It's the second week of school and we are working on word work! I introduce a letter everyday and we focus on capital and lowercase, vowels vs consonants, and handwriting (I really like Tara West's KinderPhonics program for this). We listen to our letter video everyday
Station 5-letter puzzles (Dollar Tree, Target "Dollar" bins, etc)
These stations are easy for the kids to do independently and help them practice station rules like staying in their spot and working the whole time. Plus, they give me time to complete what seems like the many, many baseline assessments we have to give. I hope these ideas and freebies help you get your little ones start out their word work with a bang!
I've made it through my first month of school, and I finally feel like more of a teacher and less of a cat-herder! Happy dance time! One of my first learning goals for my kinder-kiddos is COLORWORDS. We start by reading Pete the Cat and Brown Bear, Brown Bear.
By the way, this little joke just makes me smile!
Anyway, after reading the books, we color pictures that have color words. Students have to read the words and use the correct color. This is also a great time to practice neatness and fine motor skills. For extra help, I give each student a color chart. They keep these in their crayon boxes so they are always handy.
1. Stamp color words in play dough and with ink stampers
Get this stamping freebie {HERE}. Warning...it takes FOREVER for kids to finish. Plan accordingly =)
2. Put together color word puzzles.
You can get these puzzles from my TPT pack...only $1.50! What a steal! =)
Higher students unscramble these color word sentences.
What's that? You want another freebie? Ok! {HERE} it is!
3. Play computer games with color words.
PSA: Spelling City is a great site for this. Sign up for a free account and add a list of color words (or any other sight word). Students can play all sorts of fun games like unscrambling the letters, finding the missing letter, and a hangman-like cat and mouse game.
Last week was probably the best first week of school I've ever had! My new friends are a sweet little group, and I think we're going to have a great year together!
I tweaked some things this year that helped me have first week success. I used to plan out every minute of the day with story time and coloring sheets and art projects and school tours. None of those things are bad, but I was constantly "on" and by the end of the day, I was exhausted! Plus, I had to endure these questions all day:
"Can I play with the playdough?"
"Can I play with the Legos?"
"Can I play on the computer?"
That's when I realized that all my kids really wanted to do was PLAY! So this year, I LET THEM!! I changed my lesson plans and let go of some of the cutesy activities (not all, but some). Instead, I put in a lot of free play. Each afternoon, I pulled out some super easy activities for my kids to do:
unifix cubes
links
pattern blocks
3D blocks
Legos
playdough
art (markers and paper)
toys (old princesses and dinosaurs)
computers
Let me back up...Before we started stations each day, we practiced our 4 station rules:
1. Stay in your spot
2. Use an inside voice
3. Share the toys
4. Work the whole time.
These are the same rules we use for math stations and reading stations, so now the students are already familiar with them.
Then, I split the kids into 5 groups of 4-5 students, and they had about 10-15 minutes to play at each station before we rotated. This was FABULOUS!!!! It gave them time to explore the materials in the classroom, get to know their classmates, and practice their station behavior. Plus, this was a time when all eyes weren't on me. I could breathe. I could double check how everyone was going home. I could give baseline tests. I could sit at a table and just enjoy my students.
Over the next few weeks, I'm going to use many of these same stations, but I'll replace one or two each week with more academic activities (handwriting, letter puzzles, spelling color words, rolling dice and counting...that kind of thing). This gradual approach will hopefully set us up for station success this year!
By the way, here are some cute videos we used this week to introduce station rules:
Inside voice...
Sharing...
Whether or not you've started back yet, I hope some of these ideas help you with your first weeks of school!
I don't know about you, but my reading stations are this crazy mix of Daily 5 and Debbie Dillard. Both systems are good, so I've pillaged each one until I've made what works for me. The one thing that I've definitely included from Daily 5 is its focus on training students and building stamina. I never thought my kinders would be able to sit quietly and read for so long, but today we hit 15 minutes!
Not that everyday was a picnic. You can see that it took us a few days to get the hang of things. But now, we're reading like fish swim, like birds fly, and like Michelle Tanner eats ice cream!
One problem I've had in the past is that I didn't have a good system for giving my students books to read.
I just met these little guys.
What level are they on?
What are they interested in?
I DON'T KNOW!!!!!!
Instead, of stressing, I raided our book room and made 5 sets of 5 different bags (each bag is labeled A-E). Throughout the week, I rotated which group had which bag. When we rotated through all the books, I replaced them with new ones from the book room. Easy peasy!
I hope beginning your stations is successful and smooth this year. Please post any tips you have to getting stations started!
PHEEEEEEEEW! I've made it through the month of August!! Not only has this month been beginning-of-the-year-exhausting (I feel like I've been herding kittens with those cutey-pie baby kindergartners), but this August the hubby and I bought our first house!
Wahoo!!!! We are so excited and have stayed SUPER BUSY. We put up a fence, bought a new fridge, and have spent a bazillion hours trying to get our Comcast service up and running.
After packing and moving, going to school has been almost like taking a break! Almost. Not really. Anyway. We just finished up our 3rd week of school, and I finally feel like my kiddos are getting the hang of kindergarten.
We used good ol' David to help us talk about school rules and then made this adorable craft!
