Executive Functioning Worksheets for Teens: The Morning Routine

What is included

• •The nine-step morning chain as photo steps, one action each, ending on the door self-check the goals measure
• •The night-before card, eleven verb-led items with blanks for the alarm time and the bedtime, which produces every item the door list checks
• •The door checklist, seven items that assume no phone, no bus pass and no lunch money, plus three write-in blanks and a for-work column
• •Three what-if scenario cards, including the ten-minute morning and the overslept morning, and a short list card already in order, so a late morning is never a judgment call
• •Three levels, from pointing along the chain to running it with no adult reminder
• •A 5-column data sheet with a row per step and its own row for the door self-check, and two copy-paste IEP goals with no printed time default
• •A teacher guide covering bedtime alongside the alarm, and teaching getting out of bed on its own when that is the hard step
• •US Letter and A4 print files, everything single-sided

Questions from teachers

Who is this morning routine pack for?

Teens and young adults from about 13 to 22 in special education, life skills and transition programs, and the teachers, paraprofessionals and parents who run their mornings. The photographs and the wording are age-respectful: no cartoon suns, no reward stickers, no baby talk. A student heading to a first job gets the same chain with a work column on the door card.

Why is there no time limit in the IEP goals?

Because a printed number becomes the number an IEP team copies, and a speed cap measures the wrong thing. Sleep problems are common in autistic teens, so a morning clock records last night rather than today's skill, and a student who is independent but slow would fail a goal about independence. The goal measures completing the chain across opportunities, and there is a separate opt-in line with a blank for a team that has baselined this student over a week.

Does the pack tell students not to hit snooze?

No, and that is deliberate. A controlled sleep study found no harm from a short snooze, and snoozers did slightly better on cognitive tests right after waking, so a no-snooze rule would be a claim the evidence does not support. What the pack does instead is put the bedtime next to the alarm on the night-before card, because sleep length is the variable that actually matters, and it teaches getting out of bed as its own step for the student who finds that the hard part.

What if my student does not have a phone, a bus pass, or money for lunch?

The door checklist is written so none of those is assumed. Items read as conditions, such as a phone or device if I carry one, and a ride pass, ID or ticket if I need one, and the lunch line says lunch or my lunch plan so a student on a school meal has something true to check. Three blanks are there for what this student actually carries: medicine, glasses or hearing aids, a charger, a work badge, an AAC device, or papers that need a signature.

How is this different from your other morning-work packs?

The morning-work packs are seatwork a student does after arriving. This is the routine that gets them there: a task-analysis chain, a night-before card, a door self-check and the scenarios for when a morning goes wrong. It pairs with the hygiene pack for the bathroom step and with Dressing for the Forecast for the getting-dressed step, and each of those packs teaches its step in full.

Can I use just part of it?

Yes. The chain, the night-before card, the door checklist and the scenario cards each stand alone, and the data sheet scores whichever of them you are running. Many classrooms start with the door checklist by itself, because it is the piece a student can own in a week.