Hey Everyone! This is Kelly from My Fabulous Class. I am so excited to be Guest Blogging today. I am sharing one of my favorite Classroom Tips from last year, Morning Work Buckets! Do you need a few minutes in the morning to take attendance, check binders, and take a few minutes to listen to students individual stories? Do you avoid worksheets because they often feel like “busy” work, that you later have to go back and check? I have a fabulous suggestion for you!
Morning Work Buckets may be the answer you have been looking for. You can put ANY activity in a Morning Work Bucket. I started out by creating 5 buckets so that students would essentially do each bucket once a week. And after a few weeks, I created a few more.
To create a bucket, simply put all the supplies a student needs to independently complete the task. I always use activities we have previously done in small group or at a center.
I pick activities that students enjoy so that they will work the entire time. I usually spend about 10-15 minutes taking care of my morning tasks. I also make sure the tasks will last this same amount of time.
Since the entire table shares 1 bucket, I often place multiple, related activities in one bucket. That also allows that bucket to be used for a longer period of time.
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I prefer to use year round activities in my morning work buckets and save the cute seasonal activities for seasonal activities. This way, I do not have to change the buckets out as often.
Just wanted to sum up everything. It does take some time to organize the buckets, but it is worth it. Once the bags are created, they are ready for the year.
Morning buckets are fabulous because your students are doing meaningful, hands on activities and you are not creating additional work for yourself by grading papers.
Year Round Domino Math Centers
You can find all of these in my TPT store!
Thanks Everyone!
Hi! My kindergarten teammate and I have been thinking about alternatives to paper/pencill morning work and I just stumbled upon your Pinterest post about these tubs! I was wondering if you would be willing to either point me in the direction of or create a bundle with these activities to start out with. I’m thinking about my students now and all of these pictures represent my vision!
Please let me know! Happy kindergartening!