First day, check!

Today was my first day with students!  I survived the first day of 5th grade!  :)  It was good to see my students again and almost felt like we picked up right where we left off last year, along with 4 new students! Thankfully, I was able to get to school early to make sure I was 100% ready!  I am loving my new teacher bag!  

I thought I would share some of our first day procedures!  We start the day with a teacher introduction and a read aloud.  I used my Math About Me board as my introduction and read the book First Day Jitters.  
I pre-print name labels and let students label materials and get everything placed where it should go.  This usually takes some time and can become chaotic if you aren't careful!  Afterwards, we discuss procedures, procedures, and more procedures.  Here is a glance at what we discuss:
  • rules, rewards, consequences
  • bathroom
  • morning routine
  • hallway behavior
  • lunch
  • recess
  • activity
  • dismissal
I discuss a few items in their student handbooks as well.  We also discuss the use of student helpers, our daily schedule, and practice fire and tornado drills.  Tomorrow I will really focus on our intruder drill and we will practice it.  

We had short lessons in ELA, Math, and Social Studies. Here's a look at each subject:

ELA:
  • We colored the spines of our Reading and Writing notebooks.  This helps us easily see which notebook is which in student cubbies.  Orange = Reading notebook, Yellow = Writing notebook.  
  • Read "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" and discussed bucket filling.

  • Beach ball activity
  • Anchor charts (What does Independent Reading look like/sound like? and What do students in our room need to do in order for our classroom to run smoothly?)...pictures to come!
Social Studies:
  • Colored the spine of our SS notebook blue.  Here is a look at our notebooks by the end of the day!  
  • We began Social Studies with a short writing prompt: Why is Social Studies important?


Math
  • Students brainstormed facts to put on their Math About Me poster!  This was harder for students than I had thought it would be, but I can't wait to see the final product.
Throw in lunch, recess, activity, and a review of procedures and that was our first day!  This teacher is tired, but it was a great first day to our year!!  

7 comments

  1. Congratulations on surviving your first day! Sounds like you had a great one. I really like the idea of coloring the spines of notebooks. Definitely borrowing that idea!

    Your bag is adorable too! Where did you get it??

    Jennifer
    Mrs. Laffin's Laughings

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  2. I'm so glad you had a wonderful first day! Your kiddos are really lucky to have you! I love reading First Day Jitters, it's a classic!
    Erin
    Short and Sassy Teacher

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  3. I love the idea of coloring the spines of your notebooks colors! Great idea! I wish we had more than one notebook so I could do that with my students.

    Meredith
    1, 2, Eyes On You!

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  4. Awww, congrats on your first day with the Fivers! I'm a teeny bit envious; I was supposed to loop with my students from 4 to 5 this year, but I ended up having a position in fourth. So bittersweet, to not have to change grades but giving up my loopers.

    LOVE the bucket fillers!

    Heather
    Peacocks & Penguins

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  5. YAY, Lana! You survived the first day!
    I read First Day Jitters in my room too. I love the illustrations!
    Hoping tomorrow goes just as smoothly for you...

    Kim
    Finding JOY in 6th Grade

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  6. I love that book too! I just posted a few pics of what I do with my procedures and routines. Check out mrs simon says. I'm just starting out, so I'm trying to figure out how to attach my blog link!!

    Thanks!
    Kristen

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  7. I love your idea of coloring the notebooks to help keep them straight! Our kids have 7 between their 4 classes... their heads are still spinning trying to figure out how they'll keep them straight :)

    Lauren
    The Sweetest Thing
    Follow me on Bloglovin'!

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