Non-Academic Routines
Storing personal items
Cleaning desks
Maintain storage areas
Entering the room at the beginning
of the day
Leaving the room at the end of the
day
Student personal items will go into their cubbies. In their cubbies they will keep their backpacks, coats,
and lunch boxes. The students will also have a small shelf above each cubby where I will put notes,
letters, and assignments that need to go home with them. Students’ school supplies will be stored in
the bins next to their desks. This will include pencils, markers, crayons, glue, scissors, pens, highlighters,
and paper as well as folders for each subject filled with their relevant work. Students’ independent
reading books will be in their book bins in the library. Students will put away personal items at the
beginning of the school day, put away supplies after each activity, and put away books after the
independent reading block is over.
Students will make sure their desks are clean after each transition into a new activity. At the end of a
rotation, content block, free choice, or snack time, students will have 2 minutes to clean up and get out
the supplies for the next activity. I will indicate the time using the timer that I will keep at the front of
the classroom. This will help students take responsibly for everything they use and will create an
efficient operation for transitions to maximize instructional time.
As mentioned above, students will be responsible for cleaning up after themselves after each activity or
block of time. If they’ve used supplies, they need to return it to where it belongs. Making sure that
students are constantly returning supplies to where they belong will help keep things organized and
help students find the supplies when they need them in the future.
I will stand at the door each morning and greet students for the day. Once they come in, they first need
to put away their backpacks, coats, and any other personal supplies into the cubbies. Then they need
to place any homework or notes from home into the return bin located at the student supply center.
Next, students will need to check the classroom job list and if they have a job that needs to be done in
the morning like pencil sharpener or plant waterer, they need to carry out that job. Once they have
done their classroom job, they move to their desks and complete the morning work activity on the
board. Once all students have arrived and I have taken attendance, we will then move to the carpet for
morning meeting.
After our closing meeting, I will dismiss students to their desks. At their desks, we will go over any
homework that they need to do or any notes they need to take home with them. I will have the
students write down these reminders into their agendas. Then, one desk clump at a time, students will
take any supplies from their desks that they need to take home and move to the cubby area to get their
backpacks. Once there, students will need to grab anything from their cubby mailbox and put it in their

Going to the restroom
Lining up
Getting students’ attention
Turning in assignments
agenda folders in their backpacks. Once students have gathered their belongings, they will return to
their seats for dismissal. At this time, students may read to themselves, chat with classmates, or fulfill
any end of the day student jobs like stacking chairs.
Younger students typically have a bathroom in the classroom, so students are free to use the bathroom
whenever they wish. Students will need to wait to use the bathroom if someone else is in there. During
independent work time, they may get up to use the bathroom without letting me know. During a whole
class lesson or discussion, students will use a special hand signal to indicate that they need to use the
restroom and I will give them a head nod to go ahead. I will discuss with students that unless it is an
emergency, it is best to use the bathroom during transitions instead of when you are working on
something important. I will also monitor the restrooms to ensure that students aren’t going too
frequently to possibly avoid a task. In the bathroom, students need to keep the space clean and flush
the toilet when they are done. When the come out, they need to wash their hands at the sink before
the return.
When the class lines up, I will dismiss table groups one at a time. I will call tables who have all supplies
put away and who are quiet. If we are on the carpet, I will call individual students who are showing me
they are quiet and listening. Students will walk to get in line. We will have a line leader and a caboose
each week as a class job. I will place dots on the floor to help students know exactly where to line up.
Students need to keep their hands by their sides in line, walk with calm feet, and be silent.
I will use several different attention getters to grab my students ‘attention. I will use a call and
response if students are working independently or in small groups to give them instructions. I will use
“class class” and they will respond “yes yes.” I will use the chime when we are in a whole group lesson
and I need to the students to quiet down and look at me before I continue with instruction. Last, I will
use “1,2,3 freeze” and the students will stop what they are doing and look at me when I need to get
students attention immediately. This will either be used for emergency situations or times when the
class is getting out of control. For each of these attention getters, I will make sure that students are
completely silent and have eyes on me before I start speaking.
Instructional Routines
At the beginning of the day, students need to turn in any assignments that they did for homework. At
the end of an activity or when a student finishes an assignment, they will walk it over to the turn in bin.
All assignments will go in the turn in bin on top of the student supply center shelf.
