Give me five!

This is a great way to remind students what you expect from them in one easy sentence. At the beginning of the year, teach them the meaning of give me five:

ears: ready to listen

eyes: on the speaker

mouth: quiet

hands: still

feet: not moving

Once they have learned this (you can even make a reminder poster), all you will need to say is "Give me five" to elicit the appropriate behavior.

Name Banners-First Week of School

On the first day of school, or at least during the first week, have pre-printed name banners for each student. When the students first come in, they need to find their name (assessment!) and then sit down and color their names. The banners are then placed on a bulletin board titled "First Grade Friends!".

Word Walls

Label a bulletin board or area of your wall "Words we see all the time". Have a spot for each letter of the alphabet. I choose to use bee cut-outs with the letters printed inside. Leave plenty of room for words under each letter. The very first words you can add to your word wall are the students names. Do this on the first day of school. Have students each find their name (great assessment!) and then find where to place their name on the word wall. Throughout the year as you learn more high frequency words, add these words to the word wall. You should have quite a collection at the end of the year!

The Message Board

We all know little kids love to write each other notes! Turn this into a great way to practice reading and writing skills. Simply take a piece of posterboard and divide into squares that equals the amount of students you have in your class. Label each square with a students name. Keep post-it notes available with a jar of pencils on a table underneath (could be your sign in table as well), and students can write their friends notes and stick it on their name. Don't forget to leave a space for yourself too!

Bee theme

I have a bee theme in my classroom. Here are some ideas:

-Super Bee-havior! Bulletin board, with character posters, such as "Be Kind", "Be Careful", "Be Patient". If you can't find bee border, you can use yellow border and write the phrases on the border with a black sharpie and glue bee cut-outs in between the phrases.

-In my class, students each have their own bee, laminated and on a clothespin or popsicle stick. The bees are kept on a hive (or hives if you have table groups). If the students do not follow the rules, they get their bee moved off the hive and onto colored cards. The colored cards each signify a specific disciplinary action. If students keep their bees on the hive they earn a ticket at the end of the day. Tickets go into a drawing at the end of the week. If students keep their bee on the hive all week, they get to choose a prize out of the treasure box.

-Refer to myself as the Queen Bee and the students as the worker bees.

-Use the phrase "buzz on back to your seats"

-Helper bee bulletin board to specify classroom jobs

-Oriental Trading Company has some great bee themed decorations!

*More to come~!