Welcome to School!
“Welcome to first grade! I’m glad you are in my class!” I look around at the bright-eyed students sitting expectantly at their desks. Most of them are happy to be at school; one or two children may feel a bit apprehensive. I am looking forward to the new year!
How do teachers plan for the first day of school? We’ve been setting up our classrooms, preparing books, and working on lesson plans. Now let’s focus on the first day.
I spend extra time planning for this first day as it sets the atmosphere for the year. I had been teaching many years before I felt like I got the first day planned well.
About two weeks before school starts, I send a letter to each of my incoming students. I welcome them to my class and share some information about the year as I tell them things we’ll learn and do in first grade. I want them to bring something to school on that first day. This gives a connection to home and may help those who are nervous about school. Some years they are to bring a stuffed animal or a favorite object. This year my students are to bring a cup of some kind of snack to add to the trail mix we will make.
I begin the first day by standing in my doorway and praying over the room, the class, the school, and the year. As the children arrive, I greet them by name and direct them to find their desks and wait there.
Everyone is here! Let’s start with introductions. I introduce myself, and we go over student names and introduce new students. We sing “Building Up the Temple” with student names. Next, we learn our student numbers, find our lockers, and stow our backpacks in the lockers.
Devotions and prayer follow. (I have a devotional that I always use—I show a teddy bear and discuss comfort and doing new things, accompanied by some Bible verses.) We discuss times of being afraid and what we can do when we are afraid.
In our school, we have an all-school assembly on the first day, so I discuss chapel procedures and seating; then we go to chapel a bit early so we can get settled before everyone else comes.
After chapel, we work on expectations, procedures, and introduction of the classroom. (I’ll be presenting many topics today. I know they won’t all stick, but we’ll keep reviewing and practicing them. Note: Don’t try to get every procedure introduced today—do what is necessary for today.) I go over a few areas of procedures, then switch to classroom introduction.
Start with these procedures/expectations:
Bathrooms - location; asking to go; when to go
Water bottles: belong in these cubbies; must fit in the cubby; asking for drinks
Listening: listen to me, to each other; raising hands to talk
Desks: sit on chair; take care of desk
For the classroom introduction, I walk around the classroom, introducing areas as I go. (Here is the pencil sharpener, games, books, teacher space, classroom supplies…)
Next, we hand out the new books. What fun to receive the books and page through them to see what we will be learning. The students write their names in the books and place them in their desks. (Note: Have the students write their names. This saves you some time and gives them the fun of starting a new book.)
Now let’s discuss how to organize and take care of the desk. The students get out the supplies they brought; we put names on them and discuss organizing the books and supplies in the desks. I hand out desk folders and discuss taking care of books and supplies.
Then it’s time for recess—our first of the year! I go over some recess expectations briefly, then lead my class outside where the recess supervisors will continue the recess procedures discussion.
After recess, we have a lesson to accompany my theme for the day. This year my theme is “All Aboard!”
Lesson Notes:
Show train pictures; blow train whistle
Read The Little Engine that Could; discuss what you can do
Make “Travel Mix” (Mix the trail mix items that children brought and serve each child a bag of travel mix.)
Assign “I Think I Can” worksheet; (This worksheet has a train picture to color and a sentence completion “I think I can __________________.”)
Take “First Day of First Grade” photos of each child while they complete the worksheet and eat travel mix
I want the children to have something to take home with them. We’ll do a train dot-to-dot that they can show their parents. I also send home “First Grade Information” and a letter introducing myself to the parents.
This morning went quickly! We end our first day of school with announcements for tomorrow (give the students something to anticipate), cleaning up, and prayer. It’s time to pack up and line up to go home. I give instructions for this process, we practice a bit, and then I lead the line out to the buses. (Tomorrow we will start classroom jobs. Tomorrow, I will tell them about saying good-bye to me.)
My objectives for the first day of school:
Students will learn to create a classroom community by learning names and working together.
Students will learn about first grade by practicing procedures and guidelines.
If we have extra time:
Walk around part of the school as an introduction
Read the First-Grade poem
Do “All About Me” worksheet
Do some brain break activities
Go over rules
I think we are off to a good start! Now that the first half-day is finished, I will sit down and plan for tomorrow.
