Elementary students thrive on clear expectations and consequences. One of the first things you'll want to do is develop classroom rules. Have students suggest rules while you record them on a chart. Take all suggestions then brainstorm three or four basic rules that will cover everything. For example, if students have suggested, "No hitting," "No kicking" and "No pushing," a basic rule would be "Keep your hands and feet to yourself." After your have your basic rules established, you'll need to talk about consequences. Have students role-play, or ask another teacher to assist you if they are very young, regarding the consequences of breaking rules and the rewards of good conduct.
Established procedures cut down on rule-breaking in the classroom. Write down how you want students to handle broken pencils, going to the restroom, getting your attention, turning in work, lining up, sitting in their seats, getting materials and preparing to go home. Then spend time each day at the beginning of the year teaching each procedure. To reinforce procedures, ask students to draw each one or complete fill in the blank worksheets about them.
Promote friendship and trust through getting to know you lessons. One idea is to have students take one to five candies out of a bowl, instructing them that for each candy they take, they will have to share one thing about themselves with the class. After sharing, they can eat their candies. Another option is to have students complete a scavenger hunt around their classroom. Create a list of sentences such as, "I have two brothers," "I play soccer" and "My favorite color is blue," then have students ask each other questions until they find students who fit each sentence. They can record the student's name next to the correct sentence.
Assessing elementary students at the beginning of the year will allow you to plan more effective lessons for the rest of the year. In addition to completing any district- or curriculum-required testing, you can plan enjoyable lessons that will assess student skills. Have students write about and/or draw a picture of their summer vacation, create name poems (where each letter in their names must start a word that describes them) or read with a partner to assess language arts skills. Playing math baseball (where players who are "up" answer a math problem) is a way to assess student skills painlessly.