOVE.
Here are examples of what our morning messages look like when we're finished and an example of what the lesson "sounds" like when we are doing the activity.
Many primary grade teachers use a "morning message" in their classrooms. The morning message goes by many different names such as "daily news", "morning writing", etc. but the main objective of the message is essentially the same - to provide children with a daily, predictable, shared writing experience. It is a writing activity that is done on a daily basis and provides students with guided writing instruction in a shared experience.
What does a morning message look like?
A morning message can be used to teach a variety of different skills and can come in many different formats. It can be written as a friendly letter, a graphic organiser, a graph or response chart, etc. Some teachers write out the entire message before students arrive to class, some teachers write out a partial message leaving blanks for students to fill in, and other teachers write out the entire message with students. There is no right or wrong way to do a morning message - it simply depends on the skills and standards you want your students to be exposed to and master.
How do I begin to use a morning message in my classroom?
Before deciding to use a morning message in your classroom, you need to make some organisational decisions.
- What kind of format do you want to use? (letter, newspaper article, graphic organiser, etc.)
- How much time do you want to spend on the morning message each day?
- How do you want the students to participate? (use a leader, work as a group, etc.)
- What skills/content do you want to teach?
- What purpose(s) will your message serve? (community builder, literacy support, math support, science/social studies support, new concepts, review, etc.)
Two Colour Writing
Two Colour Writing is a writing "game" activity where the students compete against the teacher or each other to write a morning message or other shared writing piece. I use this writing game for my morning message and I have found that my students' writing skills improve tremendously by the repetition and modelling used in this activity.
Each month, we work on a different kind of writing format. In January we work on writing a sentence and by May we are working on writing 5 sentence paragraphs with a introduction, three details, and a conclusion sentence. In May, most of my kindergarteners are able to complete a 5 sentence paragraph outline independently. Here are the skills that we focus on each month:
- January focus - sentence
- February focus - friendly letter
- March focus - written dialogue
- April focus - simple paragraph
- May focus - simple paragraph
At the bottom of your writing space (on your whiteboard, chart paper, or whatever you will be using) draw lines to keep "score" with the colour name next to the line. Your writing space should look something like this:
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
________________________________
_____ blue
_____ red
Choose a student to be the "reporter" today. The reporter's job is to come up with an idea for the morning message. If you are writing a sentence, he/she will come up with an idea for a sentence and if you are writing a letter, he/she will need to choose a person that the letter will be addressed to and decide what he/she wants to tell that person in the letter.
After choosing a reporter, you will begin writing the message that he/she gives. Ask the children what letters/sounds they think should be written for each word. If the children guess the correct letter then you will write that letter in the colour that your students chose. If they guess wrong, then the teacher gets the point and you will write the letter in your colour. The goal of using two colours is to show how many letters the children were able to guess correctly and to show where the children needed help from the teacher. At the end of the message count how many letters were written in each colour and record the numbers on the bottom. Compare the numbers with your children and decide who "won". Even at the very beginning, the students usually "beat" me which really strengthens their confidence.
I tell my students that if they ever get ALL of the points (meaning they guessed every letter correctly) then they get a special treat that they can vote for (like popsicles, dance party, etc.). After the children "beat" me, I let them compete against each other - boys against girls - which they LOVE.
Here are examples of what our morning messages look like when we're finished and an example of what the lesson "sounds" like when we are doing the activity.
Example of Teacher/Student Dialogue
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Example of Teacher/Student Dialogue
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Example of Teacher/Student Dialogue
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Printable Templates
These templates are what I use for Two Colour Writing Morning Message. I copied these templates onto overhead sheets and reuse them everyday. I included 4 different templates for paragraph writing. Each template has different graphics and some give the option of having a student include an illustration at the bottom of the page.
