Ideas for Morning Work

I knew that when I had my own classroom that I wanted to do some sort of morning work. But here’s the thing… I hate making a whole bunch of copies of worksheets for morning work everyday! So I came up with morning bins that are hands on ways for students to practice and learn sight words. They are great word work activities where I have seen students make great success in learning their sight words. Here are my ideas for morning work that I want to share with you. I hope your students love them as much as I do.

In my first morning bin, I have students make their sight words with with play dough. I make the play dough with supplies I have at home. I do have to say, you have to really explicitly teach students how to make a “snake” with the playdough quickly to make the words. If not, they take a really long time to make a word. After students make the word, they write the word on a piece of paper and then say the word.

My next idea for morning work, is a morning bin of letter beads and pipecleaners. I organize the letters in a little craft organizer that I got from the dollar store. I label each section of what letters should be in there. This helps students know where to find letters and where to return them. This helps students make the words quickly. After the students make the word, I have them write it, and they say the word.

With this next idea for morning work, this is the only copies I have to make for morning work all week. I make a sight word word search for my students. This morning work idea is a favorite for the students in my classroom. I think it is because each student can find success in it. I hide each sight word three times. This makes it a challenge for students who are really fast at word searches. For students who are a little slower at word searches, they have more chances of finding words since they are all hidden three times. Once students find a word, they write it, and then say it. Find the template I use here.

This next morning work idea, I call “Magic Words.” Students take a white crayon and write a word. Then they take a marker and color the area over where they wrote with the white crayon. Like magic, they word will appear. This is the only bin where students don’t have to write the word again on a piece of paper. But they still have to say the word afterwards.

Another idea for morning work is having students use stencils for making their sight words. I have multiple stencils with the alphabet letters I have found at garage sales and a pack at Walmart. I have a couple pencil boxes of colored pencils with a pencil sharpener in each one. Students fill in the letters with colored pencils to make the sight words. Once they make the word, they write it, and then say the word.

Another low prep morning work idea is having students work with stamps. I have collected letter stamps over the years and I have organized them in craft organizers and labeled them so students know where to find and return letters. Students take the stamps and use them to make their sight words. When they make them, they write the word and again…. They say the word.

The next idea for morning work is using magnet letters to make their sight words. I am lucky that when I moved into my classroom, I found a set of these. But I have found more at garage sales for very cheap. Like my other morning bins, I have organized the letters in craft organizers where each section is labeled for students to find the letter they need quicker. I got cheap little cookie sheets from the dollar store for students to put their letter magnet sight words on. Once they make the word, they write the words, and of course.. Then they say the word.

These are my ideas for morning work for students to make their sight word practice a little more hands on and fun. Once our timer goes off, students know to come show me their “write it page.” I have a checklist and I check them off. This helps keep students accountable for working hard during this time. I also have labeled the spot in our classroom where each bin goes, so that as I am checking off students, other students are independently putting the morning bin supplies away. This makes a quick transition to our next activity in the day.

Based on where my students are sitting, I have “morning bin groups.” Each day I rotate the morning bins, so each group gets a different morning bins a day. I love that when the students walk in the door I hear their excitement as they say, “Yes! We have playdough today!” or “Yes! We have word search today!” Students are engaged, they learn their sight words, and the best part about it… Once they get set up, they are little prep for me each week. I hope you enjoy these ideas for morning work in your classroom. These ideas for morning work can work for 1st grade, 2nd grade, or any primary grade.

Need help motivating your students to read? Check out this blog post here!

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