Below you will find items I use to help me start off the school year. Enjoy!
Bathroom Procedures
Created by: KindergartenWorks
bathroom_book_1.pdf | |
File Size: | 33315 kb |
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Everyone in our school sends post-cards to all of their students and calls and talks to their students on the phone BEFORE school starts. To save time filling out 25 post-cards, I create labels with my contact information on them. I always make sure to include our class website! This way parents can preview our classroom guidelines, expectations, and become comfortable with using the site :o).
mrs_catherwood_1st_grade_labels.doc | |
File Size: | 37 kb |
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Yes! Teachers are certainly professionals and deserving of their own business cards! I print off business cards with my personal contact information and website so that parents can keep them on their fridge or somewhere in the office. After printing, I cut them apart and laminate them. Then, I hot glue a magnet to the back. I present them by placing them on our classroom board at our back-to-school picnic. "Please take a magnet!!!"
mrs_catherwood_business_card.pub | |
File Size: | 104 kb |
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I will have to give kudos to my teacher-educator Paula Everett for this one. (I'm not the best writer!). I print the welcome letter off on stationary paper with a colorful border and then place it on top of the BIG folder of documents that need to be signed and returned for the start of school.
welcome_letter.doc | |
File Size: | 25 kb |
File Type: | doc |
I cut out these simple clipart pictures (found off of google) and tape them to a large dry-erase posterboard (I use the ones that look like handwriting paper). When parents come to the back-to-school picnic I ask them to use a dry-erase marker to write down their child's name under the correct category. If they come to school via bus or carpool, I also have them write down the color/number if needed (or the name of the daycare). I then take this information and type it on a sheet (2nd file below) that can be easily pinned up and referred to during dismissal. After all, you always want to make sure the kids get home the right way, especially those first few weeks!
how_do_i_get_to_school_pics.doc | |
File Size: | 88 kb |
File Type: | doc |
transportation_sheet.doc | |
File Size: | 26 kb |
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This is a summarized version of what parents need to know about our classroom and procedures before we have Open House (3-4 weeks after the start of school). It includes things like lunch, snack, birthdays, medication, etc.
mrs._catherwoods_and_mrs._clarks_class_info_letter.doc | |
File Size: | 34 kb |
File Type: | doc |
This is a revised version of one made by Jennifer Jones. It describes the parents' jobs, the student's job, and the teacher's job to help guarantee reading success for the year. All three parties sign the contract and it is kept inside their take-home folder for the entire year. This way no one can forget to READ! READ! READ!
first_grade_take_home_reading_program.doc | |
File Size: | 28 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Before posting students' work or photos on our class website, I always make sure to cover my bases. This permission form goes home with parents at the Back-To-School picnic so that their child's accomplishments can be displayed proudly!
class_website_permission_form.doc | |
File Size: | 26 kb |
File Type: | doc |
I always have a few of these sheets (on clipboards!) lying on various tables throughout the room. When parents arrive for the 1st time in our classroom, we ask for them to make sure they fill out the information page before they leave. Due to budget cuts last year and this year within our district it was VERY important to me to know whether or not the parents had regular access to the internet/email/printer. Last year, all but 2 parents had access which saved a lot of copies that needed to be made. Instead of copying, I emailed parents updates, newsletters, homework calendars, reading logs, reports, school documents, etc. This way there isn't an excuse about "loosing the paper" or "never receiving a paper". :o)
child_parent_sign_in_sheet.doc | |
File Size: | 40 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Each class in our school develops their own mission statement to display on stationary paper in a frame outside of their classroom door. In order to come up with the mission statement, we use a quality tool called "The 5 Whys". For example, we ask 5 questions that will lead us to the 5 parts of our mission statement. We start with 1 question first: Why do we go to school? The students answer "We go to school to learn and get smarter." So the 2nd leading question would be "Why do we need to get smarter?"....and so on and so on.
