5 Tips For Low Prep Morning Work

The time when students first come into the classroom each day can feel crazy! But let’s be honest, feeling like the room was hit by a tornado is not how I want to start my day. And I bet it’s not how you want to start your day either! Below, I’m giving you 5 tips for low prep morning work that will set you and your students up for success each day!

1. Establish And Keep A Set Routine For How Students Start Each Day

Students thrive when they know what is expected of them! You will want to establish and keep a set routine that is the same each day. That way students know exactly what is expected of them as soon as they walk into your classroom door. Having a set routine helps start the day out in a much calmer way and set the tone for the rest of your day together!

For our morning routine my students would greet me at the door, hang up their backpacks, get out their Take Home Folders/check it for any papers to turn in, do their lunch count, and then get right to their morning work at their seats.

Don’t expect the routine to happen overnight though. You will need to model, model, model, and then practice, practice, practice! Then, review and repeat as needed! Taking the time to establish and keep a set routine will set your students up for success!

2. Choose Morning Work That is Engaging!

When it comes to morning work you want something that will excite students to get right to work and keep them engaged the whole time! I’m embarrassed to admit this, but when I first started teaching I had students do worksheets as their morning work. I knew they needed something but wasn’t sure what else to do. Well, it didn’t work out well. 180 days of worksheets meant the students were B-O-R-E-D to death. And when students aren’t engaged in learning it naturally leads to more behavior issues and classroom management struggles.

I quickly learned that our primary learners need hands-on activities that are fun, yet meaningful!

Which leads me to my next tip…

3. Choose Meaningful Activities For Morning Work

When it comes to morning work, it’s so important to choose meaningful activities! This is not the time for busy work (trust me, I tried it and it doesn’t work!)!

It’s best to find activities that get students’ brains engaged and working right away. Which is why I love choosing activities that foster great thinking, problem solving, and discussions!

4. Keep Morning Work Low Prep For You!

As teachers the to-do list is never ending! Why add one more thing to your already full plate? I’m all about ways to work smarter, and not harder. Which means that the best kind of morning work is the kind that is low prep for you!

You want morning work that does not require you to think about it each day! You don’t want to have to set something on their desks each morning. I tried this and there were days I forgot or if I was unexpectedly sick and there was a sub the next day students have nothing to do!

Using something like these Hands-On Challenge Kits allows you to set them up once and then you just need to switch out the cards when students start losing interest. Talk about easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!

5. Make Sure Your Morning Work For Students Can Be Done Independently

Teachers have lots to get done when students are first coming in! Greeting students, lunch count, attendance, parent notes, announcements, and let’s not forget about that bus that is running late! You want morning work that your students can work on independently that doesn’t need elaborate explanations or support from you in order for them to be successful!

Plus, the more that we can do to foster independence in our kids the better! I fully believe that our goal as teachers is to not only help them be successful in our classroom, but to also help them be successful for life! We set our students up for success when they learn to be responsible for their learning! And providing independent morning work is just one of the ways that we can help foster responsibility in our students!

Low Prep Morning Work That You & Your Students Will Love!

If you’re looking for low prep morning work you are going to love my Hands-On Challenge Kits! Using these kits each day for morning work will help you establish and keep a set routine while keeping the students engaged with meaningful activities! Plus, the kits are low prep for you and provide independent work that the students look forward to doing!

The best part is that you can try my Space Hands-On Challenge Kit for FREE!!

CLICK HERE to grab the FREE Space Hands-On Challenge Kit

Save Time With These Low Prep Morning Work Kits!

These kits will be an absolute lifesaver for you this year and for years to come!! What I love about them is that the routine and supplies stay the same all year, you just have to change out the cards each week, bi-weekly, or monthly! (Changing out the cards is the secret to keeping your students excited and engaged with their kits!)

Students love doing these activities and you will love how they save you time while transforming your morning routine! They are an easy, fun, and hands-on solution for your students to use for morning work! They also work great if you still need individual materials for your students this year!

CLICK HERE to save big and grab the monthly Hands-On Challenge Kits*!

*The title of the resource is the Indoor Recess Kit Bundle. BUT they work great for morning work too! So many teachers are using these kits and loving them for morning work! Click HERE to read more about different ways to use these kits!

Need some more low prep, hands-on activities for your students? Or want to correlate your morning work to what your are learning in class?

I’ve got you covered!

So many teachers and students have loved the monthly kits so much that I have made more kits that are done by topic!!

You can click the titles below to grab these fun topic themed bundles:

I’m SO excited for you to use these with your students! They will become a favorite part of your morning routine!