With mornings being busy and while everyone gets settled, grade 5 morning work can be a great transitionary time for students to get active and involved in the thinking process for beginning a day of learning. These 20 ideas are easy for teacher prep and student participation. Stop stressing over morning work and use these ideas to help keep your mornings running smoothly!
1. Discussion Prompts
Discussion prompts are a great way to start a simple morning routine. These are good for a mini-morning meeting for partners or small groups. This morning work option promotes listening and speaking but could also serve as a daily writing prompt and include writing a journal to pen thoughts as well.
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2. Math Sort Cards
Math sorts cards are quick and easy for teachers to have a no-prep morning work option that is already ready to go. Students can work independently or with a partner for this morning’s work idea. Teachers can include an answer key for easy self-checking.
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3. Fact and Opinion Tubs
Morning work activities that begin the school day with hands-on activities are great for encouraging engagement and interaction in the lessons to come. ELA and grammar are great content topics for hands-on morning work tubs.
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4. Logic Puzzles/Critical Thinking Tasks
Another good idea for an effective morning routine is to include some games. Think outside the typical paper and pencil activity, including games that spark critical thinking skills, like these logic games. This will quickly become a popular morning work activity!
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5. Choice Bins
Stations can be used in a variety of ways, including during math and EL blocks. These station cards also make for easy morning work options as well. While these cards give options, they can also be great for accountability. Let students choose one each day as part of their morning work routine.
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6. Geography and History Spirals
Reviewing content for science, geography, history, and social studies is also important. You can buy them ready-made or create your own and even include comprehension skills from math and ELA so it is a cross-curricular activity.
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7. Long Division Exit Slips
Exit slips are typically used as students leave the room or as a quick check at the end of a lesson. They can also be used with elementary grades as part of your morning classroom routines. These are quick to print and copy and great for mornings that are rushed or hectic.
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8. Group Work
Most kids enjoy the game Among Us, so they will love this inference game inspired by these characters. These are morning work-ready and serve as a fun game to review comprehension skills. This is a perfect example of morning work that works.
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9. Character Building
Social-emotional learning activities are great for all elementary ages! Incorporating this into your morning work is a great way to reinforce character-building and community within the classroom. These will also help improve writing fluency skills as students can keep a morning work journal to write about their thoughts as they complete these activities.
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10. Textual Evidence
Anytime you use a grade-level high-interest close reading passage and pair higher-order thinking questions with them, you are raising the potential for student growth through reading and writing skills. This is a good option for morning work in an independent setting, small group setting, or partner work.
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11. Paperless Morning Work Choices
Choice is big for inspiring more student growth! Pick a topic to focus on each day, like STEM or writing, and have students do an assignment each day based on the topic. This will change things up and encourage more engagement in morning work as students have options and will begin to look forward to what is next each day.
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12. Math Art
Math art is fun and helps with motor skills and allows student creativity to shine. Using simple colored paper and scissors, students can create math art, like this tree. Students will see firsthand how 3D shapes work together to form a tiny work of art.
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13. Ask Questions
Asking a question to students can sometimes give you more information than you expect. “Teach Me Something Tuesday” can be used to find out what your students want to learn more about or you can flip it and let them teach you something!
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14. Math Binders
Creating math binders to use in your morning work rotation is a smart choice because the binders are ready to go and serve as a quick option for morning work topics. These are great for allowing teacher checks too!
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15. Conversation Tables
Conversation tables are so much fun and a great addition to any classroom! Students can do this silently and only communicate via their writing. This is a great way to have alternative class discussions about learning and a great way to involve everyone, even your shy students!
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16. S.N.O.T.S
Small Notes On The Side is a great strategy for using nonfiction reading passages to get students thinking and become better with self-monitoring skills. They can use them to record their thoughts and answer questions as they read.
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17. Interactive Notebooks
Interactive notebooks can be used with all content areas! You can incorporate nonfiction reading skills easily with social studies or science. You can help students set up their interactive notebooks and they can use them as part of their morning work routine.
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18. Reading Response Activities
Read and respond is a classic activity to follow up independent reading time. This can be done in the form of a book review, fast facts, character analysis, or visualizing. These are easy to print and create morning work booklets for students to use as they read.
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19. Digital Google Morning Work
Gone are the days of only pencil and paper activities. Utilize your technology and incorporate Google Classroom into your morning routine! Students enjoy using technology and it will be much easier for you to check and provide feedback to them.
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20. Character Analysis
When students have independent reading time, teachers should follow up to ensure comprehension is taking place. These character analysis and sequencing activities are great for that! These are good to use as a follow-up to morning reading or even during your ELA block.
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