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!
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 can also find many resources on Teachers Pay Teachers.
displaying a prompt from the amazing Wonderopolis site,
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!
These are some really good ideas! Now my teacher brain wheels are turning with more ways to start the day with my fourth graders. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletewww.thebutterflyteacher.com
I'm so glad these are helpful, Tanya! Thanks so much for stopping by!
DeleteErin
Love the idea of math tasks but my question is how do you know they are getting the right answers or doing it correctly? Do you just assume they are good cause they are review tasks?
ReplyDeleteHi Jamie!
DeleteI sometimes have my students document their work using Seesaw, but generally I just jump in and observe and question as soon as I've finished my morning tasks. They ARE good review tasks, and I have established good routines with my students so that I know they are accountable for using them correctly.
Thanks for stopping by!
Erin
I really like the idea of the theme song. Can you tell more about how you used it?
ReplyDeleteHi there!
DeleteI used it to welcome my students into the classroom every morning, used it during transitions, and then again to end the day together. We never grew tired of it, and even three years later when these students were in 8th grade, they would sing it to me when we passed in the hallway. :)
Thanks for stopping by!
Erin
Great ideas! We are so lucky to be able to share resources like this thanks to social networking and technology. My brain is slowly getting into back-to-school mode and this has helped a lot.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! Angie
Thanks so much for the lovely message, Angie! I agree completely... to think of how my career would have started if I'd had social media to draw from. I'm so thankful for it now. :)
DeleteThanks for stopping by!
Erin
I have sent an email mulitple times to sign up for your newsletter to recieve the free math morning work activities- and i never receive it? Am I doing something wrong?? I would love these for my kiddos because I know they woul love them too. Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteHi there,
DeleteCould you please email me at questions@mrsbeattiesclassroom.com? I’m not able to help without your email address.
Thanks,
Erin