First Day of School
Welcome Students: Stand by the door to welcome each student as they come in. Take this opportunity to establish some rapport or reassure nervous students.
Introduction: Write my name on board, pronounce it. Describe myself briefly. Talk about how excited I am to be their teacher.
Class Culture: Explain how we work together to create a culture of safety and learning.
Class Mascot: Introduce a stuffed animal, for example, a Bulldog. Use the mascot as a jumping off point for creating an attention getting routine as well as a routine to call on students and have students pay attention to whoever is speaking. For example, Call to attention: Class Class!! Response: Woof! Woof!. Teacher: Bulldogs listen to Joe! Class: Looks at Joe: “Woof! Woof!”
Create Classroom Rules: Students participate in setting the class rules. (I will guide them) We create a rule chart that everyone signs and is displayed prominently.
Ice Breaker: Getting to know you Scavenger Hunt. Students are paired up, given a list of things to find like: person with a cat; person with a dog; an only child; a person with more than three siblings; and they have to collect signatures from their peers that can complete each item. Afterwards, we can debrief and discuss, and hand out small awards.
Recess
Explain and assign class jobs: Each student will have a turn for each job, and they will be given a title and a tag to wear all week for that job. Their duties will be explained and posted in an anchor chart. Jobs include: line leader, electrician (turns lights off and on upon teacher request); supply technician (hands out papers and supplies), messenger (takes messages and runs errands for teacher), security (open doors, holds doors, and makes sure door is closed behind everyone), IT (helps students log in to computers), maintenance (sharpens pencils, organizes markers and other supplies).
Procedures: Connect procedures back to the rules and class jobs, and go over procedures. Practice procedure, run “procedure drills” and give awards for students that master the procedures quickly. For example, how do we line up and walk down the hall; how to hand out materials, and take up materials, ask a question, go to the bathroom, etc. Do role playing activities to demonstrate how each job will work during the day, and how to do different things.
Tour the school. Practice walking in line. Practice going to the bathroom, getting water, introduce students to library, art room, music room, principal, nurse, auditorium, etc.
Lunch
Math lesson: mostly to practice actual procedures and rules in action. The activity in this lesson can be re-used in a center. Each day an additional activity can be worked on as a group and then made into a center.
Brain Break: Song and dance (from video)
End of Day cleanup