Morning Routine Linky

In an effort to get back into the habit of blogging, I'm taking advantage of all the linky parties going on this summer. Kelli over at Castles and Crayons is having a schedule linky party all summer long. It looks like a great party for getting some new ideas for how things work in other classrooms.

This week's focus is all about the morning routine. The kids at my school can come in at 7:30. They either go to the library or to the cafeteria. There is a teacher at each spot they can be and everyone has one day a week they have morning duty. I don't have morning duty though because I always have bus duty. The bell rings at 7:50 and the kids are dismissed to their classes. My students come in and unpack their backpacks. They put their notebooks in their cubbies after taking out homework and any notes and putting them in the completed basket. (Two years ago when I was in kindergarten I didn't have the kids take things out of their binders but when they are in first grade I do. I think when I go back to kindergarten in the fall, I'm going to train them to put their homework in the basket too. ) They take their chairs off their desk and all the desks in their group. They sit down and get busy on their journals. This is the first year I've done journals in kindergarten or first grade. This was what I did when I taught third grade. I used Rachelle Smith's Journals through the year as the covers of my journals. I also liked her prompts. I started the year in first grade just having the students use popcorn words to write sentences. As the year went on, I gave them prompts or had the students write in response to books we were reading or topics we were learning about. I think this is my favorite way to do morning work. They get writing practice and they stay engaged. As I'm going back to kindergarten I'm trying to figure out what I want to do during this time. I had my assistant go ahead and make journals for August - December. I loved the idea that Kelli had with their journals. She had her students copy a sentence and illustrate it for the letters. I'm thinking we'll do journals a couple of times a week but probably not everyday for the first semester. They work on these from 7:50 until about 8:15. I also have each group take a bathroom break during this time. When my students finished their journals, they would go to read to self. I discovered a few of my students weren't doing what they were suppose to in their journals so I started having one group turn in their journals each day and I would read through them and leave a note. I also used their journal writing to guide my writing and language lessons. It was great to see the growth in their writing.
So that's my morning routine. I usually have a large coffee in my hand while their working and do attendance and other things like that. Be sure to head over to Castles and Crayons to check out the party.
What do you have your kids do when they come into the classroom?