How to Engage Your Students In Writing in 7 Minutes [morning seat work]

How to Engage Your Students in Writing in 7 Minutes or Less!

January Morning Riddles

First 7 Morning Minutes At School:

#1 - Arriving at School

#2 - Check-In Responsibilities

#3-  Hello to Friends and sitting at Table or Desk

#4 - Getting Morning Riddle Page from basket

#5 - Reading their riddle [even before getting back to seat]

#6 - Still reading and thinking!

#7 - Writing! 

Keep reading to find out how you can see your students writing within 7 minutes of entering your classroom... 

This is a collection of 21 January riddles for your students to read, think, write and answer. These riddles are a great writing activity for morning seat work. Students settle right in with reading and writing. It is motivating because the children love to guess what today's riddle answer might be. 

Each riddle is a winter idea and contains many high frequency words. Your students read the riddle, think, and write a sentence that answers the question. Next, they illustrate the sentence that they wrote. This is a motivating writing, reading and thinking literacy activity that you may use for morning seat work, homework, for fast finishers or anytime. This product includes 

Kindergarten Math Center at Christmas [Counting, Number Sense, Writing Numbers]

Counting, Number Sense and 
Writing Numbers 0-9

Christmas Math Center - Writing Numbers

Spin and record math centers engage students in activity, following directions and working beside another classmate. Children enjoy the spinning action and this spin and record is 'All About Christmas' and counting.

This math center for Christmas time will provide practice in counting, number sense and writing numbers from 0-9. Pages and spinner show clip art that is in a Christmas style; however, the number pages can be used anytime.   And you can make these pages readily available all the time.

Themed centers can heighten your students interest.  However, these math centers need to accomplish your teaching goal : providing opportunity and practice in a skill that you have already taught.  Math stations can also be an excellent way to immerse some of your students with a task that reinforces direct instruction while you are teaching another small group a similar skill.  Learning can be fun and certainly is when brains are thinking and students can have some directed movement that allows them responsibility in their own learning. 
Your goals for a math station might be: 

1. Learning
2. Practice, review and reinforcement in skills previously taught
3. Independent skills to complete a given task