Greeting Idea: Backward Day Handshake
Here’s a Morning Meeting greeting idea from 80 Morning Meeting Ideas for Grades K–2, by Susan Lattanzi Roser:
Backward Day Handshake Greeting
Students pass along a friendly handshake, but say the greeting backward.
How to do it:
- Choose a student to begin the greeting.
- The first greeter shakes hands with the person to her left and says, “[Alexis], morning good!”
- The receiver responds, “[Gabriella], morning good!”
- Continue around the circle until all have been greeted.
Tip for Success: Model friendly handshaking and saying a backward greeting. Display a chart with backward greetings for reference (for example, “Max, you to Tuesday happy!”).
Skills: sequencing, sentence structure
Variations:
- Later, do other Morning Meeting components backward. For example, read the message backward or sing a song backward. (Model and practice beforehand.)
- Shake hands with hands behind back and try to maintain eye contact.
Tags: 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, Building Classroom Community, Kindergarten, Language Arts