December Morning Work In Action

Even though December is nearly over, I’m trying to catch up on some posts, including showing you exactly what Morning Work looked like during the month.  If you’d like to learn more about how I set up and organize these morning work stations as well as all the directions and where to locate materials, please feel free to stop over and check out my earlier blog post HERE or the picture below:

 

And yes, I am going to post on January Morning Work hopefully later this week, but until then, here’s a quick look back at our December mornings.

POKEY PINS

I’m not sure my students will ever allow me to NOT have pokey pins as one of their morning work stations.  They simply love them.

TRIM YOUR TREE WITH NUMBERS

This ended up being a great activity for working with greater and less than number recognition.  It was easy to differentiate, and I got lots of complaints when it was time to put this one away for the morning.

RACE TO FILL YOUR BULB

Super simple counting activity.  Having the option to use different kinds of dice for this station made differentiating very easy.  This student was using a dice in dice, but other students were using 10 sided die for number recognition to 10.

 

 

JINGLE ALL THE WAY MAZE

We’ve been working a bunch this month on STEM activities, and I’ve found that this group of kinders love to build.  I wasn’t sure if they would understand the task of building a maze, but they got it.

Some mazes were more complex than others, but after a couple of rebuilds, they generally got the strategy of making some ‘dead ends’ for your partner to make it a bit more challenging.  I think next month we may move on and expand on this activity by using Legos instead of Duplos.  This will give them a bit more of a physical challenge using smaller pieces and also allow them to build on what they learned in December.

 

WEB MASTER – CHRISTMAS EDITION

Since they loved the October version of this game, I brought it back.  It really doesn’t have any ‘standards based’ link other than counting their bulbs, but the socialization of game play, taking turns and using those tongs are priceless experiences.

And . . . I love the conversations I can hear while they play.  I’ve seen a huge transition from my students as they have started encouraging each other especially during games that may be challenging to one of their friends.  That kind of play and conversation makes my heart swell.

 

 

CANDY CANE PATTERNS

I know patterns aren’t a kindergarten standard per se, but we see patterns in math and language, and I can’t imagine I will ever eliminate the practice of patterns in my kindergarten class.

 

PEPPERMINT SAND SIGHT WORD TRAYS

I have students who still struggle with fine motor strength and get that pencil to press harder.  This activity was especially good for those students who needed to be able to write and feel successful.  There is very little resistance in ‘sand,’ and, besides, who doesn’t love the smell of peppermint and the idea of writing with candy cane . . . even if it is plastic.

 

STRING YOUR CVC LIGHTS

I took my self-correcting cards and made them even more fun.  My kinders loved writing their words in lights.

Their partner would show them the card, they would make the word and then they would open them up to see if they were correct.  I need to include this activity for next month too somehow since it was such a winner.

 

SIGHT WORD PAPER PUNCH GARLAND

I love making paper garland with sight words but by adding the paper punches, it just took it to a new level.

 

 

THERAPY PUTTY LIGHT YOUR TREE

Therapy putty will never disappoint.  This month’s tiny little light bulbs were a challenge.  I heard, ” . . . these are hard Mrs. McGuire . . .” To which I would reply, “well it wouldn’t be any fun if it was easy now would it?”

 

SPIN AND COLOR

Spinner games . . . how I love them so . . . I will expand and add more of these next month.  I forget how much my kinders love to color.  Between these and the Edit It Color By Sight Word activities, I can usually scratch their artistic itches.

 

BALANCING BULBS

Very challenging . . . and very engaging . . .  It was great to hearing them reading, but even more fun to watch them use that hand-eye coordination to balance their bulbs on those tees.  It will be a good introduction to next month when they are spelling words with golf balls on tees.  Oh yeah . . . I’m just that mean. But they’ll love it.

 

Remember if you want the details, the how-to, instructions and where to locate all these items, please visit my post that outlines setting up and organizing these stations by clicking on the picture below:

And stop back for more ideas and activities for boosting your morning work.