What is the morning message?
A Morning Message is one form of a shared reading and writing. It is used primarily with pre-school and kindergarten students. The message is written in a predictable pattern and most students will shortly catch on and can begin to help write sight words, such as “are” and “the,” as well as days of the week and familiar topics. Through the Morning Message the teacher can model correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation in an authentic manner.
Students gather on the floor to discuss the day’s schedule and important classroom events, such as a class party or a birthday. The teacher has either prewritten the message or parts of the message, or the class writes the entire message together, which is recommended (Rose, 2002). However, writing the entire message as a class can be time consuming. If time is a factor, consider having the class write only familiar words or repetitive phrases.
Tips for success
(Rose, 2002)
- Keep all of your Morning Messages on chart paper.
- Occasionally reread previous Morning Messages.
- Change the color of the marker with each new month
- Vary the kinds of messages you write.
- Use a pointer to point to each word as you read the Morning Message out loud.
- Model effective closing paragraphs.
- Conduct interactive lessons with the completed charts.
Dear class,
Today is Wednesday. We are going to Art class today. What else will we do today?
Love,
Miss Ingram
Dear class,
It is a good day to go outside because the sun is shining.This morning our class will go to the Library. After lunch we will go outside. I am happy that today is Wednesday.
Love,
Miss Ingram
Rose, M. (2002). 15 Easy Lessons That Build Basic Writing Skills in Grades K-2 . Scholastic Professional Books
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Dacruz Payne, C. and Browning Schulman, M. (1999). Getting the Most Out of Morning Message and Other Shared Writing Lessons. Scholastic Professional Books.
