Morning Work/Homework

Home

Chat

Blogs

Collection

Directory

Home : 2002 : June : 1

Morning Work/Homework
By Judy

By morning work, are you talking about what the children do when they enter the room and get ready for the day to begin? I know some teachers in our school have 4 or 5 "jobs" for the children to begin working on when they
arrive at school. I am not a teacher who likes to give children worksheets to keep them busy. When my children enter the classroom in the morning, they unpack their things, sign up for lunch on the graph, take a restroom and drink break, then read a book from the book tubs in the room. I can use this time to meet with individual students for corrections of the previous day's work, read

with a child, or do the morning paperwork that needs to be done. It has worked very well for me. At the beginning of first grade it takes a few weeks for the children to work into the routine, but once they have it, it is so worthwhile. I have also had the children write in journals when they first get to school, but often the writing is not what it can be when they write during Writer's Workshop. A very good resource is On Solid Ground, by Sharon Taberski. She explains how she engages children in meaningful literacy activities while she works with individuals or small groups.