Miner’s Secret Gluing Techniques is my end-of-the-day rescue. Knowing this, I plan an activity, more procedures (so we know what to expect at the end of the day and dismissal) and an activity - if time provides - that can always finish the next morning. Plan a flexible ending to the dayĪnd our afternoon is relatively short (about two hours). So pick a simple set of manipulatives to use or a coloring sheet and pick lots of books to read.
#FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN GIFTS HOW TO#
The goal isn’t to be super creative or super-teacher… your goal is to make students feel welcome, learn how to use things in the classroom appropriately, and begin to learn “how to do school in this classroom.” Whatever activities you pick – make them simple. I also try to plan in an extra recess into these first few days and it is a great morning break since our mornings are long. I use this time to snap a photo of each child that will eventually make a class list for specials teachers, substitutes as well as our class name chart and word wall.
I schedule it regularly for the first two weeks of kindergarten. I try to use natural consequences first and always reinforce that the two things in life we can control are our actions and our attitudes. It comes down to that we are here at school to learn and so every choice we make needs to work towards that and there are consequences for making choices that prevent that in ourselves or others. I find it helps us start the year off smoothly and then I can begin to hold them accountable since the ground rules are set. Cover the major expectations or rulesīefore we’re too far into our day I go over the classroom expectations along with both the rewards and consequences. This was my first year starting kindergarten with a projector, so that comes with its own set of introductions and we do a “lite” version of the calendar. Nose picking in our classroom is so.not.allowed. I’m not going to expect that someone has taught them these things, but I can expect them to do it now that I have taught them. I also teach procedures like how to blow your nose, using your elbow germ-catcher and using a kleenex to get pesky nose germs out. There is always a kinder (or seven) who have to use it right away so it’s the best way to get them started off using proper procedures right away and sets them all at ease. I teach them where to put their lunch boxes and backpacks since that’ll be the way we normally start our day and then I move right into teaching them about the bathroom in our classroom. We start by ourselves since we say goodbye to parents outside as part of our morning routine.
Let me first explain what types of things go into my first day of kindergarten lesson plans and then I’ll list them out for you in the order I use them. Next, and this is magic for me, I take that plan for the day and cut it to fit on my wrist. It feels a little bit like herding cats the first few days of school but remember we’re laying the foundation for a year of tremendous growth. If you’re a newbie kindergarten teacher, just do your best and aim to get them moving every 10-15 minutes! I do have anchor points in our day – which are specials, lunch, and dismissal. There are no times listed since I have no idea how long any of these items will take me with the new group of kinders, but I try to use my general sense of kindergarten time-space continuum to plan smart. I write it out in note form (what makes sense to me) and try to plan in this order: I write out just about every little thing I can fit into my lesson plan template. I say that lovingly and kindergarten teachers will agree.
These preparations help me keep myself on track the first day of school since we have no routine established, have a lot of kindergarten procedures to learn and we have the attention span of a goldfish. Here is what I do ahead of time to prepare for just the first day. A kindergarten first day is important to teachers, students, and parents! There is so much wrapped up into the first day of school in kindergarten.
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