Fun Ways to Reinforce Classroom Rules and Procedures

Even if you’ve already started your school year, it’s so important to revisit classroom expectations often to make sure your students are on the right track and ready to meet both academic and behavior goals. This doesn’t mean just standing at the front of the room and spouting off rules. In fact, there are so many fun ways to reinforce classroom rules and procedures, especially for primary grades!

Put procedures on display.

I love using digital slides in my third grade classroom! I’ve made simple, classroom routine slides to display in the classroom. There are soooo many procedures and routines that you’ll want to review with students. But rather than give them a huge list all at once, post pre-made slides whenever you are reviewing or practicing a routine! Easy peasy!

Examples include:

• Entering/exiting the classroom
• Attendance
• Putting away backpacks
• Walking in a line
• Lining up
• Arrival procedures
• Starting the day
• Sitting on the carpet
• Working independently
• Turning in work
• Bathroom procedures
• Emergency procedures
• Classroom procedures
• Taking out materials
• Putting away materials
• Sharpening pencils
• Classroom Library
• Walking around campus
• Walking in a line
• Recess procedures
• Centers
• Speaking in the classroom
• Voice levels
• Technology
• Working in groups
• Asking for help
• Raising your hand
• Sharing ideas
• Being a classroom helper
• Throwing away trash
• Doing seat work
• Dismissal procedures
• Cleaning up
• Ending the day

These routines and procedures encompass everything you’ll need to address in your class!

Act out expected behaviors.

Using the classroom routine slides as a backdrop, have your students act out expected behaviors when it comes to following procedures.

If you have a tech-savvy (or ready to learn) bunch, allow them to edit their own videos using Adobe Spark, iMovie, or another app. Ask them to demonstrate not only expected behaviors but non-behaviors. What does “not working in groups effectively” look like, for example? Your students will have fun showing the non-behaviors and learning that they should always focus on what is expected.

Foster discussions about rules and procedures.

Primary students want to follow the rules. Seriously, it’s true! Your students will live up to your expectations, but sometimes, they don’t quite understand what they are unless they are modeled for them. Of course, you can model situations, but one of the best ways I have found to reinforce classroom rules and procedures is by sharing scenarios.

Giving ”What Should You Do?” discussion starters to your students is a perfect way to get them involved in classroom discussions about rules and procedures. Share these pre-made slides with scenarios such as what to do when it’s time to clean up and students aren’t helping or what happens when you find something valuable that belongs to someone else. What makes this activity fun for young students is being able to voice their own opinion and show that they understand expectations. These scenarios could also be role-played or acted out.

Reward positive behaviors.

Catch your students following the rules! This doesn’t mean you have to give students treats every time they clean up their mess or sit on the carpet properly. Instead, giving praise for expected behaviors is a way of positive behavior intervention supports (PBIS anyone?) that works for many students. In fact, your school may have a behavior system in place that encourages you to recognize when kids are doing the right thing.

Start the day with a morning meeting.

Want a quick way to remind your students how the day should go? Try a morning meeting! I love this strategy because your students know what to expect each and every day by sharing an agenda and materials and expectations for each class (including specials). Using morning meetings is a procedure in itself, and your students will love and appreciate the consistency each day.

Having rules and procedures in your classroom is important, but it doesn’t have to be frustrating for your students. As long as your expectations are clear and revisited, you can use these fun ways to reinforce classroom rules and procedures at the start of the year and beyond!