These templates are what I use for Two Colour Writing Morning Message. I copied these templates onto overhead sheets and reuse them everyday. I included 4 different templates for paragraph writing. Each template has different graphics and some give the option of having a student include an illustration at the bottom of the page.
mmessage_sentence.pdf | |
File Size: | 72 kb |
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mmessage_paragraphpic.pdf | |
File Size: | 49 kb |
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mmessage_paragraphnopic.pdf | |
File Size: | 49 kb |
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mmessage_paragraph3.pdf | |
File Size: | 53 kb |
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mmessage_paragraph2.pdf | |
File Size: | 71 kb |
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mmessage_letter.pdf | |
File Size: | 60 kb |
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mmessage_dialogue.pdf | |
File Size: | 36 kb |
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What is a Morning Message? For Kindergarten
The Morning Message is an interactive method that introduces students to the writing process. There is much controversy about how the Morning Message should actually be done. My best advice is to look at your program; some teachers advocate the pre-written types of Morning Messages such as: “Dear Class: Today is Monday, May 26th, 2003″ while others prefer a more interactive, hands-on type of message written with the children. Teachers in full-day program may find that they have enough time to do both a pre-written Morning Message and a whole group shared writing message at another time during the day.
Why use a Morning Message?
When students actually see and hear an adult write they will begin to understand the connections between the written word and oral language more clearly. They are observing concepts about print first hand. When you write a Morning Message with your students you are helping them to become successful, independent writers by modeling the writing process for them. Even students who do not know how to read, write, or speak English will benefit immensely from the Morning Message. Some of the basic concepts you can cover in a Morning Message are:
- Left to right progression of text
- Return sweep
- Print carries a message
- Punctuation, like period and question mark
- One to one correspondence
- Spaces between words
When do you use the Morning Message?
To achieve the greatest success with the Morning Message it should be done on a daily basis.
What does your Morning Message look like in the beginning?
We have an easel in our circle area where our chart pad sits. The paper is unlined as it is not appropriate at this age level . On a shelf nearby the easel I have all the “tools” I may need; markers, pointers, pom-pom’s, Wikki Stix, microphones, magnifying glasses, and correction tape. The leader of the day comes to the front of the class and sits in my director’s chair with a microphone. The first sentence of our Morning Message is always the same; “_______ is the leader today.” This helps to make the message meaningful to the students because they can all identify their friends name in the message. As I write the first sentence I spell aloud and use my fingers to make spaces between the words. When I come to the end of the sentence I place a period and say it’s name aloud. After a few days of the Morning Message in the beginning of the year everybody can “read” the first line successfully.
The second line of the message is an original sentence from the leader. In the beginning of the year we usually start with “I like” statements. For example;
Leyla is the leader today.
Leyla said, “I like to eat pizza”.
Because pizza is a popular food among the Pre-K crowd, the word will have more meaning to them and they will therefore be excited about being able to identify it. When we are finished with the message we read it together as a class while I use a pointer, then the leader comes to the easel and “reads” the message using a pointer of his or her choice. After the message has been read we then move on to the various Morning Message games (scroll down for games).
In 2005 every classroom in our district received technology carts. I now do my morning message using my document camera and projector; the words are projected on the big screen larger than life and it is an even greater learning experience now than it was before. Everybody can see the big screen clearly with no obstructions and I no longer lose the attention of anybody who sits in the back.
Do you share the pen?
For the first few weeks I am just trying to get the routine of the Morning Message going and to move it along as fast as I can since their attention spans are non-existent. Once we have the routine down I start inviting students to share the pen, I also start introducing letter sounds during this time. Here is an example:
“Leyla is the leader today. Hmm, I wonder what letter Leyla starts with? I hear a “lll” sound, what letter makes that sound?”
Even if the students don’t know their letter sounds some may know that Leyla starts with the letter “L”, so they begin making the connection. I ask the children to raise their hand if they think they can help me write the first letter of Leyla’s name. As the student holds the pen I will talk them through the letter formation.
“L is a straight line, start at the sky and go down to the ground, then over towards the door.”
We repeat the pen sharing several more times during the creation of the Morning Message. If they become antsy, then you will know it’s time to move on. If a mistake is made when a student is holding the pen the 2 inch correction tape takes care of it. I call it the “Magic Tape” and the kids love using it. If a child isn’t able to write a letter independently or develops stage fright, then I will help by placing my hand over his or hers.
How do you keep the student’s attention?
This is the question I am asked most often, and the answer is to keep it fun and interactive for the children. I have actually had students who cried if something kept us from writing the Morning Message. Some of the Morning Message tools I use are:
- Wikki Stix: Colourful waxed strings
- Microphones: Pretend plastic microphones work well!
- Magnifying Glasses: Students use the magnifying glasses to help them find the mystery letter.
