Classroom Morning Meeting

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
​Updated June 15, 2025
Morning meetings—or classroom gathering times—are ideal for building social-emotional learning, language development, and concept acquisition. With thoughtful adaptations, this routine can be meaningful and fully accessible for students who are blind or visually impaired.

Seating Considerations

  • Provide preferential seating based on the student's visual needs.
  • Most students benefit from sitting in front and center, but others may need to sit to the left or right to accommodate visual field loss or eccentric viewing.
  • The TVI can help determine the optimal seating arrangement.

Fidget Tools & Sensory Support

Attention during group time can be challenging, especially when students aren’t actively engaged.
  • Provide access to fidget tools stored in a labeled bin (e.g., sensory balls, textured items, stretchy bands).
  • Consult the occupational therapist about the potential use of:
    • Weighted lap pads
    • Wiggle cushions
    • Textured or cushioned seating
  • Keep gathering time short and engaging, and consider breaking it into multiple shorter sessions if participants have limited attention spans.
  • Use positive reinforcement (e.g., morning jobs or roles) to reward participation and attentiveness.

Building Visual and Auditory Discrimination

  • Encourage students with low vision to look in a mirror when greeting, if appropriate.
  • Use fun visual cues (silly hats, bright glasses) to help students scan and identify differences.
  • Students with no vision can practice identifying voices or noticing who is missing from auditory cues.
Note: Mirrors may not be appropriate for students with CVI due to visual complexity and classroom reflections.

​Menu Check

This is a natural time to incorporate:
  • Choice-making
  • Reading and interpreting daily information
  • Counting and graphing lunch selections
Suggestions:
  • Read the daily menu aloud.
  • Encourage students to identify whether they are buying or packing lunch.
  • Use name tags or symbols/braille labels for students to indicate their selection on a visual/tactile chart.
  • Discuss the class data: "More students brought lunch than bought lunch today!"

Calendar Time

Calendar routines support:
  • Time concepts: days of the week, months, seasons, yesterday-today-tomorrow
  • Literacy and numeracy: reading numbers, counting, sequencing
  • Tactile exploration and participation
Best practices:
  • Use high-contrast, uncluttered calendars with large print and braille (e.g., APH Classroom Calendar Kit).
  • Have students:
    • Count up to the current date aloud
    • Add the day’s number to the classroom or personal calendar
    • For younger students, sing a “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” and/or days of the week song, and fill in the blanks
  • Provide individual calendars with tactile grids (e.g., APH Individual Calendar Kit)
  • Encourage students to write or glue the number on their calendar
  • Reinforce ordinal terms (e.g., "Today is the 14th")

​Daily Schedule and Topic Preview

​Reviewing the day’s plan builds:
  • Predictability
  • Vocabulary
  • Connection to content
Suggestions:
  • Go over the class and individual schedule
  • Review classroom jobs and responsibilities
  • Introduce the daily theme, unit, and topics
  • Pass around real objects related to the topic to explore shape, texture, use, and context
  • Discuss new vocabulary using:
    • A classroom dictionary
    • A thesaurus (for older students)
    • Examples of homophones or categorization exercises

​Job Chart Review

​Assigning jobs builds responsibility and real-world readiness:
  • Create a classroom chore chart with a variety of accessible jobs.
  • Encourage all students to:
    • Hang up coats
    • Put materials away
    • Sort trash and recycling
    • Help pass out or clean up supplies
  • Rotate jobs regularly so each student participates.
  • Teach tasks patiently and systematically with real objects to build concepts of:
    • Shape
    • Texture
    • Weight
    • Temperature
    • Function
These routines support independent living skills and future employment preparation.

​Weather Check

Weather routines are ideal for tactile, sensory, and conceptual development:
  • Assign a student weather reporter (with a peer or staff support if needed)
  • Have them check the weather outdoors, then:
    • Report to the class
    • Place an icon on a weather chart
    • Compare data across the week
    • Discuss appropriate clothing for the day and predict indoor/outdoor activities.

Weather Bin Suggestion

Weather
Object
Sensory Suggestion
Rainy
Umbrella
Spritz water on the umbrella
Sunny
Sunglasses or sunscreen scent
Use scent or explain the function
Windy
Switch-activated fan
Experience airflow
Cold
Hat, scarf, or gloves
Wear or feel textures

Resources

Individual Calendar Kit, available through APH. This consumable calendar kit features brightly-colored embossed/bold line grid sheets, and paper labels in large print and braille.
Classroom Calendar Kit This wall calendar, available from APH, includes high contrast large print labels that are paired with braille.
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