The First 30 Minutes

This can be a hectic time of the day. As educators we are told time and time again that we should be doing what is best for the kids. Right? Okay… so for the first half of my teaching career I believed that the beginning of the day was to be a quiet time so I can take roll and they can get some extra practice in. Before recess or lunch is when the best instruction is, or so I am told. Then I stumbled across morning tubs. Instantly I knew that this was something I had to try. I researched it and found a system that works best for the kids and our classroom routine. Ready?

When the kids come in, we use this morning greeting, then they drop their folders off in the bin by the door. They hang up their backpacks and go to their desk.

MORNING TUBS

To make things fair, each day I have a different group of students pick first.

Monday- numbers 1-5

Tuesday- 6-10

Wednesday- 11-15

Thursday- 16-20

Friday 20-25

Each day I go down the line. So, if it was Wednesday, I would say numbers 11-15, once they got their tub, I would call out 16-20, 20-25, 1-5, 6-10, 11-15. I keep a post-it by the door so I can do this quickly.

Then I let them play. I do not have a set number of how many can play, it all seems to work out because I have about 12 tubs that I rotate through every quarter. They can also color or read. Learning through play and socializing really helped my classroom grow into a family. They learned so much during this time and EVERY student was happy to start their day. Plus, they got a chance to choose and talk so when it was time for our lessons there wasn’t a ton of off topic chatting.

When the 15 minutes is up, I play Clean Up Robot . If you haven’t read my post on transitions, you can check it out HERE. The students clean up and try to make it back to their seat by the time the song is up! I never penalize students for helping a friend. We celebrate it!!

MORNING ROUTINE

We stand up and say the flag salute then we chant the date. We read it and for the comma part we shake our BOOTIES! It really helps them remember where the comma goes!

Next is our class agreement. At the beginning of the year, we come up with rules for our classroom and we sign it stating that we will follow the rules. I believe that it is important to say it each day. To make it more fun we come up with hand motions and sometimes say it in funny voices. Students know that when someone is breaking a rule, they can say what they should be doing by stating the rule from our class agreement.

MORNING MEETING

They come to the carpet, and we have our morning meeting. I LOVE this time of the day! I have really gotten to know my students during this time, and it has bonded us as a classroom. This helps them get to know each other and make friends easier. Here is the schedule to keep it simple.

Monday- Anything about their weekend

Tuesday, Thursday- Questions from this pack Morning Meeting Bundle

Wednesday- Would you rather from the same pack Morning Meeting Bundle

Friday- Free Share

I call on students to share and at the same time click their name for Class Dojo for participation. Every student has the right to pass. They just say pass and we move on. If they share, we say thank you for sharing. Later in the year we will let students ask a question about what they shared, but at the beginning of the year that might take most of the day LOL. From here we do a fun song or brain break then we start our day.

What is your favorite thing to do in the first 30 minutes of your day?