Kindergarten morning work should be simple for teachers and kids. It should be fun, differentiated, and easy to prep. That’s how our differentiated morning work is set up!
Kindergarten Morning Work: Morning Journals
Our kindergarten morning work is our morning journals. Every day. It’s the exact same activity, the exact same procedures, and the exact same expectations. And that is the key. When the kids arrive, they know what to do, they know what to expect, and they do it. They aren’t struggling with some new worksheet or packet. And they don’t have to get up and ask questions or come to me for help. The students can arrive in a calm manner and be successful immediately. They start their day calmly and successfully, setting a positive tone for the day. The consistency and successful start to each day.
When the kids arrive, they put their backpacks away and change into their slippers. Then they greet me. If they choose to eat breakfast, they grab it and chow down. If they skip breakfast, they get their journals and find a spot in the classroom to work!
Differentiated Kindergarten Morning Work
Our morning work is differentiated to meet the needs of all the students! Here’s how:
For students who are still working on mastering writing their names, they have name-writing practice to work on. Some students are still just tracing their names, and some combine tracing and writing. This differentiation allows scaffolding as the students move toward mastery.
As you can see, some students might be tracing their names. Some students are tracing and writing their names. Their morning work meets their individual needs and allows them to be successful! Part of this differentiation is also using different pencils. Some students use regular pencils, and some use smaller golf pencils. I like these Ticonderoga pencils because they’re already sharp and have an eraser! Click the link to see them on Amazon.
And it’s consistent. They work on their names every morning, so there are no surprises when they arrive!
Morning Journals
Once the kids master their name writing, they earn their morning journal. Our mourning journals are just spiral notebooks (or composition notebooks). When they first earn their journal, they simply write their name and the date and draw a picture. Every morning. Same expectation and procedure.
To teach them the procedures, we use a highlighter to write their name and date for two daysAfter that, they do the name and date on their own.
The binder clip is used so students know what page to be on!
When they are ready, I ask them to label one or two things in their pictures with a word. As they label more and more, they must start writing a sentence. As the year progresses, they might move to 2 sentences if they’re ready.
The bonus to this system is that it’s teacher-friendly. No copies, no packets to assemble, or papers to grade!
After they finish their journal, they can read or do morning bins. So, how do we keep them from rushing through the journal? They have to show me their journal so I can see their work. I can see if they put in the effort or just scribbled through it! If they need to work a little more, I have them return and do more. We’re always striving to do our best!
This video explains our morning journals!
For more ideas, resources, and tips, check out these blog posts: