Your classroom morning routine sets the tone for the whole day. It can be a time of chaos and stress, or a time of productivity and easing into the school day. Here’s my morning routine in my first grade classroom and how it sets us up for a successful day.
What are the goals of a strong morning routine?
When it comes to the morning, I have a few simple goals that I believe help set the tone for the rest of the day. Here is what I want to happen during my morning routine.
First, I want my students to be independent. It’s important that students know exactly what to do and can do it on their own. This frees me up to handle all of the little things in the morning that arise on top of submitting attendance, collecting notes from parents, and so on. This also means that, when I am out, the sub has a little extra time to be prepared.
Second, I want students to have something to do to keep them occupied that gets their brain ready for the day. In every school I’ve worked in, there are always at least a handful of students each day who come in after the expected start time. So, I want to give my students something to do that keeps them busy but also isn’t vital in case they are late.
Last, I want us to begin our day on a positive note. No matter how hectic the morning was at home, or what happened on the commute in, I want to take time to prepare for a good day.
What does my morning routine look like?
My morning routine might vary a bit from year to year, but this is generally what it looks like. There, of course, isn’t only one way to start the morning. This is just what has worked for me. I’ll also add that I literally wrote my master’s thesis on morning meeting. And, while I have used morning meeting in the past, it doesn’t always fit into my schedule unfortunately. If I had the time for a full morning meeting, I would incorporate a lot of the things below into that time.
Students Check Themselves In
Since I’m a big proponent of independence and making my own life easier, my students start the morning by checking in for the day. This means, with a quick glance, I can check who is and is not in school as I submit my attendance (probably late. Okay always late.) I’ve used various systems, but the one I’m using right now is this clothespin system. They move their clip from home to here as they enter the room. This also doubles as a tool to let me know if they are in the bathroom. And, it’s a students’ job to “reset” the clips at the end of the day.
Self Directed Morning Work
Although I love the idea of morning tubs or something similar, it just doesn’t fit well with my current schedule. Plus, since my school is an IB inquiry based school, I don’t do a lot of worksheets. So, I start my day with this morning work. I love it because it follows a consistent pattern, practices key skills, is student friendly, and is quick to check. I project each day’s section on the white board, and we quickly check it together. You can read more about my morning work here.
Whatever morning activity you decide, I highly recommend something that students will be able to complete independently and that is somewhat consistent. They will likely only be working on it for 5-10 minutes, so you only want it to take a minute or two to get started.
Book Shopping Routine
During the morning is also when my students can shop for new books for reading centers. Students know they’re supposed to do this before they do their morning work. I have 1 group pick new books a day, so it ends up being about 6-7 students looking for books at a time. I always write the group name or number and the welcome work box number on the board, but they quickly learn what days they book shop. This ensures they’re ready and prepared when it’s time for reading centers.
Students Complete Class Jobs
A number of our classroom jobs are completed during the morning routine as well since they’re part of it. My calendar helper and schedule sorter do their jobs at this time. I also often see my botanists watering our class plants in the morning as well. Having a bit of relaxed time in the morning gives them the opportunity to take initiative and complete their responsibilities. (Read about how I handle classroom jobs here.)
Calendar
After we’ve checked our morning work, we look at the calendar together. In the beginning of the year, my calendar helper assists me in writing the date and the number of days in school, but later in the year, I pass the job to them as much as they’re comfortable with. We go over the date (in Sweden we write the day and then the month), how many days we’ve been in school in standard form, base ten, and expanded form, and talk about any upcoming special days.
Schedule
Next, we go over the schedule for the day. I have this displayed in a pocket chart, and a student is responsible for putting it all in order. This cuts down on the “when is music? when is lunch?” questions.
Affirmations
The last, and most important part, of our morning routine is our affirmations. We say these everyday together. In the beginning of the year, I lead my class in these and they repeat after me. Once they have them down, students sign up to be the affirmations leaders. You can download a free copy of my affirmations in my free resource library for email subscribers under “Power to Choose”.
Important Things to Keep In Mind
That’s it! It might seem simple, but it works well. My students know what to do, how to do it, and start the day off with a positive mindset. There are a few things that are important to keep in mind though.
Take It Slow
In the beginning of the year, you’ll need to really take your time to teach and model the steps in your morning routine. As the old saying goes, go slow to go fast. If you take your time and then gradually give them less and less prompting and cues, it will eventually flow very seamlessly.
Be Prepared for Early Finishers
One thing to keep in mind is that you will likely have students who finish their morning work early, so it’s helpful to have a plan for what they can do when they’re done. In my class, they’re allowed to pick something from our early finisher choice board (available in the free resource library). Whatever you choose, make it simple and easy so they can do it on their own.
Be Patient and Flexible
Don’t worry if it takes some time for students to become independent. It can take time, practice, repetition, and modeling. However, if something isn’t working, don’t be afraid to change it. You can always change it back. But, there’s no one size fits all morning routine, so it’s totally okay if you have to tweak it a few times until you figure out what works best for your students.
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