Classroom Routines

These are some classroom routines that I use to help run the class smoothly.  

Morning:

When students enter the classroom in the morning, they are expected to do the following:

1. Put their chairs down and begin taking out the contents of their backpacks.
2. Put bookbags and coats in the closet.
3. Place homework folders/notebooks in homework box or homework managers collect homework.
4. When they head back to their seat, they must answer a question that is posted on the dry erase board by placing their magnetic piece under the answer.  This is part of the attendance and is used to reinforce graphs. The teacher helper looks at the question/graph to see who is absent and marks it in the attendance book. (This is also the time when classroom workers do their jobs.)
5. Once they have done the poll, they go back to their seats and take out their journals and monthly journal calendar.  They work on the journals for 15 minutes.
6. If they finish early, students must take a book out to read.
7. After a set time, students put away their journals and gather for calendar time/morning message.  

As the students go through the above tasks, I prepare for the day's lessons, read parent letters, etc.

Routine for Reading Group Time:
Click here for information on Reading Workshops

Students are expected to work quietly when I work with reading groups.  This is the system I use to keep students occupied:

1. Prepare a week's worth of assignments and write them on the board/chart on Monday.
2. Review the assignments with students and explain how each one must be completed.
3. When an assignment is completed, they must go to the assignment chart posted on the wall and check off the assignment that has been completed.  Place finished assignment assignment folder that is kept the group tray (my students sit in groups or teams).
4. Any unfinished assignments are placed in the desk folder.
5. Any cooperative projects are done together with the members of the reading group.
***Click here to get ideas on assignments that your students can do.

1. Play a game based the concept being taught that week.
2. Write sentences on the board with capitalization, spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes.
3. Have students edit a paragraph.
4. Do Daily Language Review (based on the book by the same title).

Transition into Math

     Everyday, I write two word problems that students must solve. Students have a word problem notebook that the paper managers pass out at the beginning of each math period.  Students have 10-15 minutes to copy and answer the problems.  Then, they place their notebooks in the Word Problem Basket.  If students get both problems correct, they receive a small sticker on the inside of the front cover of their Word Problem Notebook.  Students look forward to getting their notebooks to see if they received a sticker or not.

Dismissal

 1. Students copy down their homework and take out what they need to go home.
 2. Homework helpers pass out homework folders.
 3. Paper Managers pass out homework assignments, pamphlets, etc.
 4. Quiet reading time while classroom workers do their jobs.
 5. When students line up for dismissal, they must put their magnetic pieces back to their original spots so that they can answer a new question the following day.