Elementary Schedule and Rules
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Class Schedule
Sticking to the class schedule is crucial for several reasons!
Knowing what activities are planned for the day and when they will occur helps students feel more secure and comfortable. It reduces anxiety and uncertainty, allowing them to focus better on their tasks and engage more fully in learning.
For teachers, this schedule serves as a roadmap for organizing and managing classroom activities. It helps ensure that all planned material is covered within the allotted time, preventing important topics from being rushed or overlooked.
8:40 - Arrive and setup room
9:00 - Pray together in the room next to Preschool
9:10 - Be in your classroom ready to receive the students
9:30 - 9:45 - Meet + Greet / Color
9:45 - 9:50 - Rules (more info on how to teach the rules below)
9:50 - 10:10 - Worship and Lesson (more info below)
10:10 - 10:20 - Bible Verse Practice
If you’re ahead of schedule, pause here and play a game until 10:20.
10:20 - 10:30 - Bathroom Break
10:30 - 10:55 - Bible Skills / Discussion, Snack, and Activity Sheet (more info below)
10:55 - 11:00 - Students Help Cleanup Room (cups, snacks on the ground, crayons, put Bibles away, etc)
11:00 - til - Free Play / Game / Dismissal
After dismissal - Tear Down Room
We cover our Class Rules every Sunday because kids need to feel safe, and safety comes from consistency.
Let me explain…
For students, understanding the rules from the outset helps set clear boundaries and guidelines for behavior. This clarity reduces confusion and uncertainty, allowing students to feel more secure and confident in their interactions within the classroom. By knowing what is expected of them, students can better focus on their learning and engage more fully in classroom activities.
For teachers, reviewing the rules at the beginning of class helps set the tone for the morning and reinforces expectations for behavior. It provides an opportunity to address any potential issues proactively and establish a respectful and cooperative classroom culture. Additionally, covering the rules at the beginning promotes consistency and accountability, helping to ensure a smooth and productive learning experience for both teachers and students.
Covering the rules teaches the students that the expectations are the same no matter who their teacher is.
These rules work only if they are taught and discussed every Sunday.
The Rules Defined.
It’s vital that the kids don’t just know the rules but that they also understand what it looks like to live out the rules. When teaching these rules, it would be helpful for you to define the rules with examples of what each rule looks like. Ask students to contribute with their own examples as well.
Helping Hands
Encourage students to assist each other with tasks such as cleaning up toys or helping a classmate who is struggling with an activity. This also means our hands are meant to help others, not hurt others. Teachers can also praise students when they use their hands to help others and reinforce the idea that kindness and cooperation are valued in the classroom.
Looking Eyes
Model active listening and eye contact during discussions and instructions. When covering the rules, you can have the students practice by asking them to focus their eyes on specific objects or people. You can also incorporate visual cues, such as holding up a quiet finger to remind students to look with their eyes. With this age, it would be helpful to get their bodies involved in some way when reminding them of this rule. For example, have them make fake glasses over their eyes with their fingers to show you that they’re looking with their eyes.
Listening Ears
Emphasize the importance of listening ears by playing listening games or reading stories aloud and asking comprehension questions afterward. When explaining this rule or bringing it up later during class, you can encourage students to practice active listening by repeating instructions back to the teacher or taking turns speaking during a group discussion. Teachers can also provide positive reinforcement when students demonstrate good listening skills, such as giving them stickers or praise.
Quiet Voices
Remind students to use soft voices when speaking to each other and model appropriate volume levels during classroom activities. To help them understand this rule, ask them to practice speaking quietly through activities such as whispering games or role-playing scenarios where they need to communicate without disturbing others. You can also establish a signal, such as raising a hand, to remind students to lower their voices when necessary.
Walking Feet
Teach the importance of walking feet by establishing clear boundaries for movement within the classroom and reminding students to walk calmly and safely at all times. Teach this through the use of activities that require them to practice walking quietly and respectfully, such as walking in a line or navigating an obstacle course. As with all the rules, be sure to praise students when they demonstrate appropriate walking behavior and provide gentle reminders when needed.
Worship and Lessons
WORSHIP
During this time, kids will watch and participate in singing and dancing to the music on the TV. It's essential to encourage kids to join and participate actively, remaining with the group throughout the worship session. As a teacher, you play a crucial role in modeling participation by joining in with the dances and singing along. Remember, it's okay to feel silly – we're all here to have fun and worship together, just like a child would!
LESSONS
After worship, the students will watch a video lesson together. All students are expected to sit on the floor during the lesson. If any students begin talking during the video, gently remind them to use their looking eyes, quiet voices, and listening ears. Encourage them to focus their attention on the lesson so they can participate actively in the discussion later. If needed, after multiple gentle warnings, you can separate friends during the lesson if they’re unable to pay attention while next to each other.
Bible Skills / Discussion, Snack, and Activity Sheets
BIBLE SKILLS / DISCUSSION
During this time, the kids will open their Bibles to the passage from the lesson and answer discussion questions about the lesson while they eat.
To do this, distribute Bibles and guide kids to open their Bibles to the lesson’s passage. You’ll ask the provided questions and lead the discussion.
The discussion questions will be given to you before Sunday and I’ll provide you with sample answers. Don’t rush through this part; you want to make it last! Ask the question and provide many of the students an opportunity to answer.
SNACK
Distribute the Bibles BEFORE you distribute snack. If possible, have one teacher start the Bible Skills / Discussion while the other teacher distributes the snack. The reason for doing snack here is that if the kids have something to eat, they tend to sit and participate better during the discussion and don’t rush through the discussion or activity sheet.
ACTIVITY SHEETS
After you’ve spent enough time on the discussion, students will work on activity sheets that complement the lesson they learned from the video. Wait to hand out the sheets until the discussion is finished so that the kids can focus on the discussion. The students may vary in their ability to complete the activity sheets independently, so be prepared to offer assistance as needed.
Seize the opportunity to foster discussion and interaction. Encourage them to recap the lesson, ask questions related to the material, or simply engage in casual conversation about topics of interest to them. This time not only reinforces the lesson in their minds but also strengthens connections and builds trust between students and teachers.
Bible Skills / Discussion Example:
By this point, the kids should be sitting at the table and have their Bibles open to the passage. (This example is Acts 3). We have extra Bibles in one of the bins in your classroom. If we need to buy more Bibles, let Matt Lother know.
Choose 2-3 volunteers to read out loud or ask the kids to follow along as you read the passage.
Ask the following questions and lead the discussion.
Did Peter and John heal in their own power? Whose name did they heal in?
What did the man do when he was healed?
How can you help people and share the gospel at the same time?
For questions similar to 1 & 2, ask the kids to use their Bibles to show you how they got their answer. Knowing the answer from memory is great, but we also want to teach Bible Skills during this time.
For questions similar to 3, be sure to allow for many of the students to speak. Their answers might lead to new questions that you can jump off of. In other words, don’t just read off questions and move on, but actively listen to their answers and help them reflect on the questions even further.