I have done morning messages with my classes for years,
even in Kindergarten. I write a message in letter format. I always include a certain number
of mistakes, many of them are based on skills we are learning. Then, I
include a problem for them to solve in Language or Math, which gives a
good review.
The messages are handwritten on the easel each day. My students get a post-it, tally the mistakes, and solve the problem. After that, they turn in their post-its, and we go over the message after morning work.
After we go over the message as a class, I go through each post-it to see who got both the number of mistakes and the problem correct. Those who get both correct get a treat of some kind.
I thought it would be cool to make this into a Powerpoint that animates the corrections. Then, I realized this is a great idea to share with other teachers! The children enjoy doing them, and are engaged. Teachers get a good review and a quick snapshot as to which students understand certain concepts. It's a win-win situation!
The messages are handwritten on the easel each day. My students get a post-it, tally the mistakes, and solve the problem. After that, they turn in their post-its, and we go over the message after morning work.
After we go over the message as a class, I go through each post-it to see who got both the number of mistakes and the problem correct. Those who get both correct get a treat of some kind.
I thought it would be cool to make this into a Powerpoint that animates the corrections. Then, I realized this is a great idea to share with other teachers! The children enjoy doing them, and are engaged. Teachers get a good review and a quick snapshot as to which students understand certain concepts. It's a win-win situation!
The result is March Interactive Morning Messages for 2nd Grade.
My class was very excited to do the messages in this format! Here are a few pictures!
This student even used her word bank to look up how to correctly spell a word from the message!
I simply have them use post it notes to record the answers.
Then, they fold them and put them in the bucket.
This is what it looks like on my projector.
When we finish going over the message, we get a cool picture with an encouraging message!
Below is a video to show you how they work. You can choose whichever message you want each day. All you have to do is put it on the slide you want, then go to "slide show, use current slide." Please note, there is no narration on the video, so you don't need to adjust your sound!
Since I wanted teachers to be able to use and reuse the messages year after year, I made the date in the heading and the message editable. It's pretty easy to do. However, I am aware that there are many people who aren't familiar with editing in Powerpoint, so I have included this video to show you how to edit the date. There is no narration in this video either.
Included in the packet is a slide that would be most helpful if printed for students to use each day. It explains the types of mistakes they should look for. Here is a picture.
I plan to make them for each month, then maybe do some themed messages. I'm very excited about this product, and I hope other teachers like it too!
To celebrate this great new product, I will be giving away 2 copies of March Interactive Morning Messages! To enter, simply use the Rafflecopter below! Good luck!
You can also get a copy of March Interactive Morning Messages at 50% off March 14 and 15!
I'd love to hear what skills and concepts you'd like to see in future Morning Messages products! Please comment below to let me know what you'd like. I'm definitely open to ideas that will help other teachers!
