The Power of Rituals

My mom is the queen of rituals. When I was a child, she didn’t miss a single opportunity to make memories and have fun through family customs. For example, when we got in the car, she’d always say something like, “We’re off like a herd of turtles!” She’d wake us in the morning with, “Get up, get going, get on your way. We have a lot to do today!”—which is, I think, from Alice in Wonderland. Can you guess what I say to my kids every time we get in the car or I wake them in the morning?

Because they are uniquely ours, these rituals bond us as a family. It’s amazing to think how many different rituals people have around holidays, birthdays, and various rites of passage. I colored Easter eggs and hunted for them well into my college years, because we just couldn’t give up what that ritual meant to our family. I cherish the memories of sitting around the table and talking with my sisters as we waited for our eggs to turn the perfect color. My own children adore their grandfather coaching us with his “warmer, warmer, colder, colder” routine, helping them find the last few eggs, and someday they’ll likely do that with their children. Rituals are powerful.

My love of rituals has spilled over into my classroom. My students love the phrase “See you later, Alligator,” and all the fun rhymes that follow. They expect to be greeted at the door every morning and to get a hug, handshake, or high five at the end of every day. These simple little routines have cemented our relationship as a community, and we miss them on the rare occasion when they don’t happen.

The Daily 5 has also become a ritual in our classroom, and students look forward to it every day. They love the familiarity and consistency of the Daily 5 routine. Knowing what to expect brings a sense of calm and belonging to our classroom that might not be there otherwise. In fact, they actually get upset when it doesn’t happen or we have to shorten the number of rounds in a day. Students are proud to share our habits and routines with new students or classroom visitors.

Now that I’ve been teaching language arts using the Daily 5 for more than 10 years, I can’t imagine what life in my classroom would be like without this incredible structure. This powerful ritual has changed my teaching for the better. Is Daily 5 a ritual in your classroom or one you might want to try? What other routines and habits can you leverage to create community in your classroom?