Calendar And Morning Group

Morning Group has varied through the years depending on the schools needs. 
I had a lot of goals this summer for morning group.. but as we all know students will always direct your class. 
We have had to take it slowly!!! Therefore... much of my morning set up is display right now.
I am going to be creating a morning board based on the Adventures of Room 83 since I feel it would be more engaging for my students. Right now it is too distracting and busy for my students.

However, we use other morning activities.
When students arrive they each must make their name. Depending on their abilities, it is in order or scrambled. 
For one student, I had to make a name to match letter by letter since he was having trouble.  
This activity helps students be busy as soon as they sit down, while students are getting their folders/lunch/snacks out of their backpacks. You can call it our bell work.
Then, we sing our morning song. :)
Afterwards, we review our monthly events... Everyday! Yes you heard me, everyday.
We try to make this interactive. 
Summer: Use visuals or tangibles... beach ball, bathing suits, review what we do and where we go during summer time.
School starts: Students will identify the school they go to. 
I use a visual strip that say "I go to ...School"
Each student has to say the complete sentence.
Meet Teachers: The group will say good morning to each teacher. We play a game to see who can identify each teacher's name.
Meet Friends: The group will say good morning to each friend. 

For nonverbal students I use the tech talk. 

When it is time for meet teachers, student have pictures of all the teachers they encounter and class friends. 
They will receptively identify each teacher/friend.
The device will state for their verbally.