Color Code
🔴 Only you — cannot be skipped or delegated
🟢 Can run simultaneously — another adult in the room handles this while you do something else
🟡 Get ahead move — not urgent today but doing it now saves you later
Day at a Glance
🐱
Read Aloud
Pete the Cat I Love My School Shoes
🔍
Activity
Pete the Cat Scavenger Hunt
🎈
Movement
Balloon — personal space bubble
🚽
Routine
Bathroom train intro
⭐
New Routines
4 introduced today
🏫
Big Goal
Students know where everything is
🌙
Tonight — Post on Class Dojo
Tonight
Post a Welcome Back Message
Let families know Day 1 was amazing. Tell them tomorrow the class is going on a scavenger hunt to learn where everything is in the school. Kids will come in excited and ready.
⭐ GET AHEAD: Print and cut Pete the Cat scavenger hunt sheets tonight — one per student. Have them ready in a stack before students arrive.
☀️
Before Students Arrive
~20 min
Blow Up One Balloon Per Student
Have balloons already inflated and sitting on every table when students walk in. They will lose their minds. That is the point. Let them look at them. Do not explain yet.
🧰 TOOLBOX: If balloons are logistically difficult, use large rubber bands or hula hoops instead for the personal space activity. The concept is the same.
Set Sheep Timer — Already Running
The sheep timer is set and placed on the rug before students arrive. When it goes off, students come to the rug. There is no countdown, no announcement, no race. The timer goes off. They come. That is the routine.
Another Adult: Confirm Every Dismissal from Yesterday
If there is another adult in the room during arrival, they should be cross-referencing yesterday's dismissal against today's — any kid who was flagged yesterday needs to be resolved before 3:25. Running simultaneously while the teacher greets at the door.
🎒
Arrival — Greeting at the Door
9:20 — ~15 min
Stand at the Door — Use Every Name
They came back. Say so.
SAY: "You came back! I knew you would. Go find your spot at the table — you remember where it is."
🧰 TOOLBOX: Students who remembered your name will beam when you use theirs. Any student who is still tearful — same approach as yesterday. Eye contact, get on their level, redirect to the table. The balloon on the table does a lot of the work for you.
Morning Tubs + Unpack — Happening Simultaneously
Morning tubs are on every table. Students unpack and go to their spot. Another adult in the room can assist students who need help with their cubby or backpack. This runs in the background while greetings happen at the door.
🐑
Sheep Timer → Bumblebee Spots → Name Games
~15 min
Sheep Timer Goes Off → Students Come to Rug
The timer goes off. Students come to their bumblebee spots. By the time the timer sounds, students are already in morning mode and ready to learn. No performance around the timer — it just signals the transition.
⭐ ROUTINE REINFORCEMENT: Sheep timer → bumblebee spots. Every morning. No exceptions. Students should already begin to anticipate it.
Names — Again, Always
Sing Hickety Pickety Bumblebee again. Every single day this week.
🎵 SING: "Hickety pickety bumblebee, won't you say your name for me? [clap clap] [student says name] [clap clap clap]"
Then try a new name game — toss a soft ball to a student, say their name, they catch it and say someone else's name.
🧰 TOOLBOX: If a student wouldn't say their name yesterday, try again today. Offer it gently. Often Day 2 is when the shy ones finally feel safe enough. Never force it. Come back to them at the end.
🎈
Balloon Activity — Personal Space Bubble
~15 min
Keep It Up — Then Teach Personal Space
Send students to get their balloon from the table. Let them tap it and keep it up for 2 minutes. Let them be silly. Then redirect.
SAY: "Hold your balloon out in front of you. See how much space it takes up? That is your personal space bubble. In the hallway, in line, everywhere — we protect everyone's bubble. Nobody pops anyone else's bubble."
⭐ ROUTINE: Personal space bubble. This concept gets referenced all year long. Introduce it here with the balloon so there is a physical memory attached to it.
Balloon Train — Hallway Practice
Line up at the door with balloons held out in front. Walk into the hallway. The balloon naturally creates personal space — if someone is too close, the balloons touch. Walk the hallway. Come back.
⭐ ROUTINE REINFORCEMENT: Hot lava line + personal space bubble. Both concepts reinforced in one hallway walk.
🎵 SING (passing red/green stars in the hallway): "Twinkle twinkle little star, red means stop and green means go."
🧰 TOOLBOX: Collect balloons before the scavenger hunt. Tie them to the back of chairs or keep them in a bag. They will be a distraction if students are holding them during the read aloud.
