Our Names

Beginning the School Year

Names Unit

For most of my activities the first two weeks, I use Deanna Jump's Names Unit, available on TpT. It's expensive, but well worth it. The activities we use in this unit include:

• The Wheels on the Bus Letter Craft & Song
• Rainbow Names
• A my name is Alice Class Book
• Willaby Wallaby Woo Class Book
• Bippity Boppity Bumblebee Class Book (syllable count)
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Class Book

The books we've made from this unit become longtime favorites. We read them over and over again, and they fall apart in a few months from all the use!

Nature Names

Every year we go out to collect leaves, twigs & other treasures just outside our school's back door, and then decorate our names with them. I think next year I'll switch it up and just do first letters. I have many kids with long names in this class, so it was a bit cumbersome.

Glue Dots

This is a really fun freebie from Caitlyn Clabby. It's good practice for using a glue bottle, especially for children who didn't attend Preschool. The kids enjoy it, too!

 

Classroom Agreements

Instead of classroom rules, we decided to make agreements this year instead. We discussed how we should act in class and why, and came up with this list. We took pictures and the children wrote out the words. Finally, we signed our names and our poster went up in the hall for everyone to see.

Credit for the idea goes to The Simplicity of Learning, which is a wonderful blog.

Book List

These are my favorite books for the beginning of the year. They are easy for kids to learn to "read" on their own, and become favorites that I leave out all year.

No, David! by David Shannon 

 

I'm honestly not a big fan of these books, but the kids LOVE them, especially the boys. And they're great for talking about behavior at the beginning of the year.

Also:

David Goes to School

David Gets in Trouble 

 Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes by James Dean & Eric Litwin

 

We love Pete the Cat! All the books are sing-songy, so they hold kid's attentions even in those first few weeks. Best of all, this one is all about starting school!

Also:

Pete the Cat: The Wheels on the Bus

Pete the Cat: I Love my White Shoes

Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr.

  

Another universally-loved book- and there are so many ideas out there for related literacy activities.

Also:

Chicka Chicka 123

Other Favorites:

 

Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann

How do Dinosaurs Go to School? by Jane Yolen 

Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin, Jr. & Eric Carle

A my Name is Alice by Jane Bayer 

The First Day of School

Here's what we did on our very first day!



Upon arrival, the kids found these treats on their tables. We enjoyed them as a mid morning snack. :)

8:30 Morning Centers:
Kids practice washing hands/lining up
find names at tables & sign in
Books & Puzzles
Use bathroom before meeting

8:55 Ready for Assembly
Sing Open/Shut Them
Find names on the carpet - go over rules for assembly
Practice lining up for assembly

9:00 All School Assembly in Gym

9:30 Morning Meeting and Calendar
Sing The Bear Went Over the Mountain
Picture schedule introduction
Sing Where is Thumbkin?
Practice with magic wand (quieting down)
Read “David Goes to School”
Draw Self Portraits:

 Early Finishers: Puzzles or Books
 Recess Rules & Consequences for not listening (have aides talk to them)

10:00 Recess and Snack

10:20 Math & Reading Workshop:
Song (and Big Book): Itsy Bitsy Spider
Talk about working in stations- how should we act?
 Rotate workstations:
 Playdough at aide’s table
 Beads at Circle Area
 Blocks in Block Center

11:15 Whole Group Math:
 Watch Zumba Kids song on the SMARTboard
 Magic Wand & Open/Shut them
 Kids watercolor paint birthday hats for our birthday calendar:

11:45: Lunch

12:15 Rest
Sing The Bear Went Over the Mountain & Open/Shut Them
Rest time: Kids find a comfortable place and rest with lights off
Read “No, David!”
Talk about rules
Be nice, be safe, be a good listener (write together)

1:15 Centers
Practice quieting with wand
Tour of Centers, talk about clean up
Assign kids to centers (not ready to choose yet), close computers- take pictures of kids for coat lockers/cubbies
After 20 minutes, have kids stop and clean up. Assign them to new centers.
Repeat

2:00 Outside
Play outside
Practice recess rules

2:30 Yup’ik

3:00 Go Home: Take first day of school newsletter.



The first day went awesome! This is my 7th year so far and my smoothest start yet! I love my class!

Signing In

Every morning my kiddos go through a sign in routine.

When they come into the room, their work is laid out at their tables, in a really cool dry-erase sleeve from Really Good Stuff.

The baskets from Kaplan stay in the center of their tables all day and contain everything they'll need. To sign in, they need an Expo marker and a sock for an eraser. I'm having them use golf pencils this year because they are great for beginning fine motor skills, and then I don't have to deal with erasers! Next week I'll add crayons to that fourth slot.

I rotate weekly through 6 slightly different forms of the sign-in sheet, just to keep it interesting. Later in the year, we will start practicing last names as well.