General Procedures for Elementary Classrooms

General Procedures for Elementary Classrooms The key to a well-managed organized classroom, is to create effective classroom procedures and routines. By implementing procedures, students will understand what is expected of them throughout the day. Once these are established, the number of behavior problems and classroom interruptions will be greatly reduced. Here is a list of general procedures and routines to teach in the classroom. Feel free to modify or adapt this list depending upon grade level and individual preference. Beginning the Day When entering the classroom, first put away your coat, book-bag, snack and lunch. Then turn your homework in the homework basket, place your attendance tag in the appropriate spot on the lunch count board and start you morning seat-work. Entering and Leaving the Room Enter and exit the classroom quietly. If you are coming in late or leaving early, do not disturb the other students. This procedure will be used for all situations throughout the school day. Lunch Count/Attendance Find your name and move your attendance tag to the correct column. If you brought lunch, place your tag under the bringing column. If you are buying lunch place your tag under the buying column. Using the Restroom (Younger students) You can get up and use the restroom freely as long as the teacher is not in the middle of teaching a lesson. (Older students) One student at a time my use the lavatory pass. They must return with the pass within three minutes or they will lose the privilege of going to the lavatory freely. Fire Drill When you hear the alarm, stop what you are doing, leave everything, and quietly walk directly to the door. The first person takes the fire drill packet while the second person holds the door open for the rest of the class. The last student closes the door and gets into line. Once outside, everyone is expected to stand quietly and wait for the announcement to come back into the building. Lining Up Wait until you or your row is called, then quietly stand up, push in your chair, and line up facing forward. Bring all the necessary items you may need with you. Ending the Day Clear off your desk, place papers to go home in your homework folder and wait to be called. Once you are called then gather your belongings, stack your chair, quietly sit on the carpet and wait to be dismissed. Additional Procedures: AnnouncementsClassroom jobsParticipating in group lessonsThrowing away trashGetting a tissuePledge of AllegianceClassroom visitorsSignals for attentionHelping other studentsWhen to use the pencil sharpenerWhen to use the drinking fountainHanding in homeworkCaring for classroom suppliesHandling classroom equipmentGetting ready for lunch or specialsChanging classesPassing out papersAsking questionsSnack timeParticipating in learning centersGoing to the nurse Additional Things to Consider Here are four additional things to consider when implementing your classroom procedures. Take time to practice It may take students several weeks to learn the various procedures that are expected of them. Take the time to practice over and over again until they understand. Once they understand what is expected, then you will have more time to teach. Make procedures simple For younger students, make them easy to follow. The more complicated they get, the longer it will take for the students to understand them. Make procedures visible Only post the most important procedures you want the students to follow. Leave the easy ones, like walking in the hallway and going to lunch from memory. Be Specific When teaching a procedure to the class, make sure you are specific and list your expectations exactly how you want the students to follow them.

Pronouncing the Spanish G and J

Pronouncing the Spanish G and J The g in Spanish can one of the more difficult letters to pronounce, at least for those who hope to be precise. The same is true for the j, whose sound it sometimes uses. Beginning Spanish students can think of g has having two sounds, although those who want to be exact will find that the g has three common sounds and a pair of rare situations where it is pronounced very softly if at all. The Quick and Easy Approach to Pronouncing the G The way many English speakers learning Spanish start out is by thinking of Spanish as having two sounds, depending on the letter that follows: Most of the time, the g can be pronounced much like the g in dog or figure. Note that in both of those English words, the g is pronounced somewhat softer or less explosively than the g in words such as goat and good.However, when the g is followed by e or i, it is pronounced something like the letter h, the same as the Spanish j. (In this way, the sound of the g parallels that of the c, which has a hard sound except when it comes before an e or i, in which case it has a softer sound. Both c and g in English often follow a similar pattern.) Note the differences in these phonetic transcriptions. The first three have the hard g sound, while the final two have the h sound: apagar - ah-pag-GARego - EH-gohignicià ³n - eeg-nee-SYOHNagente - ah-HEN-tehgirasol - hee-rah-SOHLgusto - GOO-stohgente  - HEN-teh You should have no difficulty being understood if you follow these pronunciations. However, if you hope to sound more like a native speaker, you should follow the next section. A More Precise Approach to Pronouncing the G Think of the g as have three main sounds: When the g comes immediately before an e or i, it is pronounced like the Spanish j, detailed below.Otherwise, when the g comes after a pause, such as at the beginning of a sentence, or if it doesnt have vowel sounds immediately before and after, the g can be pronounced much like the g in dog or figure.When the g comes between vowels (unless followed by e or i), it is pronounced much softer, and there is no good English equivalent. You might think of it as a mushy version of the above pronunciation, or like something between silence and the above pronunciation. You can hear it pronounced native speakers here. A Pair of Exceptions These three pronunciation take care of nearly all situations. However, there are two significant exceptions: Some speakers intensely soften or even drop the sound of the g in the letter combination gua, especially when it appears at the beginning of the word such as in guapo, guacamole, and guardar. So guapo sounds something like WAH-poh, and guacamole sounds like wah-kah-MOH-leh. This tendency, which can be heard here, is found in many areas and varies even within localities. At the extreme, you may even hear agua pronounced like AH-wah.A few English gerunds (-ing verbs) such as marketing and camping have been adopted into Spanish (often with a slight change in meaning). Most native Spanish speakers cant readily imitate the ng sound well at the end of a word, so the tendency is to end the word with the n sound. Thus marketing may sound like mrketin, and camping  may sound like campin. In a few cases, such as meeting becoming mà ­tin or mitin, the spelling has been changed to conform with the common pronunciation. Pronouncing the J The j sound is what is known as a voiceless velar fricative, which means that it is formed by forcing air through the slightly constricted back part of the mouth. Its kind of a scraping or raspy sound. If youve learned German, you may know it as the ch sound of Kirche. You may hear it sometimes in English in the word loch when given a Scottish accent or as the initial sound of Hanukkah when an attempt is made to pronounce it as if it were in Hebrew. One way you might think of the sound is as an extended k. Instead of sounding out the k in an explosive fashion, try lengthening the sound. The sound of the j varies with region. In some areas, the j sounds almost like a soft k, and in some places it sounds very close to the h sound in words such as hot or hero. If you give the j the sound of the English h, as many English-speaking Spanish students do, you will be understood, but keep in mind that is only approximate.