Mornings as a teacher can be quite hectic. Take control of your morning by providing structure at the beginning of the school day for your students with these morning work ideas and soft start resources.
What is the point of morning work?
There are quite a few teaching benefits to providing morning work for students.
- Morning work and bellringers act as a transition for students.
- Adds structure during a naturally unstructured time
- Provides additional organizational time for students who need more time to get themselves settled
- Gives the students a task to do while waiting for everyone to arrive at school.
- Reduces off task behaviors
- Morning work gives the teacher extra time, whether it is to regroup from another before school meeting that lasted until the bell, take attendance or check in with specific students
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Soft Start Vs. Morning Work
Personally I think these serve the same purpose with different names. I am sure there are academic experts who are willing to debate the true differences, though.
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The technical difference is that a soft start is a fun way to start the day (coloring, drawing, puzzles etc.) and morning work is just that, work. Morning work seems to be more truly academic based- Daily Oral Language, Math worksheet etc.
Soft Starts seem to come from an SEL based place, while Morning Work comes from a standardized testing, students must show academic growth place.
Soft starts and morning work serve the same general purpose in that they help the students transition into the classroom and get ready for the day.
Which do I use? Soft Start? Morning Work?
I use the soft start idea. I have the luxury of having the same students for (almost) an entire school day, so academically I know that I will have the time to get to a variety of skills that teachers in a middle or high school will not be able to do.
Aside from knowing that I have the time to do a ‘fun’ worksheet, I know that a good chunk of my students don’t want to be at school.
I like to have a cup of coffee after I wake up in the morning. In fact, I get a little grumpy if I don’t have my cup of coffee. I could have a glass of vegetable juice. I know the green juice would be good for me, but that cup of coffee is oh so comforting, especially when I know I have to go to a place that sometimes I don’t even want to go to- school.
That ‘fun’ worksheet is like that comforting cup of coffee. It gets students to their desks with a purpose and gets them working quietly once they have unpacked for the day.
I feel like providing academic work immediately as students come into school for the day could set the stage for a frustrating day. Many kids don’t like school and this is another reason to add to the list of reasons for that hatred. In addition, some students might struggle with the actual skills on the worksheet.
The ‘fun’ worksheet eases that transition, buys the teacher the same extra time to do the things they need to do as the school day starts and will hopefully help students to feel like they hate school a little bit less.
Morning Work/Soft Start Resources I like to Use With My Students
I provide a variety of worksheets throughout the year- secret messages, inspirational coloring pages, word searches, extreme dot to dots (pictures create from more than 400 or 500 dots), and waker uppers.
Students have the option of doing one of these pages or they can read silently at their desk. I like providing the choice of either the worksheet or reading, as it doesn’t matter to me if the page gets finished, I just want them sitting quietly at their desk ready for school.
Monthly Themed Crack the Code- Click on the link to try out my free Sports Crack the Code. This is a great way to start each school day as students will use the key to decode the coded message and learn facts & trivia about various holidays each month. You can grab my bundle for the year here.
Holiday Word Search, Cryptogram Puzzle and Coloring Pages– Bring some fun into your classroom with these holiday activity packs of word searches, crack the code cryptogram and coloring pages.
WakerUppers– When you search amazon, remember wakeruppers should be one word. If you type waker and then upper, you will get a bunch of assisted walking devices, not a workbook of morning work. I love these books from the early nineties. They are a fun activity that really gets the students to think about things outside the box, writing your name with squiggles or identifying shapes based off the feelings they look like they are showing.
Extreme Dot to Dots- US Landmarks– These are fun! The students love to rush to see who is going to be the first person to find out what the picture is going to show. My only tip, be very careful when you make a copy that you are getting all of the dots copied. I had a few sad students when I cut off a few dots from the copy machine.
Inspirational Quote Coloring Book– It is always interesting to see who my budding artists in the room are. I can usually tell because they are the ones coloring the page throughout the day.
Monthly Puzzle Packs by Shelly Rees– This is a fun, easy to use product for my fifth grade students. These puzzles are so engaging and useful for a variety of events at school like morning work or free time. I just used a few of these for a fun activity after state testing. I also really appreciate the additional lesser known monthly events that get their own word search or puzzle. Sometimes I find that have thousands of activities for Valentine’s Day or St. Patrick’s Day, but not much for the rest of the month. This product is a nice way to keep the regular days of school fun as well!
Best Way to Pass Out Morning Work
I have a mix of these pages that have previously been copied. All I have to do each morning is grab a page from my morning work shelf and put it on the student’s desks before school.
I have tried having the students grab a page from a central location, saving me from passing the papers out in the morning, but I have found that the additional step of grabbing the paper is just too much for students and they don’t grab it. Sadly, this limits the amount of students who would work on the morning worksheet if I didn’t place it on their desk.
Apparently the extra step of walking a few feet to grab a worksheet is just too much effort for my fifth grade students in the morning!
Interested in reading more about student behaviors?
Check out these posts-
Supporting Families to Diagnose and Treat Students with ADHD in the Classroom
Dealing With Difficult Student Behaviors During Morning Meetings
Recess is an Amazing Investment in Your Limited Teaching Time
Teacher Tips for Successful Parent Teacher Conferences
Teaching Students with OCD in the Classroom
Report Card Comments for Struggling Students
How About You?
Do you have morning work in your room? What do you like to use?
