Updated July 2022
At the beginning of each school year, we review our routines and rituals in order to reimagine and keep them fresh. At the same time, we stay true to the ways that each routine or ritual contributes to our classroom culture and dynamics we strive to maintain. In this post, we invite you to pick and choose, and imagine possibilities with us as we embrace a new school year. We have gathered some of our favorite goodies to share with you.
We wish you a warm welcome into your school year, and look forward to including you in the next steps of our journey as it unfolds!
Setting a Foundation with a Class Mission Statement
Class Promise
- Promise Slides Resource – The facilitation pieces and activities that we use to build our kindergarten promise with the kids are included in this Google Slides resource. There are a total of 7 promises that every human should strive for!
- We are responsible.
- We set goals and reflect on them.
- We focus and stay calm.
- We find solutions.
- We respect others.
- We use teamwork and include others.
- We take care of our minds, bodies, and hearts.
- Learn more in this blog post
Fostering Safety with Rituals and Routines
Wish You Well
- This Conscious Discipline ritual acknowledges children who are absent from school. Absent children are placed in the heart and well wishes are sent through the Wish You Well song (sung to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell): We wish you well, we wish you well, all through the day today, we wish you well!
- Chapter 1 of our Innovating Play book includes the template and facilitation questions, along with a class book idea!
Feelings Check-In Heart – Updated!
- Feelings Heart Resource – Facilitate a Feelings Check-In by having children look around at the face clues of others. Choose a child to check in with another child. As a class listen as one child describes the face clues of the other. What feeling might they have in their heart? That feeling can be explored with the resource by clicking on it, and then engaging in a GoNoodle video. Afterwards, students can share out gratitude after engaging in the “Be Grateful” slide.
- Learn more in Chapter 2 of our Innovating Play book
Days of School
- Number Representation in Google Sheets – Students can see the day of school being represented in numeral/digit form, in ten frames, and on a counting chart. Bonus when you have a collaborating class joining you and you can compare numbers!
- Learn more in Chapter 6 of our Innovating Play book which includes templates and facilitation questions!
Weather Reporting
- Recording the weather on Flip – A selected weather reporter records a video sharing about the weather in their environment. Later in class, children can share what they notice from the video.
- Graphing the weather in Google Sheets – After viewing the weather report video, the class can head into the weather graph spreadsheet to chart the weather for the day. Over time they can share out observations of patterns they notice taking place!
- Learn more in Chapter 5 of our Innovating Play book which includes the chart template and facilitation questions!
If you found this blog post and the provided resources helpful, you might also be interested in exploring our some of our other resources. Simply click on any of the category images below to discover more!
Our Innovating Play book is available in print AND digitally through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. This means, if you purchase a digital version you can have access to resources NOW. Not only are you getting the resources mentioned in this post, but even more context for how they are used AND over 60 ADDITIONAL resources offered in the book. Prime shipping is available through Amazon if physical books suit you better. Thank you for supporting our work and the time, energy, and effort it takes for us to create and share resources!