Have you seen these Daily Starters from Scholastic? They seem like a fun way to start your day in the classroom. My kids trickle into class in the morning and some are a little late at getting things done because they go to breakfast and barely get into the room before announcements. I used to have morning work worksheets for kids to do many years ago, but it was such a pain to try to make sure those late comers had time to get it done. They never got it done before announcements and then we were ready to start the day and they were the ones that were behind on everything else through the day, so that never worked for me. (Plus I am not one to do tons of worksheets anyway!) Well the past few year my kids have a morning routine. They come into the room and get ready for the day. They sharpen pencils, get new books to take home to read, change books for Daily 5 reading book basket, pick their Daily 5 rounds for the day, and then start reading from their book baskets until announcements. The daily starters might be a little something fun and different for student choice. I am big on letting students chose different ways to do things as long as they are learning and not messing around. They could choose to do Daily Starters or read from their baskets. Since the Daily Starters include math, those that enjoy math might like a little change every now and then. I am very excited to try these this coming week in class.
You may also want to check out my blog post on using Weird But True facts for Morning Work I will use this as an option a little later in the year too!
