I love structure and routine and my morning group would not defer from that.  Not only do structure and routines help our students, but the adults benefit from it too.  One area of the day that needs to have structure, routine, and clear expectations is the morning group.  If not done correctly, this time of day could turn into complete chaos if we don’t have things in place.

I love to incorporate a variety of skills during my morning group time.  This is a great opportunity for students to generalize skills and to maintain previously learned skills.

Here is my step-by-step guide to setting up and structuring your morning group with some of TAH resources:

Physical Structure

First, start by setting up an area for your morning group.  When you are setting up the physical structure of your classroom, think about how you will utilize each area.  The large group area of my classroom was a place where I could pull several students for a large group lesson.  Also think about what you need in that area…whiteboard, smartboard, TV, projector, wall space, etc.  For my large group area, I made sure to incorporate some wall space, a whiteboard, and a projector within this space.  Creating a space that can be used throughout the day for group instruction (morning group, life skills class, math groups, reading groups, etc.), is key to using your space efficiently.  

Morning Group Worksheet

Create a worksheet for your students to complete as you go through your morning group routine.  Students can either write directly on the sheet or upload it to an iPad or laptop for them to easily type on the worksheet. 

Don’t want to recreate the wheel?  Click below for a free copy of the morning group worksheet.  

Morning Group Version 1

Morning Group Version 2

Morning Group Version 3

Morning Group Version 4

Calendar

Start morning group with a song (days of the week, months of the year, seasons, etc.), or depending upon your level of students, start with a movement video.  Introduce the day of the week, month, date, year, and so on.

Weather

Have students check the weather using a QR code for a weather app.  Students can gather the information from the app to graph the temperature. 

Grab the visual temperature bar graph from the TAH online store here.

Who, What, Where Sentence and Picture

Have students combine the who, what, and where phrases into a complete sentence.

Present students with a picture that contains who, what, and where and have them create a complete sentence about the picture.

Other areas to consider adding to your morning group:

• Spelling
• Telling time using an analog clock
• Number of the Day – part of the Math Meeting Bundle TAH online store
• Fraction of the Day – part of the Math Meeting Bundle TAH online store
• Counting Money – part of the Math Meeting Bundle TAH online store
• WH-Questions – 180 Questions and Prompts TAH online store
• Personal Information Questions
• Independent Living Question of the Day – from Adulting Made Easy aka SpedAdulting 

Math Meeting Bundle from TAH

180 Questions and Prompts from TAH

Independent Living Question of the Day from Adulting Made Easy aka SpedAdulting