class_mission_statement_09-10.doc | |
File Size: | 19 kb |
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Our ground rules are like our class contract. I give all of my students a post-it note and ask them to write down a rule that they think we should follow in our classroom. We then all meet together as a class and construct a quality tool called an "Affinity Diagram". We organize the post-its into categories and if need be we create sub-categories, or if we have too many we combine categories. Once we have all decided on the main ground rules we choose to follow in order to have a relaxing learning environment, I print off the rules and mat them to a colorful piece of cardstock. Once matted, the students used colored ink to fingerprint their thumbs around the border. Then each student signs their name next to their thumbprint. I post this in the room where it can easily be referred to if needed.
ground_rules.doc | |
File Size: | 19 kb |
File Type: | doc |
At the beginning of school I use the time capsule format below to not only create time capsules for the year, but also to assess my students on the letters, numbers, and shapes that they already know (it's a 2-for-1!!!). When students complete their time capsule sheets, I look at them and record the information, then roll them up and place them inside a paper towel tube. I then wrap the tubes in tissue paper and tie the ends with string to make it look like a giant piece of candy! One year I hung the time capsules above the students' desks, but the fire marshall wasn't too happy! I now hang them all together on a LONG piece of string (like a clothesline) for a colorful display or place them in a container to be displayed somewhere in the room. At the end of the year, the students complete the exact same time capsule sheets and then open their capsule from the beginning of the year to see the results. I always do this part 1:1 with them so that I can encourage them with how much progress they have made throughout the year!
time_capsule_sheets.doc | |
File Size: | 22 kb |
File Type: | doc |
time_capsule_me_bag_letter.doc | |
File Size: | 22 kb |
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I send home this Starring Me! page at the beginning of the year and ask parents to help their child fill it out. When they are returned I save them in a file for the year. I send out a schedule to parents letting them know which week is their child's turn to be Star of the Week so that they can mark it on their calendar. I cut out the squares on the sheet and display them on colorful larger squares that have already been laminated and attached to a magnet. I put them up at the beginning of the week, along with a photo of the child (taken at the back-to-school picnic). I allow the students to bring in 1 item to share when it is their week and they also get to read some interesting facts about themselves. In order to have the whole class engaged, we do a thumbs up if we like the same thing that the Star the Week did, or a thumbs down if it is not our favorite.
star_of_the_week.doc | |
File Size: | 27 kb |
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This year I am trying to use the following LEAD Matrices (LEAD is our school motto: Loyalty, Excellence, Achievement, Discipline). I am hoping that giving each child a simplified matrix about their behavior will help them have more ownership over it. So often, our students ask what L E A D means, but this way they will surely know since they have been monitoring their behavior themselves. For each letter, there are a few ways that the student can show that behavior. The student will then rate themselves on how well they have been showing that behavior (1 - not at all, 2 - still need practice, 3 - most of the time, 4 - ALWAYS and I even set an example for others!). Their matrices will be sent home from time to time to show their parents what they need to improve on and what they have been doing well. To solve the problem of students being too generous with themselves, I will allow them to rate themselves in one color, and I will rate them in another color to see how they compare. This way, parents can see an accurate picture of their child's behavior in school.
LEAD lotus is what teachers in our school create the 1st week of school as we discuss behavior and expectations for our classrooms and school. In the center of the lotus we put the letter "L" and what it stands for "Loyalty". In the outlining boxes, the class comes up with ways that we can show that behavior in our classroom and/or school. We then display these in our classrooms the entire year so that we can refer back to them.
LEAD lotus is what teachers in our school create the 1st week of school as we discuss behavior and expectations for our classrooms and school. In the center of the lotus we put the letter "L" and what it stands for "Loyalty". In the outlining boxes, the class comes up with ways that we can show that behavior in our classroom and/or school. We then display these in our classrooms the entire year so that we can refer back to them.
goals_1st_quarter.pdf | |
File Size: | 111 kb |
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2nd Grade Items:
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