Tips for an Effective Classroom Morning Routine

Graphic with a colorful title that reads 'Tips for an effective morning routine'. Smaller text at the bottom of heading reads 'Easy & Stress Free!'. Graphic features photo of a young student wearing a backpack and holding a composition notebook.

Here’s one thing i’ve learned in my years of teaching: establishing a classroom morning routine is so important. Rather than scrambling around trying to get everyone situated, students know exactly what to do when they walk into your classroom each morning. This makes transitioning into learning a painless process. Establishing daily routines and procedures is a key component of a successful classroom management system. A morning routine sets the tone for the entire school day and can be one of the most meaningful parts of the day.

Why is a Classroom Morning Routine Important for Kids?

Routines result in smooth transitions between activities, minimizing disruptions and off-task behaviors.

With a proper morning routine, children understand what is expected of them. Consequently, encouraging student goal setting, independence, and leadership.

Routines provide a framework for the day. Students feel less stressed with a predictable schedule.

Fosters a positive classroom environment.

Aside from benefiting students, morning routines are golden for teachers. Since there are less behaviors to redirect, teachers have more time to focus on what truly matters– instruction.

What Does a Morning Routine in the Classroom Look Like?

Student sitting at desk taking school supplies out of her backpack — Morning work and morning routine ideas for the classroom

Establishing an effective classroom arrival routine during the first weeks of school is key. Routines and procedures should be taught just as you would teach a new skill to your students. Introduce the routine, model, and practice. With constant exposure and practice to these procedures, students will slowly create the habit.

You may walk into 10 different classrooms and notice that they all have a different morning routine in place. That’s because routines should be designed to work for your group of students. As teachers, we know what works best for our kiddos. A daily morning routine in the classroom might look something like this:

1. Students walk in, take out their supplies, and place their homework in designated homework bin.

2. Copy homework for the day in their agendas.

3. Students take out and complete morning work revie w activity for the day.

4. Use sticky note that’s been placed on their desk to answer morning reflection prompt.

5. If there’s extra time, students may visit the classroom library.

How to use morning work in your morning routine

Morning work is an activity designed to get students thinking early in the day. Once they unpack, they know they have a task at hand and are ready to learn.

Morning work should be meaningful. Therefore, working on skills that are currently being taught or have previously been taught is a great way to enhance learning. Constantly exposing a child to a skill decreases their chances of ‘forgetting’ that skill.

A morning activity should be short and to the point. If students are stressed about finishing it each morning, it automatically sets a negative tone for the day. Keep it short, sweet, and relevant. Keeping morning work activities short also ensures that the teacher can review the activity quickly before beginning the lessons for the day. Five minutes of review can really make a difference!

Morning Review Activities for upper elementary students

After struggling to find the perfect morning work activity for my third grade students, I began creating my seasonal morning work resources targeting ELA standards for 3rd and 4th grade. These printable worksheets are designed to expose students to reading and grammar skills in a fun, engaging way. Each pack contains 9 weeks worth of review activities. The weeks are divided into days of the week so that students complete 2-3 review activities per day.

Once students complete their morning work activity for the day, we quickly review the activity before transitioning into the instructional portion of our school day.

third grade worksheets with reading activities heading at the top reads 'Good Morning'

These worksheets include skills such as cause & effect, figurative language, context clues, parts of speech, editing, affixes, and much more!

Morning work is now DIGITAL! This Google Slides resource allows students to drag and drop items and type in the text boxes to complete each activity. Slides can be assigned individually or projected as a whole-group review activity.