Back to School Basics: The Classroom Carpet

The Classroom Carpet! It really is a learning environment within a learning environment. Here is a picture of the exact carpet in my Kindergarten classroom. On the first day, I allow the kids to sit wherever they like.  I tell them that tomorrow they will have an assigned square. Then, I turn their attention to a poster I have pinned to the wall directly in front of the carpet. It's up high,  front and center.

We chant each star's sentence repeatedly and add a kinesthetic movement to each step. Basically mimic the movements shown in each of the cute characters. Once we all look like the child in step 5, I have the kids freeze as I explain we come to school to learn and if we're not seated like "Five Star Listeners" when the teacher is talking, a friend is sharing a story, the teacher is reading a book, etc., then we can't learn. For the first few weeks of school, every time I ring the bell we chant the steps. By the end of the second day, they all know it by heart. From that day on, I display the poster on my Promethean Board during transition times to indicate that I want them seated on the carpet like five star listeners by the time I'm done counting backwards from 20. Flipchart with Five Star Poster, "Self Adhesive Letters" They get a kick out of chanting the poster and bond over the camaraderie thus creating an "Esprit de Corps."

For kids who struggle to sit like five star listeners I start them on these behavior cards and send them home each day. Incentive Chart