How to Have a Successful Year Teaching Kindergarten
During the summer, looking ahead to the next year of kindergarten can feel daunting. It is exciting to think about a new group of students. But, there is so much to do, and it can be difficult to know where to start. Feeling overwhelmed is totally normal! Today, I have some tips on which resources you need to ensure that you have a successful year teaching kindergarten.
Visuals
If I could give any tip to any teacher anywhere, it would be to incorporate visuals for everything in kindergarten. This is especially important at the beginning of the year. Kindergarteners start the year with a wide range of literacy skills, but few of them will be able to read. Kindergarteners need clear boundaries and expectations, just like any other group of students. So, visuals help you communicate your expectations with them, in a way that they can read!
I recommend using visuals for as many things in your classroom as possible when you start the year. Use visuals with step-by-step pictures for how to complete an assignment, and how to transition out of a center. Hang visuals with pictures of how to treat the bathroom respectfully, and how to behave at recess. The more visuals you have in your room, the more chances your students have to be successful. They can be successful because you have shown them exactly what to do and how to do it, without you having to tell them over and over again.
Routines & Procedures
If you want a successful year teaching kindergarten, the next thing you’re going to need is a strong series of routines and procedures lessons. Kindergartners need clear directions to understand how to do something. They also need to practice it over and over again. Let’s say you have a particular routine you want to follow for how to enter and exit the playground at recess time. You will need to teach a mini-lesson about recess, where you model appropriate and inappropriate behavior. Read a story about how to behave on the playground, and how to enter and exit respectfully. Then, after the lesson, you practice every day. If you want a classroom that runs like a well-oiled machine, I highly recommend having plans to teach lessons on every routine and procedure you want your students to be able to do independently. I have several in my TPT store to help you get started!
Academics
Finally, after all of the classroom management is taken care of, you can layer in academics. Kindergarten students need a variety of tasks that engage their senses! Sensory bins are great because tactile learning helps cement skills for students. ‘Write the room’ activities are perfect for little learners because they incorporate movement. There’s a wide range of skills that your students learn in one kindergarten year, and it’s important to keep the style of activity changing to help each student learn. But, it’s important to know that academic success can only come AFTER your classroom procedures and management are under control. You need a combination of clear routines, visuals to help students follow directions, and engaging academic activities. With all three, you are sure to have a successful year in K!
Everything You Need for Kindergarten in One Click
In my TPT store, you will find a year-long bundle with every activity teachers need for having a successful year! This bundle is packed full of visuals, resources to teach routines and procedures, and engaging math and literacy activities that you will never run out of! This bundle is perfect for you if you…
- …are a planner and like to have everything in one place
- …want to add variety, but still maintain consistency in your activities
- …want to have activities at your fingertips that minimize behavior disruptions and maximize learning
If all of that sounds like you, take a peek at my Year-Long Kindergarten Bundle! In a single download, you can have your school year planned and ready. What is better than having everything you need before the school year begins? Check it out here!
