Mornings Matter: Daily News

One of the routines that happen every day in my classroom is Daily News.  This format of Daily News came from my dear friend, Traci.  I was in a slump with my morning messages, and she showed me how she does her morning message.  I haven’t looked back since!

I love so many aspects of our daily news time….

1. I love how it builds community in the classroom – we all work together to complete the daily news chart.

2. I love how I can reinforce SPECIFIC skills that the children need to work on.  If I find that Johnny and Jane are struggling with rhyming, I might add a rhyming section to my daily news the next day.

3. I love how it sets up our day – we often write about special events that are happening during the day. I love how it lets those anxious kiddos know what is in store for them.

4. I love how SIMPLE it is.  5 minutes at the end of the day (or sometimes in the morning before the kiddos come in) and it’s done. 

5. I love that it is interactive, and the children get up and down – participation and engagement is at a HIGH level.  We sing, clap, tap, and so on.  Sometimes, I even let the children have their own white boards to work right along with the child that is coming up to the chart.

6. I love that it is a PREDICTABLE part of our daily routine.  Kids know what to do, and they feel SUCCESSFUL!

Here are some examples of our Daily News charts and some of the skills that we may be working on:

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Here are my tips for Daily News:

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My biggest tip is to LISTEN to your students! Write your Daily News based on what YOUR students need!  If you are struggling in the beginning, set up a daily schedule as a guide to what to write.  I’m not gonna lie – sometimes I feel like banging my head against the wall because I can’t think of anything to write!  Sometimes it’s short, sometimes it’s long, that’s okay!  We all know we need to be flexible as teachers, right?!

I always try to include a little sampling from 2-3 subject areas.  I almost always include something language arts (in addition to the phonics, punctuation, etc. portion in the body of my message) and math. 

So, are you going to include Daily News this year in your classroom? What questions do you have? Tell me what works and what doesn’t work for you!

12 comments:

  1. Would like to try with preschool... thoughts?? Of course age appropriate-- and any idea of an interactive board with a template already made?

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    1. I highly recommend NOT using a template! Write your messages based on what your kiddos need! I have never used an IWB because I like for them to feel the marker on the paper!

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  2. How do you structure taking turns (the children coming up and writing)?

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    1. I use my "Lucky Duck" can! Just a can with Popsicle sticks with their names on :)

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  3. Thanks for this recent post. I was looking for a way to revamp my morning messages for this coming school year. This gave me some great ideas. Thanks again:-)

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  4. Thank you for going over some amazing ideas for mornings. I am new to kinder and want to do an amazing job. Thanks!!

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  5. ok this has changed my LIFE!!!! Thank you! I'm keeping 11 of my K's for a k/1 split in September and I was fearing they'd be bored with my usual morning message routine. This has inspired me!!! When you let them use their own small whiteboards, how do you manage that??

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  6. Fantastic post! I need to save it forever.

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  7. Great post, great synthesis of your ideas. I've done Morning Messages for my second graders for the past two years, and I've included spelling, capitalization, punctuation, letter format, math problems, transition words, contractions, and more in those messages! This year, I'm thinking I will actually format my message as an afternoon activity to help us recap and wrap up the day. Love many of the suggestions you make here!

    Lisa
    Primary Explorers

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  8. This is fantastic! Great rationale!!! Thanks for sharing.

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  9. I love this!! it really opened my eyes on what a daily news should look like. I use to do just basic: what is your favorite color, what did you do yesterday ect.. so this really gave me an overall picture.

    Am new to the blog so I was wondering if there was a way for me to print it out. I would love to have this handy all the time.

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  10. I have been doing this since before Christmas and I LOVE it!!! Thank you!

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