Children will learn better if they have a positive attitude towards what they are doing and if they are motivated or want to do it. (Gardner & Lambert)
The first thing you should set up classroom rules with the kids. List the rules on a wall display using pictures that show the rules, such as; I will raise my hand to talk, I won’t walk around the class, I won’t play with toys during lessons.I won’t hit my friends. Don’t forget that they learn through necessity; they want to go to the toilet, drink water etc. so use your classtime productively. Add simple classroom language on a wall display; May I go to the toilet?, May I drink water? Can you give me a ……., please?
Don’t forget to check physical surroundings. Is the room temperature uncomfortable? Is the chair too big or too small?
Rules and routines can take weeks or months to get used to.It is important to establish repetitive routines with young children so that they recognize and understand how the class works. Kids are also comfortable with repetition and the chant connected to a certain transition.Use transitions to announce the beginning and the end of the lesson as well as change of activity or area. You can use squiky rubber balls, maracas, plastic clapping hands or short rhymes. A maracas can mean that it is time to get ready for story time.It’s easy to cretae your own transitions and your style. Use your gesture, body language and voice effectively. They want to follow you if you have a style , a sense of humour and positive attitude.Prepare variety of activities and keep them busy.
BEEHIVE FOR CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
Introduce the beehive at the beginning of the term. Every child has a bee template and stick his/her photo on it and prepare his/her own bee. All of the bees are in the bee hive.If they behave well and they obey the class rules, bees come to the top of the beehive and stay there.When all of the bees are at the top of the beehive, we’ll go to the park or have a class party.
COUNTING RHYME
Kids’ attention span is short so we should use different activities to motivate them.All students want to participate in the games that causes classroom management problem so you can use the counting rhyme to choose some.

*Bee bee bumble bee
Bee bee bumble bee stung a man on his knee,
Bee bee bumble bee stung a man on his nose,
I declared that you’re out.

*Eeny Meeny Miny Mo
Eeny meeny miny mo,
Is it ‘yes’ or is it ‘no’?
Which will stay and which will go?
Eeny meeny miny mo.

ATTENTION GETTERS
Here’s some ideas for attention getting:
*Shhhh!
1,2,3 look at me (pointing your mouth)
1,2,3 listen to me (pointing your ears)
1,2,3 shhhhhh (finger on your mouth)
*Eyes on me: You will call the students to attention by saying:1,2,3 eyes on ME! Teach them to reply immediately 4,5,6 eyes on YOU!
*Snap-snap-snap: To get students’ attention loudly say “CROCODILE, CROCODILE” the kids reply ‘SNAP, SNAP, SNAP” as they slap their hands like a crocodile mouth.
*Give me 5: It means, ‘STOP AND LOOK AT ME!’ You can use it everywhere and they can gain their attention.
*If you hear me: If you hear me, wave your fingers.If you hear me, wave your arms. If you hear me,clap your hands, pat your tummy, stamp your feet….
*Open them,close them
Open them, close them
Open them, close them
Put them in your lap
Open them, close them
Open them, close them
Clap, clap, clap, clap.
TRANSITIONS
*Hello& Bye Bye time with a hand puppet
Hand puppets really liven up a classroom for young learners. I always use Cookie puppet at the beginning of each lesson. Cookie and Cookie’s friends are sleeping in a bag and we try to find Cookie all together. Kids say ‘Cookie, Cookie where are you? Come here, Cookie!’ We take one of the puppets out of the bag. ‘Oh, no.This is not Cookie. This is Teddy.Say Hello to Teddy. Kids say ‘hello’ to Teddy. When we find Cookie, we sing ‘Hello Chant’ doing appropriate actions and the lesson can start . At the end of the lesson, kids wave and say goodbye to Cookie.Then they sing the ‘bye bye chant’.
*HELLO CHANT
Hello, hello
Girls and boys (3)
Hello, Hello, Hello!
It’s English time.
Stand up!Stretch!
Skip, skip! Skip to the tree. (4)
Skip to the tree.(Cookie and Friends OUP)
*BYE-BYE CHANT
Bye- bye girls and boys. (3)
Bye-bye! girls and boys.
*Choo Choo:Choo choo is a good chant to make a line if you go somewhere with your kids.

Choo choo the big train is coming down the track (2)
Stop, look and listen
Stop, look and listen
Choo choo the big train is coming down the track.

*Story time chant:
Two hands clap,two hands lap
Left click, right click
Two hands clap, two hands lap
Left click, right click
Ready for story time
*Tidy up chant:
Now it’s time to tidy up tidy up, tidy up
Now it’s time to tidy up
1,2,3 (Cookie and Friends OUP)