I always over plan for the first few days with a new class – it’s difficult to know how much work the kids will get through when you don’t really know them and I prefer to have lots to keep the children busy rather than too little and hearing the dreaded ‘I’m finished – what now’ question. I’ve already written a post about the first day but this post will be a little more detailed!
Thursday
Names and Getting to Know You
Children will create their own name card (Quick tutorial here) and introduce themselves and tell me one interesting thing about them.
Welcome to 5th Class Powerpoint
I created this powerpoint when I started with 3rd class a few years ago. It covers all the key information about the school/ the classroom/ the people who work with us/ times for break/lunch etc. We will also look at some of the key class procedures to help the classroom operate smoothly.
You can download the template below
[purchase_link id=”9868″ style=”button” color=”blue” text=”Purchase”]
What I’m looking forward to…
Write a class list of all the things you are looking forward to about the new school year.
All About Me Bunting
I purchased this from Teachers Pay Teachers! It has lots of details on it for the kids to fill in. I will print it on white card and use it for a display!
I also bought an Irish version of the bunting from Ms. Forde’s Classroom.
An Effective Teacher/ An Effective Student
This is something I always do on the first day. The children work in groups to brainstorm an effective teacher and an effective student.
This is then the basis for class rules and expectations which can be created together as a class.
Copies
We will also write names and the subject names on the copies. The children will also practice the ‘Perfect Page’ in their copies.
- For a list of copies I’ll be using – read here.
- For a quick guide on the ‘perfect page’ – read here.
Friday
Class procedures
We will revise the class procedures that will be used in our classroom.
Writing
Recount writing – My Summer Holidays; this will be used as an assessment piece for the beginning of the school year. I think its good to do this in the first few days of school as it gives a clear indication of where the children are at (especially after the summer holidays). We can then revise things that the children may have forgotten during the summer in the first full week back. (I’m expecting some forgotten capital letters and punctuation marks!) I think this is also a good time to observe the children completing independent work.
Maths
A quick revision, some mental maths and some maths games to ease us back into it!
Gaeilge
We will revise some key phrases that the children should know. Many children won’t have used Gaeilge throughout the summer so we will use these balls to practice asking and answering questions. (These were 75c each in deals and as they are soft they work really well in the classroom.
Art
We will complete two art lessons. One will be self portraits where the children will draw their favourite things and the second will be a name art project.
Anything we don’t get to – will be carried on to the following week.
