Morning/Afternoon Routines
This is a nametag that each student in Mrs. Carter’s class at Anderson Mill has. On the left side there is a list of things students are responsible for before 8AM each morning. They include…
Sharpening pencils
Go to the restroom / water
Put backpack away
Turn in HW/ Put planner away
Begin morning work / Read-to-self
On the right hand side there is a list of things that students are to do from 2:15 until 2:30 and those are…
Agenda
Write assignments
Put papers in folder
Put planner and folder in backpack
Stack chair
Straighten desk
This is for those students that can’t remember when it is okay to go to the restroom especially. I like this idea because every morning you are going to have someone come in late, so this tells him or her exactly what to do.
Morning Work 1,2,3's
In the morning, when students start coming into the classroom at 7:25am, they get settled in and check on their white board to see what kind of morning work they'll be working on. In the beginning of the school year, my CT always wrote the basic 1,2,3's on the board, which are:
1. Empty backpack
2. Turn in Folder
3. Make Lunch Choice
Since this repeated every morning, instead of writing them down everyday my CT made each student a small card and taped them down on their desk for reminders.
This allows the students to first check their 1,2,3's everyday when they sit down on their desk. This reminder is effective because it is placed where students can easily visualize the instruction and they all each have their own reminders. This gives each student responsibility to complete the task everyday.
Julie JeongEun Kim
Mrs.Vanzura's 2nd grade classroom
@ Spicewood Elementry (RRISD)
* Tic-Tac-Toes *
In Mrs.Vanzura's classroom, one of the morning work consisted of Tic-Tac-Toes. Each morning, student will complete one of the boxes and work on the worksheet for the week until he/she has made a tic-tac-toe.
On the bottom of the worksheet, there is a mystery word student is suppose to figure out. The word is scrambled and by using the letters given, student has to figure out what kind of word it is.
This morning work allows the student to make choices of what type of work they would like to do. It also places responsibility to keep up with the worksheet to turn in once they have made a tic-tac-toe. In addition to students' benefit, it permits the teacher to give students variety of activities at once and become aware of what type of work students favor more than the other. (Math vs. Language Arts)
I believe this type of morning work engages the students in the activities and not waste time once they walk into the classroom in the morning. Also, it motivates them to finish the worksheet by creating a tic-tac-toe and turning it in.
Julie JeongEun Kim
Mrs.Vanzura's 2nd grade classroom
@ Spicewood Elementry (RRISD)
TARGET THE QUESTION
Target the question is a week-by-week problem solving activity that exposes students to multiple word problems and allows a teacher to explore different math concepts and strategies. For every week there is a scenario presented: "Mario went to the airplane store. When he went there he saw many airplanes. One airplane costs...". Then on the next page or thereafter there will be a series of 5 questions for that one scenario (picture above).
When the students come into the classroom they have a problem-solving folder that has all of the "Target the Question" scenarios and questions inside the folder. Students have to answer and solve the problem in the color indicated. I believe that the program is designed for the students to complete one problem a day. However, Mrs. LaVoie only does "Target the Question" twice a week. Therefore, on Tuesday the students do the first three problems and on Thursday the complete the rest. When everyone is finished or at a convenient stopping point for the teacher the class will have a discussion that the question(s) they have solved. I would change this by color-coding based on the level of difficulty. However, I would not tell the students this it would be my own type of assessment.
Karen LaVoie- 4th Grade, DFT
Brain Teasers
Every morning the students will have assignments and morning procedures to complete, but a brain teaser will be put on the Promethean to get students to start thinking. Unsolved brain teasers can be used again after a period of time when to get the students thinking again. This is a great way to get students thinking early in the morning. To make sure students are actively involved have them record them their suggestions.
Ms. Avery- 5th Grade, DFT
Guess My Number
As a morning math activity students can read the prompt and use the clues to guess the numbers. In Mrs. LaVoie's class the students record their guess and process of solving the problem in their problem solving notebooks. While they read they record their thoughts. When everyone is finished they discuss the answer as a class. Can have one student per statement come up and explain their thinking to the class.
Karen LaVoie- 4th Grade, DFT