What to Plan for the First Day of Kindergarten

There is so much wrapped up into the first day of school in kindergarten. A kindergarten first day is important to teachers, students, and parents!

Here is what I do ahead of time to prepare for just the first day.

These preparations help me keep myself on track the first day of school since we have no routine established, have a lot of kindergarten procedures to learn and we have the attention span of a goldfish.

I say that lovingly and {most} kindergarten teachers will agree.

Staying on track

I write out just about every little thing I can fit into my lesson plan template. I write it out in note form (what makes sense to me) and try to plan in this order:

• teach
• move
• teach
• move
• teach
• move

There are no times listed since I have no idea how long any of these items will take me with the new group of kinders, but I try to use my general sense of kindergarten time-space continuum to plan smart.

I do have anchor points in our day – which are specials, lunch, and dismissal.

If you’re a newbie kindergarten teacher, just do your best and aim to get them moving every 10-15 minutes!

It feels a little bit like herding cats the first few days of school but remember we’re laying the foundation for a year of tremendous growth.

Next, and this is magic for me, I take that plan for the day and cut it to fit on my wrist. I make a lesson plan bracelet.

What to plan for the first day of k

Let me first explain what types of things go into my first day of kindergarten lesson plans and then I’ll list them out for you in the order I use them.

Cover the basics – right away

We start by ourselves since we say goodbye to parents outside as part of our morning routine.

I teach them where to put their lunch boxes and backpacks since that’ll be the way we normally start our day and then I move right into teaching them about the bathroom in our classroom.

Seriously? Yep.

There is always a kinder (or seven) who have to use it right away so it’s the best way to get them started off using proper procedures right away and sets them all at ease.

I also teach procedures like how to blow your nose, using your elbow germ-catcher and using a kleenex to get pesky nose germs out.

I’m not going to expect that someone has taught them these things, but I can expect them to do it now that I have taught them. Nose picking in our classroom is so.not.allowed.

This was my first year starting kindergarten with a projector, so that comes with its own set of introductions and we do a “lite” version of the calendar.

Cover the major expectations or rules

Before we’re too far into our day I go over the classroom expectations along with both the rewards and consequences. I find it helps us start the year off smoothly and then I can begin to hold them accountable since the ground rules are set.

It comes down to that we are here at school to learn and so every choice we make needs to work towards that and there are consequences for making choices that prevent that in ourselves or others.

I try to use natural consequences first and always reinforce that the two things in life we can control are our actions and our attitudes.

Plan time to play

Oh yeah, and I plan in playtime.

I schedule it regularly for the first two weeks of kindergarten.

I use this time to snap a photo of each child that will eventually make a class list for specials teachers, substitutes as well as our class name chart and word wall.

I also try to plan in an extra recess into these first few days and it is a great morning break since our mornings are long.

Plan simple activities

Whatever activities you pick – make them simple. Oh gosh, make them simple.

The goal isn’t to be super creative or super-teacher… your goal is to make students feel welcome, learn how to use things in the classroom appropriately, and begin to learn “how to do school in this classroom.”

So pick a simple set of manipulatives to use or a coloring sheet and pick lots of books to read. Find ways to get them to move. A lot.

Plan a flexible ending to the day

And our afternoon is relatively short (about two hours).

Knowing this, I plan an activity, more procedures (so we know what to expect at the end of the day and dismissal) and an activity — if time provides — that can always finish the next morning.

Mrs. Miner’s Secret Gluing Techniques is my end-of-the-day rescue. We can do it rather quickly (for some) and can finish it in the morning (for others) and it helps make the point of learning how to not glue big globs.

Plan things that build on each other for the next couple of days

If you want to do calendar time then just pick a couple of things to do and add one new thing every day (or every couple of days to help lengthen their attention span)

If you plan to teach students how to use a glue bottle on the first day of school, then you can use your newfound technique on the second day of school to glue a small heart onto a Kissing Hand hand-print (using large stamp pads).

This way they aren’t gluing to practice gluing anymore – they are making a product with the skill they learned.

Now, please note that I did opt to teach them how to use a glue bottle on the first day of school and not scissors.

I don’t plan anything with scissors until the third day of school when we learn how to use glue frames (another new gluing skill) and gluing dabs in four corners to put items together.

In that case, we use this lunch expectations craft to practice our new skills. I outline the foods with a marker to make easy cutting lines.

By day three I have a better idea of who to target for individual attention with scissors for behavior reasons and fine motor skills.

When you plan activities that build on the skills you teach, you are quickly helping students learn to be successful.

First day of school lesson plans

Okay, so here are my lesson plans for the first day of school.

Remember, I write this out in note form and jot down what makes sense to me so I’ll be able to recall what I have to do immediately.

Let’s wrap it up

There you have it – the planning that helps me keep me on track the first day of school. I hope that these tips and seeing our day written out in bullet-point format is helpful to you.

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More starting kindergarten

• Kindergarten First Day Setup Photos
• The Truth About Kindergarten Classroom Management
• The Secret Every Teacher Should Know for the First 21 Days of School
• What Will Your Daily Routine Look Like Eventually?