I have really struggled with finding age AND skill appropriate morning work for my kiddos. My students aren't writing yet, so worksheets are out. (Honestly, I have never used worksheets in my class. I just don't feel like they work for my kiddos.) We've tried a few different things like puzzles and work tasks, but I would like something a little more skills based. I chose to make Morning Workbook Binders for my students who are able to use this type of system and Morning Tasks for my kiddos working on my eye-gaze and gross motor skills. The skills included are skills that they have been working on, but may not be mastered yet or mastered skills that work on independence.
My workbooks break down into 5 basic categories (1 student has 6... he's learning to READ!!):
1. Name- These pages focus on reading their name, tracing their name, and then spelling their name by matching letter tiles. The more advanced page gives students the letter tiles, but they spell it independently.
2. Letters- Students match uppercase to uppercase, lowercase to lowercase, or upper to lowercase. I change out the pages as their skills develop.
3. Numbers- Students match number 1-10 and then trace 1-10. On the more advanced page, students match a number to a quantity as well as tracing.
4. Colors- Students start by sorting/matching red, blue, green, and yellow circles to 4 large corresponding color squares. When the students match this skill, we will move on to the student matching the same colored circles to the color word. The word is printed in it's corresponding color. Finally, when this skill is mastered, the student will match the colored circles to the color word printed in black and white.
5. Calendar- Students will match the Today Is, Yesterday Was, Tomorrow Is, Month, and Season. The correct answers are listed on the board and are changed by the Calendar Helper.
6. Lastly, Sight Words- This one really excites me. One particular rockstar student of mine came to me last year knowing 4 letters- all uppercase. By March, he knew all 52 letters by name and sound with about 90% accuracy! He is such a hard worker and I can't wait to see what he can accomplish this upcoming year! This page starts with students simply matching the sight words that we will focus on during reading instruction time.
These will be used first thing in the morning. The students come in, unpack and then get to work. My paras walk around assisting students as they need it, but the goal is independence. This gives me time to take attendance, take data, or take care of little things.
Do you use Morning Work?
I want to use morning work but like you have not found something suitable for my students. I like your ideas I will use a few and see how they work. For this upcoming year to start off I want to use morning work time to target the skills they have mastered in the previous school year to see how much they have retained over the summer break.
ReplyDeleteGood post.