Classroom Routines
Basic Elementary School Morning Routine
- Greet Students
- Hang up coats/put backpack in cubby
- Choose Lunch
- Go to seats to do an independent activity (These activities would be based upon the student's choice)
- Class Welcome
- Pledge of Allegence and Morning Announcements
- Attendance
- Morning Meeting (Calendar, Weather, and Greeting)
- Discuss Daily Schedule
One example of an independent activity they can do is practice their words of the week, students can choose between:
- list words in ABC order
- write sentences
- draw pictures
- create a word search
- play a word game
Some examples of other routines that will be included in a classroom:
- Turning in homework
- Working in groups
- Seating arrangements
- Transitions
- Clean-up
Morning Meeting
In this video, with older students, the students leads the meeting.
Depending on the age of my students, I will determine whether the morning meeting is lead by myself, the students, or a combination of both.
- Allows students to check in with themselves
- Reflect on what how they did yesterday and what they want today to look like
- Empowers students
- Word Wall activities
Depending on the age of my students, I will determine whether the morning meeting is lead by myself, the students, or a combination of both.
Benefits of a Morning Meeting
- Allow me to see how the students are doing
- 1 to 5 Rating
- Students share about important events in their lives
- Group activity
- Morning message
Hand Signals
Hand Signals can be used in the classroom to reinforce behavior in a nonverbal format. Here are some examples of when to use hand signals:
- show agreement
- encouragement to keep going
Hand Signals are also effective in showing how well the student felt about an assignment. In the video above, the "fist to five" is used to show teachers how they felt about the activity, content, and etc. I can quickly measure how the students are feeling about what they just did. This allows me to see what the students like and what they didn't like, promoting student choice as they can make changes based on the scores the students gave.
Hand Signals can also by students to express something they need. For example, in some classrooms holding up a different number with your fingers describe a specific need.
With these simple hand signals, a student will be able to show their needs quietly without interrupting classroom instruction.
Hand Signals can also by students to express something they need. For example, in some classrooms holding up a different number with your fingers describe a specific need.
- 1 finger= bathroom
- 2 fingers= tissue
- 3 fingers= water
- 4 fingers= pencil
- 5 fingers= question
With these simple hand signals, a student will be able to show their needs quietly without interrupting classroom instruction.
Transitions
I found this video very helpful for explaining transitions between centers. Especially in younger students it was very important to repeat the directions multiple times so that the students know what to do. However, in older students these directions can be written. Some techniques I found effective were:
- Turning off the lights to get the students attention
- Using a song to transition
- Repeating directions
In this video, word wall words or terms are used throughout the day to transition between activities. This allows the students to hear the word repeated throughout the day.
She also discusses the "Grab Bag Quiz", she will think of a question that was already covered and ask students to answer the question. Once their group answers a question correctly they can go to their desks.
I think that both of these strategies are effective examples of important routines that can be incorporated into my own classroom.
- when they hear the word of the day they will know it's time to transition
- signals to the students that they don't move until they hear the word of the day
- acts as a vocabulary builder
She also discusses the "Grab Bag Quiz", she will think of a question that was already covered and ask students to answer the question. Once their group answers a question correctly they can go to their desks.
- allows students to transition in groups
- acts as an incentive for the students to be focused throughout the day because they don't know when you will ask them a question
- makes the transition more meaningful and memorable for students
I think that both of these strategies are effective examples of important routines that can be incorporated into my own classroom.
Example Routines
I really liked the routine that was described in this blog, the teacher of this second grade classroom made it very easy for the students to see what they were suppose to do. The morning routine was posted on the wall with a corresponding picture. Each student knew exactly what was expected of them when they walked in and knew what to do next.
Below are the pictures that were included on the blog:
Below are the pictures that were included on the blog: