Read Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes. Talk with the children about their own feelings and fears about starting school. Let them draw a picture of how they felt about entering their new classroom and share it with a friend or the rest of the class.

The start of the school year is a very important time. It is this time when standards and expectations (and habits) are established for your children. We know that we must teach children the Alphabet, counting and the days of the week. What some teachers do not know is that teaching children exactly what you expect, really teaching and practicing it the way you teach other concepts, can lead to a successful and (somewhat) stress free school year. The following are some activities for your classroom to help settle your children into the new school year.

Following the Rules

Read the book Officer Buckle and Gloria, by Peggy Rathman. Talk about why we have rules and what the children know about rules in the classroom. Give each child a peice of paper in the shape of a star. Let them draw a picture of a rule and share it with the class. Help them to understand the big ideas behind their rules - be safe, be kind to others, be ready to learn, etc. Attach all the stars on a large peice of butcher paper. As a class, write about the book and what you learned. You could write something like, "We read Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathman. We want you to have a safe school year!