Morning Message Idea: Favorite Numbers

Here’s a Morning Meeting message idea from 80 Morning Meeting Ideas for Grades K2, by Susan Lattanzi Roser:

Use a message like this one about favorite numbers to engage students with math.


¡Hola, Niños!

Today is Wednesday, January 4, 2012.

Garth is first today. Blanca is the door holder.

Today, we will do lots of work with numbers. Write a number you like on a sticky note. Then post it here:

trans_numbers


 

Working With the Morning Message:
  1. Choral read the salutation.
  2. Ask for volunteers to read each sentence of the message.
  3. Work with students’ sticky notes. For example:
  • Rearrange numbers from smallest to largest as a child calls out what number should come next. Then ask, “What strategies did you use to put these numbers in order?”
  • Ask students for other mathematical ways to order the sticky notes (largest to smallest, numbers that add up to 50 or 100, and so on).
  • Direct students to look at their own number. Then ask, “If you added the digits together, do you think the sum would be less than 10 or more than 10? Why?”

Tip for Success:

  • Reinforce children’s enthusiasm for math. For example: “We’re really thinking like mathematicians. What fun numbers can be!”

Skills: sequencing, computation skills
Reading Level: fluent

Variation:

  • Adapt the message for social studies. For example: “Today, we will learn about the world of work. Write a job you want to study on a sticky note. Post it here.”
Tags: 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, Kindergarten, Math