Morning Starter

Have you noticed all the Number of the Day forms floating around Pinterest and tPt?  I decided to take that idea and run with it...in a way that would include almost no daily prep on my part.  (Don't you hate when a good idea ends up being more work for you??)  I liked the idea of manipulation of a number and wanted the kids to also practice manipulation with vocabulary and word parts.  So...I made a morning starter book with 4 different page types-one for each day Mon-Thurs.

*Every day, the kids will start by writing the answer to a daily "secret password". This is a question about anything I want them to know, especially facts or repetitive information they need to memorize.  In order to exit the classroom to go to recess, the kids have to whisper to me the "secret password", or answer to the daily password question.

 Monday-Number of the Day 

Kids start by writing the password of the day and number of the day, both posted on the front board. Then they write the number in word form, expanded form and multiply the number by 10, 100 and 1,000.  In the grid they write each digit of the number in the bottom row boxes, and the name of the place value in the top row boxes (ones, tens, hundreds, etc.).  Finally, they use the month number to list its multiples and factors, then list which of those numbers are prime (ie. July is the 7th month, so they would list the multiples 7, 14, 21... and the factors 1, 7 and write that 1 & 7 are the primes).

Tuesday-Good, Better, Best 

Kids start by writing the password of the day and then analyze three items to determine which one is good, which is better and which is best.  Here's some examples...
 *list 3 adjectives & kids determine which word is good, better, best
*show 3 sample journal entries and kids decide which one is good, better, best 

*show 3 Google entries and kids determine which one would be good, which is better and which would be the best

*post a number addition problem (good), a straightforward word problem (better) and a more complex word problem (best) and let kids choose which they can answer

*list 3 fractions or decimals and have kids write which one is good, which is better and which is best (& write an explanation for their choice, since this could go multiple ways) 

Wednesday-Word of the Day 

Kids start by writing the password of the day and word of the day, both posted on the front board. Then they look up the word in a dictionary (this can be done with a partner if you don't have enough dictionaries) and write its definition, part of speech, a synonym and antonym for the word and the guide words at the top of the dictionary page.  In the grid, they write a word that's an example of each corresponding part of speech.  The last box is for them to use the word in a sentence and, if time, diagram the sentence.  (In our class, we diagram sentences to help with grammar and writing structure; there's a great resource for learning to diagram sentences here)

Thursday-Boggle 

This is a craze that has been going around Pinterest quite a bit lately!  I tried it with my kids and they LOVED it, and it actually engaged my high kids and low kids the whole time.  So I decided to add it to our morning starter book and have them do it every week, which will help develop phonics and word parts skills.  

My board in the morning, with the number of the day, word of the day, password and boggle letters ready to go for the week.