This post is for teachers. The main goal for the first week of school should be to familiarize students with the routines and procedures for managing the classroom.
For each task, I am going to remind you about a few of the routines that you will want to teach along with each task, so that you can start thinking about how you would like to structure your first week.
It’s a good idea to take time to teach and practice how you want students to handle the myriad tasks they encounter every day throughout your lesson in these early weeks. Being very heavy on the Get To Know You activities the first day and a half of school works well. Then start layering on some of the actual content for the curriculum
You will get to know the students as you go through the curriculum and the shcedule. Being prepared really helps them and you.
I think it is even more important that students form relationships with you and their classmates in the first week of school. The first weeks are critical in creating a warm, welcoming environment, one where your students will feel comfortable. Once you have your classroom setup and done all of the preparation work for introducing students into your classroom, it is time to get ready for the first day of school.
If you are looking for some fun activities to get your year started off on the right foot, you are going to love these ideas to get students engaged and create a classroom community . All About Me activities help students practice being comfortable talking with their classmates in new ways. They can also serve as an icebreaker in the first week of school. Giving kids opportunities to engage with their new peers is an ideal way to encourage them to open up.
Try Four Corners approach for getting to know kids, which gives them a positive way to get to know one another.
One of the biggest sources of worry for my students is going from having one or two classes in grade school to having six or seven different teachers. Especially as teachers and classes have different class configurations.
Once I get those components down the road the first day, then I can go with Readers Workshop, Readers Theatre, and other getting to know each other activities, which keeps my students engaged and keeps the first week flying.