May 12

Written by: deb
5/12/2014 2:47 PM 

Many people question the validity of morning bell work, but if the work given is meaningful, morning bell work can really help to keep student skills fresh!

When you enter the classroom each morning, put a morning bell work skills page (such as Daily Work or Daily Language) on your students' desks.  Bell work should be meaningful. Random worksheets will not necessarily help to build skills the way a skills set might and could be considered as busy work. Make each day's morning bell work and every classroom minute count. Challenge your students daily! If you have the time, go over the skills orally with students each day. This allows them to spot their mistakes and identify which areas need more work. Grading the pages every few days will help you to identify which students need additional help on particular skills also.

Here are just a couple good reasons for having a morning page ready as your students enter the classroom.

**Routine is established - students know that they should put things away and begin working.

**Allows you time to do your morning tasks such as taking attendance.

**Repetition of previously taught skills helps your students hang on to concepts and keeps you from having to reteach the skills over and over.

**Review and practice of the skills can help with end of the year testing...the student skills will be fresh!

Not everyone likes to tackle morning work, but I found it an awesome way to begin the day and when I did not put a skills sheet out for my students they all wondered why not! Routines are great!

Happy teaching!

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