📖
Read Aloud — Pete the Cat I Love My School Shoes
~15 min
Read + Connect to the School
Read Pete the Cat. Pete loves his school — his classroom, his friends, his teacher. Connect it directly to what students are about to do.
SAY: "Pete knows his whole school. He knows where everything is. Today, you are going to be just like Pete. We are going on a scavenger hunt to find everything in our school."
RL.K.1
RL.K.3
SL.K.2
🔍
Pete the Cat Scavenger Hunt — Tour the School
~25 min
Walk the School — Find Everything
Hand out scavenger hunt sheets. Walk the school as a class. Students check off each location as they visit it.
Locations to visit: bathroom, gym, art room, music room, library, nurse, office, cafeteria, playground entrance.
Locations to visit: bathroom, gym, art room, music room, library, nurse, office, cafeteria, playground entrance.
⭐ ROUTINE: Hot lava line for all hallway walking. Personal space bubble from the balloon activity. Students are connecting the concept to real hallway behavior for the first time.
🧰 TOOLBOX: This walk takes longer than expected. Budget the full 25 minutes. If the school is large, prioritize daily locations: bathroom, cafeteria, gym, nurse. Save specialty rooms for another pass if needed.
🎵 SING (every time you pass the red/green stars): "Twinkle twinkle little star, red means stop and green means go."
🚽
Bathroom Train — Introduction
~10 min
Introduce the Bathroom Train System
Introduce this today — after students have been to the bathroom during the scavenger hunt and know where it is. The system only makes sense now.
SAY: "Now that you know where the bathroom is, here is how we use it during class time. There is a name chain on the wall. You find your name. You tap the person before you. That person goes to the bathroom and taps you when they come back. Then it's your turn. You do not interrupt the lesson. You tap and go."
⭐ ROUTINE: Bathroom train — tap the person before you, go, come back, tap the next person. Practice it once right now so every student understands the physical sequence.
🧰 TOOLBOX: Good times to use the bathroom: morning tubs, center time, transitions. Bad times: when you are talking to the whole group, during a read aloud, during instruction. Teach the difference explicitly — five-year-olds genuinely do not know.
🪨
Rug Rules — The Non-Negotiables
~10 min
Teach the Rug Rules Explicitly
Introduce today — after students have been on the rug for two days and now have enough context to understand why the rules exist.
SAY: "When we are on the rug together, there are rules. Rule one: once you are on the rug, you stay on the rug. Rule two: if it is a true emergency — and only a true emergency — you use the slug light." [point to the slug light] "When the slug light is ON, that means do not interrupt. When it is OFF, you can come talk to me. Rule three: if you need to say something and I am busy, you wait. You do not call out."
SAY: "Now — is it a you problem or a me problem? If someone took your pencil, that is a you problem. You handle it. If there is blood, that is a me problem. You come get me. Everything else is a you problem first."
⭐ ROUTINE: Slug light ON = do not interrupt. Slug light OFF = you can come talk. Big problem vs. small problem. These will be referenced every single day all year. Introduce them now so the class has shared language from Week 1.
🧰 TOOLBOX: Students will test the rug rules immediately. Hold the line calmly and consistently. The boundary held now is the boundary that holds in May.
🍎
Shutdown Sequence → Specials
~20 min
Snack → Pack Up → Walk to Specials
Call 4 students at a time for snack. Sit. Eat. Do not rush.
Pack up backpacks — model it again. Open zipper, folder in, close zipper.
Line up at the door. Hot lava line. Walk to specials.
Pack up backpacks — model it again. Open zipper, folder in, close zipper.
Line up at the door. Hot lava line. Walk to specials.
⭐ ROUTINE REINFORCEMENT: Shutdown sequence: snack → pack up → line up → walk. Same every day. Students who know what comes next are students who do not derail the transition.
⭐
End of Day — Back from Specials
~10 min
Rug Reflection + Dismissal
Sheep timer → bumblebee spots.
SAY: "Today you learned where everything in our school is. You are officially Pete the Cat experts. What was something new you discovered today?"
Take 3–4 answers. Keep it brief. Dismiss by bus using the list.
· · ·
⭐ Routines Introduced or Reinforced Today
⏰
Reinforced
Sheep timer → rug
🎈
New
Personal space bubble
🚂
New
Bathroom train
🪨
New
Rug rules
💡
New
Slug light signal
🟢🔴
New
Big vs. small problem