Morning Activities for Kindergarten, 1st Grade, and 2nd Grade // morning meeting, work, and bins

Need some ideas for morning activities in your kindergarten, first, and second grade? In this video, I walk through morning meeting ideas, morning work ideas, and morning tubs or brain bins! Just click play to see which type of morning activity works best for your students!

Morning Meeting Videos

If you happen to use any of these ideas at home or in your classroom, leave a comment below and let me know how they go! :) Also, if you share any of the games from Susan's Sunday Spotlight, please tag me on Instagram @susanjonesteaching so I can see!! You can also use the hashtag: #susanssundayspotlight​

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Susan Jones

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[SusanJonesTeaching]

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[kathywagner]

Hi Susan! My students sit outside the classroom at their cubbies as they come in. When the bell rings, they come into the classroom. I always have morning work on their desks waiting for them. They get used to this very quickly and finish pretty quickly. They are allowed to grab a book if they finish before others. I take attendance and lunch count while this is going on. Then we do morning announcements and Morning Meeting. I LOVE your NEW Morning Work!!!! I will definitely purchase this as I always use all of the products that I purchase from you. They are AMAZING and always so helpful in my classroom! Thank you for everything that you do to help teachers. You are appreciated! :)

[phumlanisigudla]

Thanks Susan, you're videos are so good!

[Mplatz]

Hello! Here's our basic routine for the week. Mondays - we write about our weekend in our Monthly Journal, Tuesday - we have a math review page that we check together before we start our morning meeting, Wednesday - word search Wednesday with a friend or Would Your Rather Wednesday Question, Thursday - Think Outside the Box Thursday or Writing about our Star of the Week, Friday - free choice Friday where kids can get out games, play centers, etc.

[pamelagibbs]

My kindergarten students arrive between 7:20 and 7:45. They unpack their communication folder and make a lunch choice. After this, we have a Soft Start where students select a play based center to play in until we clean up for breakfast at 7:45. Students may change centers as long as they clean up. This Soft Start has been a game changer for my students. I play quiet music and make this a time for students to get ready for our school day.

[lisapope]

Hi! Students eat breakfast in our classrooms and we have a school wide morning meeting online.

[melaniefudge]

Hi Susan, will you be creating grade 2 morning work at some point?

[kimberlydrake]

I have my class do morning work as they are trickling into the classroom. Then, once the tardy bell rings, we gather at the carpet and have calendar time. My morning work is reviewing from last weeks math and phonics lessons and our new set of sight words.

[NayyAmo]

1 grade, Florida. After they put their backpacks in the cubbies (located IN the classroom), they find their seats & wait to be called to wash their hands & get their breakfast. We do have the trickle in effect, but I'll put on an affirmations video, then morning meeting with a get ready chant & deep breathing.

[bnyc]

Do you have any tips for first-time teachers on day one? What activities would u recommend to get the day started?

[BarbaraRattee]

My class has specials first thing. They have to be there BY 8:15, specials at 820.

[johnsonfam]

Centers (some call them morning tubs). I color code them by level halfway through the year.

[wendylord]

I teach K/1 and my kids play with each other for the first 30 minutes. While they are playing parent volunteers read with each kid the book that they took home the night before. I pull ESL kids for a small group lesson a few days a week while parent volunteers watch the kids.

[Katethat]

The morning bins seem to make my class get super hyper lol. They open as many bins as they can and dump them on the carpet. It takes like 20 mins to clean up. Thats gotta be adjusted lol... maybe only two bins can be opened next time

[lynnelson]

After they unpack, I have my students get their book boxes. They must first read "just right" books before moving on to "dessert" books. At the second bell, we begin morning meeting.

[equalspi]

I've tried having them come in and have a choice of reading a book or just sitting quietly at their desk while I do attendance or work quickly w/ a student 1-1, etc. I also view it as a time for me to get it together a little if I haven't got the chance to yet- like quickly write a morning message if I haven't had a chance. I need something more structured but don't really want to do any prep.

[myrnadiaz]

We eat breakfast in our classroom but after they complete their check in for growth mindset, we listen to announcements and then morning discussion/meeting

[farzeentaimur]

I have the tables set up with some kind of an activity like lacing / pegging / activity sheets

[kaylenebawden]

My students come in and sign in. Then we do calendar, and move into Writing Workshop.

[MsPaelly]

We have DI cards that have a phonological focus and a reading passage on them. I assign the cards based on what level they are on to each child. When they come in they practice their card and then go to the rug and wait for a partner. I call them two at a time and they race each other reading through the card. The winner gets the next card. The other partner can race again or take a reading counts test. I get to listen to each child read and note what skills they need to work on. Once they have passed a level they move to a different color card. I give rewards when they pass a level. I am also aware of which partners need to pair up so it is a close race.