In my upper elementary classroom, we start each day with a Morning Meeting greeting. We sit or stand in our circle and greet each other by name. Some of our greetings are silly and fun, and others are simple. But we start our morning meeting by greeting each other every day without fail. If I somehow try to skip it, I will undoubtedly have at least three students notice and say, “Miss Allie, what about our greeting?” I love that they keep me on track! Haha!
You may be thinking – why should I include greetings into my Morning Meeting plans? We all already know each other, and we have a time limit for our meetings. Do I really need to make time for the Morning Meeting greeting?! My short answer: yes. My long answer: keep reading!
Do I Really Need Morning Meeting Greetings in Upper Elementary?
Your Morning Meeting greeting prepares students for the real world by encouraging them to greet other people respectfully with eye contact, a firm handshake, and speaking clearly to each other. We’ve all had those not-so-great encounters with the handshakes that feel like floppy fish or the awkward meetings with others who don’t properly acknowledge your existence. I’m not saying that we teach our students to turn their noses up when others don’t greet us properly – I’m saying that we need to teach them how to use their manners and be confident and warm in greeting people with whom they come in contact.
Morning Meeting greetings also acknowledge each student and build classroom community. And they set the tone for the Morning Meeting and the day. Especially in upper elementary, I like to switch up our easy morning meeting greetings from day-to-day. For example, our week may look like this:
- Monday: Toss the ball from one student to another in the circle, greeting them as you toss, and then sitting down to mark that you’ve been greeted.
- Tuesday: Greet each student as a class with the Action Alliteration greeting (see below!)
- Wednesday: Students pass a Global Greeting around the circle (meaning greeting each other in a different language)
- Thursday: Students mill around the classroom and greet as many classmates as they can in a time limit with the Unicorn greeting.
- Friday: We greet each student as a class with The Weekend Is Near greeting – “(Name, Name) the weekend is near! What will you do when it is here?” and the student responds, “I’m going to (repeat the same verb three times).”
But finding the sweet spot between engaging and silly when it comes to your morning meeting greetings can be a struggle (upper elementary especially). So I’m going to share some of my favorite morning greeting ideas with you that you can use in your classroom to keep them fresh and fun!
Morning Meeting Greeting Ideas
Above, I referenced some of the different kinds of fun greetings for morning meeting. Let’s unpack those first before I share my favorite creative morning meeting greetings with you!
Student-to-Student Morning Meeting Greeting
The first kind of morning meeting greeting is a student-to-student greeting. This means that one student is greeting another student. There are several variations of this. You can have students greet each other around the circle or use different methods to greet their classmates. Students can also mingle and greet each other without the rest of the class watching their greeting.
Class-to-Student Morning Meeting Greeting
The second kind of morning meeting greeting is a class-to-student greeting. This means that the whole class greets each student in a chant, cheer, song, or activity of some sort. They work on different skills than the student-to-student greetings. Here, all students are engaged the whole time, and the student who is responding to the greeting must speak loudly and clearly so the entire class can hear him/her.
I like to keep my students on their toes and mix it up when it comes to our greetings. At the beginning of the year, we may repeat different greetings throughout the weeks, so the kids become more confident. Still, I love it when we can change it up every day using my library of upper elementary Morning Meeting greetings!
Morning Meeting Greeting Expectations
Something else that’s important to note here is expectations. Your students will perform at the level of expectations you set. The first week of school (and any other time we start to lose our form), we practice respecting and confidently greeting our peers. We also have a serious conversation about not belittling, poking fun, or being disrespectful during our greetings. We set our students up for success when we set clear boundaries and don’t tear them down.
Morning Meeting Greetings 5th Grade, 4th Grade, and 3rd Grade Students Love
Are you ready for a list of morning meeting greeting ideas that upper elementary students love? I’m going to share our favorites with you because I know how hard it is to continually develop new ideas to get your students excited.
Student-to-Student Greetings
Dice Roll: This morning meeting greeting is simple yet still incorporates excitement and surprise, as students take turns rolling a dice (we love these foam ones!) and counting around the circle to the number they rolled. They stand up and greet the student who they end their counting, and then they switch places as Student 2 rolls the dice and keeps the greeting going. I always try to make it easy to see who has or hasn’t greeted yet with legs out/in or standing/sitting.
Various Fist Bumps: I enjoy finding different kinds of fist bumps on the internet and then introducing them to my students and passing them around the circle for easy morning meeting greetings. This YouTube video has a bunch of fun ones to try! I’ll have two students sitting next to each other greet each other, and then the greeting will travel all the way around the circle.
Prickly Pear Greeting: Students touch pinky fingers and say, “Ooh!” like they’re touching a prickly cactus! Then they greet each other with a “Good morning, (Name)!” or something similar. Your class can pass this morning meeting greeting around the circle, or you can have students greet 3-5 friends with this greeting before sitting back in the circle.
Secret Handshake: If I have a few extra minutes for our upper elementary morning meeting greetings that day, I will plan something like this. Students pair up and create a secret handshake of their own, and then perform it to the class! It’s always super fun to see what they come up with, and it builds one-on-one relationships in the classroom too!
Class-to-Student Greetings
Here are some great class-to-student morning meeting greetings for older students. These work great if you need morning meeting greetings social distancing too!
Gold Cheer: This morning meeting greeting has a leader that can be you (the teacher) or a student. The class repeats what the leader says, and you do this with each student’s name around the circle. It goes like this: “Somewhere down the halls I heard” (Class repeats) “(Student’s name) was made of gold” (Repeat). “Am I right or wrong?” Class: “You’re right!” “Am I right or wrong?” Class: “You’re right!” “Now I know what I’ve been told.” (Repeat) “(Name) is made of gold!” (Repeat)
2,4,6,8: For this class meeting greeting, the class will cheer this for each student around the classroom/circle: “2, 4, 6, 8, who do we appreciate?! (Name), (Name), gooooo name!”
Action Alliteration: Students will all think of an action that starts with the first letter of their names (ex: Spinning Sarah or Elevator Erik). Then, you’ll go around the circle, and students will say, “Hi, I’m (action) (name)” and do their action while greeting the class. The class will respond with, “Hi (action) (name)” and mimick the action. This repeats for every student!
Hey Mickey: Choose an adjective/compliment to use for everyone (smart, kind, brave, etc.). Insert it into this chant/song along with each student’s name. It’s to the tune of the song, “Hey Mickey.” “Hey (name), you’re so (adjective)! You’re so (adjective) you blow our minds! Hey (name)! Hey (name)!”
Morning Meeting Greetings – Social Distancing Appropriate
If you need some ideas for morning meeting greetings in winter so you can monitor the spread of germs, I’ve got you covered! Here are some morning meeting greetings without touching that you can do while social distancing. They are still engaging and fun but are safe too!
Morning Meeting Greetings in Other Languages: I call these Global Greetings, and I’ll choose a language that connects to a book we’ve been reading or a lesson. For example, if we were reading “Addison Cooke and the Treasure of the Incas,” we would greet each other in Spanish. Or if we had learned about the Maasai tribe in East Africa, I would teach my students a Swahili greeting. Many YouTube videos help you with pronunciation too, so don’t let that hinder you here! Kids can pass this greeting around the circle without touching!
Happy Vibes: I love this morning meeting greeting because we can all use some happy vibes! Students can pass this around the circle or do it as a class. Students greet each other by stretching their arms towards each other and waving their hands/fingers. They say, “Here are some happy vibes, (name)!”
Windshield Wipers: Students make their arms into what look like windshield wipers and, before they greet each other, they make a noise that windshield wipers make, move one arm up and down, and then greet their classmates.
Compliment Circle: I love this greeting no matter what, and the great thing is that there’s no touching involved! Students sit in a circle with their legs outstretched (or whatever works for you), and you start by complimenting one student, modeling how you want them to do so. That student says thank you to you and pulls their legs in to sit criss-cross. The student to your left now gives a compliment to someone with their legs out. This continues all the way around the circle!
Looking for more Class Meeting Greetings?
Keeping Morning Meeting Greetings Fresh and Fun
7 Fun Ideas for Morning Meeting Greetings
Send this post with over 20 morning meeting greetings to your teacher friends so they can use them too! And, if you want to push the easy button on your morning meetings, I have you covered with these Morning Meeting slides! Just project them on your board. No more planning or hassle; everything is here for you! I also love incorporating Social-Emotional Learning into my Morning Meeting Slides. Find more info and get more fun greetings for morning meeting here!
