How to Use Greetings in the Media Center

Greetings provide a way to connect with every student who enters the Media Center. 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 to greet the children as each class arrives in the Media Center. Send the verbal and nonverbal message, “Hello, I’m glad you’re here today!” Props like the greeting apron give children a choice 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. Ask each child how he 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.