It is crucial to set the tone for the day, as soon as your students walk into the room! There are so many fun things you can do in your classroom to create a wonderful start to the day. You can do the same thing each day, or you can do a mixture of activities throughout your week. Each teacher has their own style of what they like to do, but you can use the following tips to create your perfect start to your day!
The first activity that I love to incorporate in our morning routine is writing. Sometimes I will have students work on their writers workshop pieces, or I have them work on journal prompts. Writing is a great way to start the day because it is very independent and students are able to get started as soon as they have all their things put away. Writing is also a great activity that you can make digital with students working on computers or iPads, or you can have students work with paper and pencil. Writing in Journals is a great activity for Monday mornings because students can write about their weekends, and then they can share their thoughts with their classmates during the morning meeting.
The next activity that works well for the start of the day is a math or ELA review page. It works well to have a worksheet that is a review from earlier in the year or from a couple of weeks before. At the beginning of the year you can even use worksheets of skills from the previous year. You can also use pages that review a skill needed to build on a new skill that is going to be taught that day, or in the next couple days. This allows students to continue to practice skills that they have been working on. This is another great activity that works for students to do independently. Because it is a worksheet of a skill that has been worked on previously, students are able to come into the classroom and get started right away. Using worksheets of review skills is an excellent way to help students stay on top of skills that they have already learned.
Another perfect way to start your day is with mixed review pages. These are another great activity that students can do independently and help them practice skills that they’ve previously worked on. These are perfect for the start of the day because they work on math and ELA skills. Another great idea is to do math review on one side of the page, and ELA on the other side of the page. Your morning meeting is an excellent time to review the pages and make sure that every student understands what was covered on the page.
The final way that I love to start our day is with STEM bins. I put lots of different building blocks in boxes and students can grab a box and use that box to build. Students can work alone with a box of materials, or they can work with a partner. This works perfectly for a slow start morning where students are not all arriving at the same time. I have students work on their worksheet for the day and then when they finish, they can build with a STEM bin. Younger students can just build things that they want, and older students could be given a challenge that they have to try to build, like a bridge or the tallest tower. STEM bins are also a great activity for students to work on when they are finished with their work. These bins are always some of my students’ favorite activities!
There are so many great ways to start your day! You can have your students do a worksheet that reviews skills, you can have them write in their journals, or you can have them do a slow start with STEM bins. I love doing a mixture of all of these activities, but you can create whatever routine you like. What are your favorite ways to start your day? Tell me in the comments what you are going to try in your classroom. I can’t wait to hear your ideas!