January Morning Tubs: Not Just for Prek and Kindergarten Students

January Morning Tubs

Begin your morning routines with these January morning tubs as students arrive to school each day to get them excited about the upcoming day.  You can even use them for centers, early finishers, or even indoor recess time.

Using morning tubs in the classroom is the perfect way to start your day and get your students excited about learning.  These hands-on activities are fun to use during the month of January and contain nine ELA activities, nine math activities, three fine motor activities, and three critical thinking skills activities.


These morning tubs can be found in three different grade levels: 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and 4th grade.  There are only a few differences in each grade level in math to make sure that your students are using appropriate grade level activities.

The temps may be chilly, but the fun is smoking HOT!

ELA:

Parts of Speech Mystery Pictures

Students will read the clues in the squares on each whiteboard and find the puzzle pieces with the answers.  When all of the pieces are placed on the correct clues, a picture will be revealed.

Prefix Wheels

The students will choose the center circles with the prefixes and complete the puzzles by adding the correct words to the puzzles to complete larger circles.

Categories

The students will choose task cards and decide what the pictures have in common.  They will write five more words that fit in the categories and then name the categories.

Adjectives, Nouns, Adverbs

Students will find the correct path by placing pompoms, small erasers, or other small manipulatives on the boxes that have the correct parts of speech.

Variety of Skills

Students will read the cards, decide if the statements are true or false, and sort them under the correct headings.

Narrative Writing

The students will choose picture cards and write stories, including rich details about the pictures.

Antonyms

The students will put the road together any way they want.  They will then match the words on the cars with the antonyms on the road pieces.

Parts of Speech Roll and Cover

The student will roll the die and cover a matching word according to the key with his or her manipulatives.  The winner is the person with the most words covered with his or her color of manipulatives.

Mini Informational Text Reading

The students will read the informational passages to learn more about winter subjects.

Math:

Symmetry

Students will choose cards, practice copying the designs on the cards, and then finish the other halves as mirror images. 

Fractions

The student will choose a card and the blocks needed to show the fraction.  
*The fourth grade unit involves equivalent fractions.

Counting Puzzles

Students will put the puzzles together by counting within 1,000.

*3rd Grade - to 100,000

*4th Grade - to millions

Time

The student will choose a card, use playdough to show the time on the large clock, and write the digital time.
*4th grade - elapsed time

Geometry Pattern Blocks

The students will follow the directions on the gameboard to play. Each player will need his or her own gameboard.

Fluency Wheels

The students will complete the wheels by adding or subtracting the numbers in the centers to the other numbers on the wheels.
*3rd and 4th grades - multiplication

Money

The student will choose a card, place it on the money mat, and place the coins on the igloo to count.
*4th Grade - word problems involving money

2-D Shapes

 The students will sort the shapes into the correct cups.

Addition and Subtraction

Each player will choose two dominoes and place them on his or her work mat.  The students will make addition or subtraction problems out of the dominoes.  The player with the largest sum (addition) or smallest difference (subtraction) keeps all of the dominoes.  The person with the most dominoes wins the game.

*4th grade - 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication

Fine Motor Skills:

Cursive Writing

 The students will trace the winter words written in cursive.

Tangles

The students will trace the tangled paths with dry-erase markers.

Draw and Write

The student will complete the page by following the step-by-step directions to draw the picture. The student will then write a short paragraph about the picture.

Squares

Students will complete the nine-piece puzzles so that all of the images or images and words match on the interior sides. 

Magic Number Squares

Students will follow the instructions shown to solve the puzzle. 


If you are interested in these January morning tubs for your own classroom, you can click on the picture below to find this in my TpT store.

Making school fun, engaging, and rigorous with these January morning tubs is just...

My Kind of Teaching!!