- Large Correction Tape: 1 inch wide, see resource section below
- Pointers: see resources section below
- Pom-Pom’s: I bought a dozen sets of colourful Pom-Pom’s from Oriental Trading.
- Glasses: I found a bag of Harry Potter glasses at the local Goodwill store for a dollar. We refer to these as “magic glasses” and the students can wear them when they search for specific letters.
- Magic Wand: The type that make noise are a HUGE hit with the kids We use the magic wand to “read” the morning message when we’re finished writing.
Here are some simple ideas for spicing up your Morning Message time:
- Mystery Letter or Word: I cut the Wikki Stix in half and bend them into circles. After we have finished writing the Morning Message I will select one letter for the students to search for in the Morning Message (aka Mystery Letter). The Leader of the day will use the microphone to select a student to come up and search for the letter using the magnifying glass. When a letter is found, the student places the Wikki Stix circle around the letter. The number of helpers is determined by the number of mystery letters in the message. If it is the middle or end of the year and students are beginning to read or are just tired of the same old thing you can have them start searching for sight words.
- Rainbow Writing: We rainbow write the first letter of the leader’s name daily. If you do not have an ELMO, using a large piece of paper so the whole class can see is best. I write the leader’s first letter on the paper using a black marker, I talk through the writing so they can see and hear the correct letter formation. Then, the leader comes to the front and chooses a marker to trace over the first letter using correct letter formation. Next, the leader picks somebody and they come up and choose a different colour and so forth until the letter has several different colours on it and looks sufficiently “rainbow like”. If you are using large chart paper these look great hanging on the wall around the classroom. If you use the ELMO I like to 3 hole punch them and put them in a binder for the children to read in the class library.
- Star Reader: We “read” the Morning Message together as a class after it is complete using one of our cool pointers. The Leader of the day then “reads” the Morning Message using a pointer of his or her choice. We will then say “Hooray, hooray, hooray for Star Reading!” using our Pom-Pom’s, leader’s choice of colour. Depending on time, we may choose other star readers.
- Who Has This Letter?: Using the Mystery Letter, let’s say it’s “L” again for example; I will sing this song to the tune of If You’re Happy and You Know It:
“If you have an L in your name please stand up.
If you have an L in your name please stand up.
If you have an L in your name,
An L in your name,
An L in your name please stand up.”
Morning Message Ideas from Other Teachers
Can You Read the Code Word?
One thing on my Morning Message the kids really love is "Can you read my code word?" I put blanks for a word and under each blank I write the number that corresponds to its alphabet order (a=1, b=2, etc.). The children look up at the alphabet on the wall where I also have all the numbers below the letters. The reporters call out the letters for each blank and then they try to read the word. I've used words with the theme we're studying and words for a certain skill they're working on (i.e. something with a silent e). This is in addition to the date and what specials class we have, plus anything coming up that I can put in the (short) message.
Morning Message Raffle
One of my friends raffles off the big chart paper she wrote the morning message onto - her kids love to win it and take it home to show off.
Making the Message Interactive with Jobs
Give all the students a task during morning message which makes it so much fun for them. For example, there are "Cheerleaders" who hold pompons and spell out the high frequency words needed to fill in the message. There are "Reporters" who have mini-magna doodles and plastic visors who write/copy down anything they deem important. There are "Jackpot children", who hold some sort of noisemaker (maracas, etc.) and look for double letters, shouting out "jackpot" when they see one. There are the "Spacepeople" and the "Writers" and others.
Format Ideas
My morning message consists of a large laminated sheet of lined chart paper. Before I laminated it I wrote the following: Today is (day of the week), (month), (year). Today is the (#) day we have been in school. We have (special class) today. The weather today is: ____. Nonsense word:____. Math Problem ____.
Every day I fill in the information with my classes with a dry erase marker and then wipe them off at the end of the day. When I am spelling words, I ask the children for help by saying a letter and they have to give me the sound OR, I say the sound and they have to give me the letter.
"Our Daily News" Book
Staple some large manilla paper together and we title the book "Our Class News" by ------- Class. Each day we pick a different "reporter" to come up and report something we have done that day. The person who is the reporter gets to take the book to their table and illustrate the picture.
When we finish a book, I put it in the book corner for the kids to read. We do it at the end of the day and it's a good review to settle us before bus call.