An idea for the first day of school

     I don't know about you but I hate going over the rules on the first day of school. It makes me feel like I'm a big meanie and I know that the kids are hearing the rules from every teacher on that day as they sit back passively and block it out. 

     

     On Facebook I am a member in several teacher groups and every once in a while I get a gem of an idea from them. This is an example of such a situation.

     The idea is: take the script that you would use on the first day of school and turn it into an activity for the students. As the students walk into the classroom greet them at the door and hand them an index card. On the top of that index card it should read "After you hear somebody say this:" and at the bottom of the card it should read "You say this:" 

     I first set up the spreadsheet with the script broken into 27 short statements and then I set up and printed the cards. 

     

      After printing the cards I laminated them using my Scotch Thermal Laminator. I know what you're going to say... "My district already has a laminating machine" but I will tell you this baby is worth the $20 I paid for it at Walmart. The cards will all be the same size, the plastic is heavier and more durable, and the corners are rounded.

You can also buy the laminating pouches at Walmart, Michaels, Office Max etc. but the best prices are at Walmart. This pack of 20 4x6 laminating pouches was about $2.50.

     You put a card into a pouch and then feed it through the laminator and it all melts together. I really like the rounded corners and the fact that they are all the same size.

      I have a feeling that one might get misplaced or not returned to me so I put a TEENY little number in the corner of each card. I think I used a size 3 font because I wanted to be able to check it but I didn't want the kids to know it's there. 

      Oh, and at the end of the lesson we probably will read through them again a 2nd time to see how fast we can do it...and then have a quick quiz on the content we covered. (If you look at my spreadsheet...You'll see the questions for the quiz.)

I haven't tried this activity yet but I'll report back when I do in September.

What is your favorite way to go over the rules in class?