The sort came from First Grade WOW and the craft template is one that I made when I decided I didn't want to trace and cut out pieces and would rather have something I could copy and let the kids decorate. Click here to get it from my Google Docs.
Let me leave you with my funny kid moment from the week (check out Kathleen's hilarious linky!). I have a student who is absolutely precious, but has apparently not had a lot of experiences with time-outs. After throwing a few tantrums, I gave her the visual timer to get a grasp on how long she had to sit out (which was only 1 minute...I mean, sheesh!). She threw an even BIGGER fit! Why?
Student: I don't WANT a one minute time-out!!! I want a FIVE minute time-out!!!!!!
I don't usually give into the tantrums, but in this case, I let her have what she wanted.
I survived the first day of school!!!!!!! Wahoo!!!!!! I have 23 darling little kindergartners, and they were super excited and full of energy today! (Wasn't that a nice way of saying that?) I planned a lot of activities. We did basically none of them. How does that happen??
We did take a tour of the school. After we read The Kissing Hand, we used this TPT scavenger hunt freebie to find different places in our school.
I liked the activity, but I might move it to the second day of school next year. Walking in line all over the school was a big job for some of my little cupcakes...especially since our school is a quarter of a mile from one side to the other!
After PE and lunch, we read No, David and started talking about school rules. What kid doesn't love the page where David is running naked as a blue jay down the street?! Hilarious! I also used Dr. Jean's "Rules Rap" to help the kiddos remember the rules. Tomorrow I have some plans for David Goes to School. I hope we get to them! Stay tuned for pictures of this fun craftivity (and a freebie!)
After a fun time at recess, we got out the math manipulatives. The kids had some "exploration time" as they played with the unifix cubes and the pattern blocks. It's so interesting to see what they come up with when given some tools and time to use their imagination!
I hate that I don't have any pics from the day, but the first day craziness just didn't allow it =) I'll let you know how tomorrow goes!
Tomorrow is OpenHouse!! I don't know whether to cheer or to run and hide! So many new babies are about to walk through my door!!!!
In the past, I've never been quite sure what to have at Open House. This year, after mercilessly stealing all of the ideas from everyone on my grade level, I'm presenting what I hope will be a fool-proof Open House!
1. The Welcome Chart: This tells parents what to do once they come in. Especially useful if I'm talking with another family.
2. The Sign-In Sheet: I'm almost embarrassed to put this picture on here because my sign in sheets are not cute-cutesy. BUT they are effective. They tell me what I need to know, like the all important question: Howisyourchildgettinghome?!?!
3. Information Packet: Does anyone else have a lot of paper work that goes home at the beginning of the year? Anyone?? Everyone?? Well, I put all of that info into a very high-tech, folded-in-half piece of construction paper with the student's name on the front. Parents will take their child's folder home, leaving me the folders of the students that didn't come to Open House. I easily know who didn't get their folder and can send it home on the first day.
4. Scavenger Hunt: This is my new thing I'm trying out this year. I like the idea because sometimes parents come in while I'm talking to someone else. This will give them something to do while they wait. We'll see how it goes!
Here are a couple of scavenger hunt freebies I found on TPT:
5. Classroom Wish List: I taught for 7 years before I was introduced to this concept! I put things that I want on post-its, the parents take the post-it, the parents buy we what I want. It's like Christmas in August!
6. Supply Table: I've always found it useful to show parents what supplies I want them to buy. So that's what this table is for.
7. Supply Baskets: This is for those go-getter parents who have already bought supplies and bring them to Open House. They can help me sort the supplies by putting them in the correct bucket. I'll keep this for the first day of school, too.
So we'll see how things go tomorrow. I can't wait to meet my 19+ new kindergartners!
Today it my last official bum day! Good-bye sleeping in. Good-bye TV watching. Good-bye leisurely going to the bathroom.
I'm getting my ideas ready for the first week of school, and they include SO. MANY. BOOKS! I thought I'd share some of my favorite back to school books. Please let me know if you have a fave I didn't include!
Here are some general faves. They make the kids laugh while also showing characters who are a little nervous about school. I know teachers everywhere read The Kissing Hand, so here's a freebie I found on TPT that includes a lot of great activities:
Each morning of the first week of school, we read one of these books and review our classroom rules (with the help of The Rules Rap by the fabulous Dr. Jean). Last year was the first year I had heard of What if Everybody Did That? and it is BRILLIANT! Because honestly, that's the deal when you teach school. Sure, it may be fine if one person interrupts a story, but what if EVERYONE did that?
It may be fine if one person stands up on the bus, but what if EVERYONE did that?
It may be fine if one person throws their coat on the floor, but what if EVERYONE did that?
It gives kids something to think about.
We spend a lot of time the first week or two learning and reviewing names, colors, numbers, and letters. These are a few of my favorite books to teach those skills. This year, I've bought Mrs. Jump's Fun with Names and CAN'T WAIT to use it! It's not free, but it's got TONS of creative ideas!
And what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't make a shameless plug for my own product?? (I know what you're thinking as an answer to that question...so don't answer it!). Anyway, this pack has several color word activities that go along with the book Pete the Cat: I Love my White Shoes.
