First day of CCD!

The first day of CCD this year went rather smoothly. After watching a brief video downstairs, I escorted students upstairs to our classroom. Here waiting for them at their desks were their folders for the year along with nametags. The nametags and assigned seats help students feel more at home on the first day in their new surroundings. You may want to move students around once you get to know them more but I highly recommend assigned seats on the first day! After taking attendance, we did a short "Getting to Know You" activity. Each student was given a worksheet with a list of different attributes on it, such as "wears glasses" or "has a pet", I asked students to raise their hand if this attribute applies to them, and if there was someone, they were allowed to check off the box on their sheets. This allows you to create a conversation and get to know student. You can even delve deeper and ask them what kind of pet they have, or what their pet's name is. Next we moved over to our story corner. Picture below,

The rainbow hanging above was made by tying plastic tablecloths to a hanger. Super easy and it really impresses the kids and makes our classroom feel even more magical. It's also a great aid in teaching about Noah's Ark! After reading a quick story, we moved back to the desks. I found a great coloring page on a site called LDS Lesson Ideas, you can get it Here. Students drew a self portrait on these sheets and then we hung them on a wire along the window with clothespins. The students really enjoyed displaying their work and were obviously very proud when they got to hang it up. Here is a photo of our lovely window display:

All in all, today was a great day to be a catechist! I look forward to teaching these children about their faith and am expecting a very fun and exciting year! 

God Bless!