Ideas for Morning Assembly

Assemblies are a powerful way to affect and motivate both staff and students. Beginning your school day with a morning assembly can set the tone for the day, the week or even the year, depending on the content. Make your assembly fun and exciting by incorporating leadership opportunities for students, showcasing school talent, or incorporating motivational or holiday themes. Morning assembly is a time to build your school community, set a challenge or celebrate an award.

Encourage the participation of students during the morning assembly. Facilitate a talent show. Try a demonstration of a specific sport or local activity that your students are involved with. Encourage each grade represented at your school to host a morning assembly one time during the year. Allow teachers to build in time to collaborate with other classes of the same grades.

Choose a motivational person from history who coincides with a special month or lesson of the classes. Encourage an older student to read or act out a speech by Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, John F. Kennedy, Mother Teresa, Eleanor Roosevelt or Rachel Carson. Show a video of a local non-profit organization that you plan on working with for a school fundraiser. Bring in pets from the Humane Society to launch a pet supply drive. Ask the local chapter of the Red Cross to come and do a short demonstration of first-aid, or to explain work they do in the aftermath of a humanitarian disaster to launch a donation drive.

Promote an appreciation for diverse cultures by learning about holidays that are celebrated in different cultures. Celebrate Pongal or Onam, the Indian Rice Festival, to teach about nutrition. Learn about Dia de la Raza or Columbus Day and how they are celebrated in Latin America. Use monthly themes like Black History Month, Women's History Month or special days like World U.N. Day, Earth Day or World Water Day. Use a favorite book or author to showcase an educational theme like reading or writing, as well as compassion, kindness or generosity.

Show school spirit by singing songs to motivate your students before everyone arrives for morning assembly. Create a slide show of pictures of students. Allow older students to lead school-appropriate cheers. Play music or have the school band play music as students walk in and sit in their seats. Bring in a magician, jugglers or other visual artists. Contact a local drama club to perform a play about a specific theme, then have a group discussion on what it was about.