The start of school is two days away. At 8:25 on Tuesday morning the bell will ring, and the school year will begin. The year is more marathon than sprint, and the first few days are critical. Our team isn't rotating kiddos until the end of the second week, so the first 7-10 days of school will be my chance to establish and reinforce expectations, as well as getting some initial assessment data.
That first day is still a work in progress right now. I want to have students tour the room in order to see where materials are, where books are (and what books are there), and get a general feel for the layout. We will spend some time going over procedures (and a little of the why we need procedures) such as bathroom, drink, sharpening pencil, etc. Most important will be coming up with "Our Expectations" which I want to frame around learning.
Beyond the procedural end, I also have two or three other things I want to roll out. I am planning to read the Three Questions, a picture book based on a story by Leo Tolstoy. I feel like that, along with some small/large group discussion, will tie back to the discussion of expectations and the community that I hope we'll build. Beyond the three questions, I also want to start the Writer's Workshop. I want to start by having them write a letter to me telling about themselves, and what they want to learn this year. It will tie into a homework assignment that one of my teammates has done in the past. The letter will be between them and I, not the whole class. My plan is to use a few other activities/projects to get us to learn about each other.
The first days are starting to come together, just need a little more work.
Good luck! Must be exciting.
ReplyDelete