This week, I’ll be sharing a few of the classroom lessons I use with my Pre-K students. The first lesson in this series is one I use at the very beginning of the year with my Pre-K 3 students, and it is all about following rules and directions. Enjoy!

Since this is the first time I am going into these classes and meeting these students, I introduce myself as the counselor and ask the students what they think a counselor does {which always provides some fun answers…}. My main goal when going into the Pre-K classrooms is to make sure they know that I’m a counselor and that I help people. That way, they know who I am, what I do, and that I am someone in the school they can trust.

Once introductions are out of the way, I ask the students to tell me what rules they have to follow in their classroom and why it’s important to have rules at school. Then, I read the book David Goes to School by David Shannon.

When I’m done reading, I let the students tell me their favorites parts of the book, and we talk about the different rules that David had to follow.

I then tell the class that we are going to play a very special game that will test how well they can follow rules and directions, and I show them my “magic wand” {cue oooohs and aaahs from the kiddos}.

This “magic wand,” which is really the Magic Moves Electronic Wand by Educational Insights, is one of the best purchases I’ve made for a lesson. When you press the green button, the wand gives an instruction that the students have to follow, such as, “dive like a dolphin” or “crawl like a crab.” While the kids do their best to follow the direction, music plays from the wand. When the music stops, the students have to freeze {another rule to follow}.

My pre-k students really enjoy this game and ask me throughout the year if I’m ever going to bring my magic wand to their class again. It’s a simple, fun way to hold their little attention spans while giving them a chance to practice following directions.

Later this week, I will be sharing my pre-k lesson on kindness using the book One, so check back soon for a new post!