Distributing materials
Returning assignments
Transitions between rotations
(math and language arts)
What to do during independent
work time
What to do during small group
For whole class handouts, I will have a student pass out the papers to everyone. The student helper will
be a weekly lass job and save me the time of passing out papers to every student. For handouts that
students need during independent work time, I will place those on top of the student supply center and
they can walk over to get the handout when they enter into that station. Students should have most of
their supplies at their desks. Students may walk over to the student supply center to get additional
supplies if necessary for the activity.
I will return student work to their cubby if it needs to go home with them. I will return student work
that we will go over as a class individually while students sit at their desks using my student helper. I
will place grades on the back to keep that information private. If I need to return work to a student so
they can redo it or edit it, I will place it in their To Do folders that they will keep in the supply shelves at
their desk.
I will keep a timer at the front of the room so students know exactly how long they have in each station.
With two minutes remaining in the rotation, the first timer will go off which indicates that students
need to put away what they are working on and get the supplies for the next activity. When the next
timer goes off, the students will have 1-2 minutes to move to their next station or into the next activity.
I will have the student time keeper reset the timer for the next transition.
I will give students a menu of things they need to do during independent language arts and math time.
In language arts, the students will either be reading independently, writing, or doing word work. I will
also add to the list something more fun like listen to a story or explore Wonderopolis that they can do if
they finish all of their independent work. During this time, I will be working with a small group of
students, so the independent students need to be self-sufficient because I will not allow them to speak
with me unless it’s an emergency. Students will be able to choose where they sit for independent
reading and writing time, but will need to remain at their seats if they are working on an activity packet.
This is one of the most challenging routines and I will not have students work independently without my
supervision until we have had several weeks to practice this routine.
During small group time, students will bring all of the relevant supplies over to the small group table at
the back of the room. Their small group supplies will be kept in a folder and they will also need to bring
a pencil and a highlighter. I will have any special supplies or worksheets at the small group table to
distribute as the students come over.
What to do during group work
Turn and talks
What to do during whole class
lessons
Getting materials
Taking independent tests and
quizzes
Student-teacher conferences
During group work, students need to sit together with their group mates and get out any relevant
supplies for the activity. We will discuss how to work together cooperatively and students will be
expected to collaborate respectfully when they are working in groups.
When we are on the carpet or students are at their desks, I will often have students turn and talk to a
peer about something we are learning. I will tell students that they need to turn and talk to their elbow
partner, which means turn and talk to whoever is right next to you or whoever’s elbow you are
touching. This will prevent students from seeking out their friends to talk to and help make turn and
talks more efficient.
During whole class lessons, students will either be seated at their desks or on the carpet. If they are
staying at their desks, I will ask them to pull out any relevant supplies they will need for the activity. If
we are working on the carpet, I will call students by table to come sit at their assigned spot on the
carpet and bring any necessary supplies with them to the carpet.
During the last two minutes of a rotation or activity, students will need to put the supplies away from
the last activity and get the supplies out for the next activity. Students have most of their supplies at
their desks, but students may walk to get other supplies around the room if they need it. For each
subject and each portion of the math and LA rotations, students will need different supplies. We will
discuss exactly what students need for each rotation and will practice getting that supplies out in a
timely manner. This will help the next activity or rotation start quickly and maximize instructional time.
If students need special supplies for an activity, I will write that supplies on the board, draw a picture of
the supplies, and tell the students exactly where they can find that supplies so they know exactly what
they need to get. I will either have a student helper hand out supplies not at students’ desks or leave
the supplies in the student supply center.
Assessment Routines
For independent formal assessments, students will only have out a pencil and a piece of scratch paper if
necessary. They will also grab their trifold privacy dividers, stored at their desks and put them up during
the test. When the students are finished, they will quietly walk the assessment over to the turn in bin
and silently read so they don’t disturb the other test takers.
For student-teacher conferences or individual assessments, I will either call the student back to the
small group table or meet with them at their desks. For reading and writing conferences, students will
need to have the book they are reading or their writing journals out so we can look over them together.
I will conference with a handful of students every day. At the beginning of the day, I will write the
 student conferences on the board so students know they will need to prepare their supplies for our
conference. These reading and writing conferences will take place at the end of language arts block
while other students are working independently.
Receiving feedback During a conference, I will give students oral feedback, but for written feedback that I want them to
look over, I will either hand out the assessment to the entire class so we can go through it or I will place
the assignment in the To Do folder. If I place the assignment in the To Do folder, I will ask that students
look over the feedback before they put in into their subject folders or take it home. If I gave actionable
feedback, then I will have the student redo the assignment to incorporate the feedback I have given. I
will let students know when I have returned any work that they need to look over or redo.