Fun Ways to Start the Day in the Elementary Classroom

Morning arrival can be a hectic time in the classroom. Some schools serve breakfast, others have students trickling in over a period of time, and on many occasions, there are forms, book orders, or money to collect. In my 18 years of teaching, I've tried many different morning routines, and have read about many others. This is my round-up of some great ways to start your school day!

For as long as I've had a SMART Board in my classroom, I have always welcomed my students as they enter with a fun attendance routine. I change it up with the seasons and holidays and use it to recognize special days like birthdays and the 100th day of school.

You can grab a FREE GoNoodle attendance for your SMART Board by clicking HERE or on the image below!

In the final year I taught fifth grade, I adopted a class theme song. I wasn't sure that it would work with students of this age, but I desperately wanted it to. This song became such a huge part of our classroom routine and was so beloved by the children that they would even sing it to me in eighth grade as they passed me in the hall!

Writing your students a message that they can read and interact with as they arrive is also a great way to start your day! Here are a few examples:

My new favorite way to start the day is with morning bins. I begin each school day with mathematics and have tried a variety of things this year to transition into our learning activities smoothly. I have some students who get unpacked very quickly, and I also have students who usually arrive late, so finding just the right thing for them to work on has been a bit of a challenge. I was tired of running off worksheets and ending up recycling a handful each day because some of the students never get to them, so I created fun task cards that my students can use with the math manipulatives we already have in the classroom! They have been a HUGE hit!

Not only have these been perfect for the beginning of our school day, but they have also been a great go-to activity for my early finishers!

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A post shared by Erin Beattie (@mrs_beatties_classroom) on Nov 22, 2016 at 5:30am PST

You can grab this EDITABLE resource by clicking HERE or on the image above. If you are new to Teachers Pay Teachers (my all-time favorite site for teaching resources!), you can set up a free account here!

A great way to begin the day in a primary classroom is with a calendar math routine. It is a fun and meaningful way to introduce your students to concepts of time and the perfect way to spiral critical math skills like patterning, place value, and number sense.

Check out my Interactive SMART Board Calendar Math packages, NEW Google and PowerPoint version, and find the French version of the new resource here!

You may not realize it, but GoNoodle isn't all Zumba and Koo Koo Kangaroo! There are some amazing mindfulness activities to get your students focused and thinking positively as they head into the school day. Some of my favorite GoNoodle activities to begin the day include:

Sometimes a quieter approach is in order. Not all classes can manage the more open-ended, hands-on, movement types of activities unless they are more structured. In cases like this, I love to use warm-up exercises such as printing practice as my students get settled in. It is a nice way to settle the energy as the day begins.

You can grab a FREE sample of these printing pages by clicking HERE or on the image above.

Quotes are a great way to inspire, energize, and kick off your day! Try opening with some thoughtful discussion and see where it takes you. When chosen carefully, quotes can be a great way to lead into your character education or learning activities for the day!

Similar to a quote of the day, your students will love entering the classroom to a poem of the day (or the week!) and accompanying activities! There are a TON of websites online where you can access a poem of the day. Some of my favorites include:

Poets.org

Poetry Foundation

Family Friend Poems

You can also find many resources on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Puzzles, mysteries, jokes, questions, and wonderings are great tools to get your students thinking and writing as they begin their school day! Consider putting a joke, riddle or thought-provoking question on the board,


displaying a prompt from the amazing Wonderopolis site,

or providing your students with a puzzle or task of some sort!

Finally, running a morning meeting is a great way to set the tone for your day and teach your students important skills like self-advocacy and self-regulation. I have not done formal morning meetings in my classroom as a routine, but I love this post from my friend Elyse at Proud to Be Primary! Check it out below:

I hope that you leave here with an idea you can use in your own classroom! If you have a great routine or activity that you like to start the day with that isn't on my list, please leave a message below to add it to this collection!

For more great classroom organization ideas and resources, visit this Pinterest board:

Be sure to pin this post for easy access down the road!