You are in the Free Resources section of The Cornerstone For Teachers website:

Seasonal Suggestions

 

 

 

 

Forget January to December: as a teacher, I can't help but think of a year in terms of August through June.  The new year for us begins in the fall, and special challenges come with each seasonal change.  This page will help you prepare for the start of school in August, and provide ideas for celebrating and recognizing the holidays and milestones that occur as the months pass.  Later on, you'll see resources added for surviving standardized testing weeks, and for ending the school year on a high note. 

 

 

 

PDFs

 

        

 

Planning for the First Weeks of School*

 

  

 

Open House/ Back to School Night*

 

 

 

Other On-Site Resources

 

Decorating Ideas

 

Favorite Organization Tips

 

 

 

 

PDFs marked with an asterisk (*) cannot be printed, because they are adapted from The Cornerstone book.  If you'd like to view the complete text with all printing rights enabled, you may purchase the eBook.   PDFs that aren't marked with an asterisk are web-exclusive content or chapter overviews and CAN be printed for educational use.  Please note that the copy/paste function has been disabled on ALL PDFs to prevent unauthorized use.

 

 

Cornerstone Cross-Reference

 

 

   

Ch. 1: Classroom Arrangement

 

*8 components of room arrangement; the most effective desk set-ups; how to design your instructional area(s); inexpensive decorating ideas (pp. 2-19)

 

 

Ch. 2: Planning for the First Weeks of School

 

*Sample lesson plans for teaching procedures during the first week of school (pp. 22-24)

 

*The 11 things that HAVE to get done before the first day (pp.31-34)

 

*What to buy (and what NOT to buy) for your classroom (pp. 34-35)

 

 

 

Ch. 3: Open House

 

*How to manage time constraints, disruptive siblings, and lengthy parent questions (pp. 45-46)

 

*Using a Power Point effectively (p. 46, with a download of my own presentation and handouts in password-protected area of website)

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

Free Downloads Referenced in the Book

 

 

First Weeks of School

 

Classroom procedures form

Rules of respect posters

School supply forms

 

 

Open House

 

Parent contract--less detail

Parent contract--more detail 

Parent conference sign-up sheet

Scavenger Hunt

How Well Do You Know Me? Fun Survey

  

 

More from Website Visitors

 

Be the first to submit a back to school or Open House tip!

 

 

 

 

Email your own suggestion or web resource!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recommended Resources

 

Back to School Activities

 

Each of these links will take you to pages filled exclusively with practical back-to-school advice that I have used to help me prepare for the fall. 

Education World- A professional site with articles, templates, and nine pages of icebreaker activities!  Be sure to check out the get-to-know-you ideas for:  
          Activities
          Sponges (Time Fillers)

TeachingHeart- Compiled by a veteran teacher and frequently updated- a must see!!  This site will take hours to explore fully.  (Click on 'First Day Plans' to see a minute-by-minute schedule of her first few days of school, including how and when she teaches each procedure).

CASLT- A Canadian site with clip art, printables, bulletin board ideas, and much more designed for the beginning of the school year.

atozteacherstuff- Back to school tips submitted by teachers/ archived from chat forums.

ProTeacher- An extensive collection of preparation and planning tools.

Mrs. Mellette- This is a helpful bank of resources for the beginning of the year from another third grade teacher's site.

 

Vanessa Levin's Pre-K 'Boot Camp' is an ESSENTIAL read for early childhood teachers, and I highly recommend it for the rest of you, too!  She gives you the real deal about what the first weeks of school are like, and her teaching strategies WORK- I know, because I ran my own Pre-K classroom almost the same way!

 

Mandy Gregory's 4th grade sample activities.   These are great first week of school lesson plans. Opens as Word document.

 

Teaching Heart has a ton of very detailed plans that teachers have submitted.

 

"A To-Do List for the New School Year" Teachers.Net article by Cheryl Sigmon.

 

 

 

 Open House

 

I have used ideas from the following sites in my classroom:

Barbara and Sue Gruber- This must-read article, written for the Teachers.Net Gazette, has practical tips for 'speaking with power, poise, and pizzazz!' and creating great handouts for your Open House

Mrs. Gallipoli- Ideas from a great third grade teacher.

Life-size art- This is a COOL project- we did it one year and it was a big hit!  It was, however, hard for people to sit in the chairs.  Plan this one out thoroughly.

 

Debra Henk's Reading 180 Page- Tips for you, as well as printable info to give parents at Open House.

 

 

 

Submit your own ideas for inclusion on the site!

 

                                         

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All material on this site is copyright 2003-2009 Angela Powell, unless otherwise noted. No information may be used or cited in for-profit projects without the written consent of the author.
You may print and reproduce materials for personal and educational purposes only. If you share materials with others, please include the URL and give appropriate credit.
Please email Webmaster@TheCornerstoneForTeachers.com with questions or requests.