How to Use Greetings in the Hallway

Greetings provide a way to connect with every student who enters the classroom. As you greet students, noticing their body language provides you with the opportunity to assess who is primed for a day of optimal learning and who might benefit from some additional connection or Safe Place time.

Select a location where you will stand every morning to greet the children. Send the verbal and nonverbal message, “Hello, I’m glad you’re here today!” Props like a greeting apron or a greeting poster offer children choices about how they would like to be greeted. For example, you might put images of a butterfly, a hand, a bear and fireworks on an apron you wear or a poster outside the classroom door. Point to the greeting images, ask children how they would like to be greeted and then share a playful greeting together. (Make up greetings to go with the images.) A downloadable digital template for a greeting apron is included in the Make-N-Takes section of our Premium Resource Toolkit.