As teachers, there are days when we are frantically running around in the mornings trying to get prepared before our students arrive. Sometimes, we need those extra 15 minutes of silence to gather our materials or answer the phone or emails. What if students can walk in, unpack their materials, and get started right away with no help? It may seem ideal in some classrooms, but I have discovered that this is the perfect scenario in my classroom. You may be wondering what the trick is, well I have an answer for you! I use these Morning Work bundle packets. They are simple, and amazing to use in the mornings.
To start off, the Morning Work worksheets are composed of both Math and ELA skills, specifically for what grade you are teaching. In my case, I use the 3rd grade Morning Work bundles. No matter what grade you are teaching, each bundle has a worksheet for every day of the week, for the whole school year! It provides me with one less stress in the mornings while everyone is arriving to school.
One of the main benefits that I have discovered is having students practice the same skills for 5 days straight. This allows me to implement the gradual release method, by teaching/showing students at the beginning of the week how to solve the problems, to having them complete the worksheet completely on their own by the end of the week.
So how exactly does a week look?
On most days, students spend about 25-30 minutes completing this morning work worksheet. After the allotted time, I review the entire worksheet for Days 1, 2, and 3. This is where I demonstrate to my students how to solve problems if they are unsure and let them ask me any questions.
As for Days 4 and 5, students are given more time (30-40 mins.) to complete their worksheet. The reason is because I have students come up to my desk individually to have their work checked. We discuss the problems they missed, and I send them back to their seat to correct their answers. However, if I see a consistency in a missed question, or there is material I haven’t yet taught, I spend a few minutes after our morning work time to review the problem as a whole group.
I know when looking at these worksheets that it may seem very overwhelming for students in the beginning. Yet I continue to encourage them to try their best, and reassure them that we will review how to solve the problem. Now I know that not every classroom is the same, but this is the system that I have created and perfected over the years that works best for my classroom.
You may still be wondering why I use these specific Morning Work bundles in my classroom – here is my secret: it provides an excellent resource for spiral review in both Math and ELA which is what my next two posts are about!
Read More!
- Read more about daily MATH spiral review
- Read more about daily ELA spiral review (coming soon)
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