 Provide
the students with playdough, puzzles, drawing paper, or other materials
that they may actively interact with as others arrive and parents are saying
their goodbyes.
 As
the school day begins, ask the children to listen to the beginning of the
special "start the day" song. Explain to them when they hear this song,
they should push their chairs in and come have a seat on the floor. You
can use any song you like. My personal favorite is the "Disney's Mainstreet
Electrical Parade". It is very happy and upbeat, and children love it.
Practice this procedure once or twice until they demonstrate understanding.
I've also use this song anytime I want the students to come to the floor.
I've also used it as a wake up song.
 Play
one or two games to help the students get to know their classmates. Here
are some suggestions:
 One,
Two, Three About Me - Children sit in a circle. Invite the students to
share one, two, or three things about him/herself. Pass around a basket
of treats, maybe m&ms or goldfish crackers, while music is played.
When the music stops, the child holding the basket shares one, two, or
three things about him/herself and chooses that many treats from the basket.
- from Celebrate the Months September -by Creative
Teaching Press
Make
a large cube with the following pictures on the sides: a food, a color,
an animal, a TV, a place, and a toy. Each student is given a turn to roll
the cube. When it lands on a picture, he/she states his/her name and favorite
food, color, animal, TV show, place, or toy, depending on the picture on
the cube.
The
Beanbag Name Game - Start the game by handing one of the students
a beanbag or cute beanie. Begin with this chant. "Hello (child's
name). How are you? Who is sitting next to you?" The child passes the beanie
to the friend next to him/her. That child says hisher name and the song
is repeated until everyone has had a turn. Encourage the children to say
the chant with you.
Explain to the children that their classroom is like a big family. Discuss
how you will all be spending a lot of time together and let the students
tell what they would like for their classroom to be like in order for them
to feel safe and happy. Guide the children in setting up rules that everyone
agrees to follow. Brainstorm with the children and let them make a final
decision (guiding them of course :0) ) Post the rules on a chart entitled,
"Our Class Pledge", with each rule starting with "I promise to..." Have
the children give definitions of the word promise. Read the pledge together
at the start of each school day.
 Demonstrate
the most important procedures students need to know before they come to
school the next day, and practice these procedures until the students show
they understand. In my classroom, we are always practicing and reviewing
procedures that they are expected to perform during the year. Practice
makes perfect (well, almost :)
)
 I
have tried a number of classroom management strategies in my 8 years of
teaching and I finally found what works best for me. I make sure to discuss
this plan with my students on the first day of school, so they will know
what is expected of them. If you are like me and need a plan that's simple
with little paperwork, try this out in your room this year. Here is a link
to my web page that explains the classroom discipline plan to the parents
of children in my classroom.
 Classroom
Discipline Plan Take
each child's picture on his/her first day of Kindergarten. I save it for
their portfolio that goes home at the end of the year. If you have a digital
camera, you can import each picture right into a page with this poem:
This is a
very special day,
 Keep
a record of each student's progress with a year long self portrait book.
Begin on the first day of school by giving each child a self portrait page
with this poem on it:
Let's stand
up and cheer.
Continue giving them a self portrait page each month until the last month of school. Then, finish out the self portrait book with this poem: From the
first day to the last,
Another
special keepsake to make on the first day of school is the students' handprints.
Print out this poem on paper and have each child add his/her handprints
to the bottom. Save these for the end of the year portfolio. Here's the
poem:
Here are
my hands with ten fingers in all.
Happy First Day of Kindergarten
Read
the perfect book for the first day of school, The Kissing Hand. 
In case you're unfamiliar with the book, The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn, is the story of Chester who is starting to school and has some reservations about leaving his mother. She reassures him by giving him a kiss on his hand, which he can put on his cheek to feel her love when he is away from her. Click on Chester the Raccoon to order from Amazon. Kissing Hand Activities (most of these activities I collected from the Kinder-L mail ring.)
Miss Bindergarten
Gets Ready for Kindergarten Activities
|
Let's go back to the thematic
units!
If
you meet with the parents before school starts, read the book to them and
tell them you will read it to the students on the first day. Encourage
parents to give their children a kiss in their hand on the first day. The
kids get very excited when you read the story and they have a kiss like
the racoon.
Another
"must read" for the first day of school is Miss Bindergarten
