Schedules, Activities, & Some Great Literature!
Day 1's Schedule-
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| A simple, generic plan |
Boomer Goes to School, by Constance McGeorge
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| Click the graphic to get the book. |
Rules/Logistics/Tour the School:
I keep my rules short & sweet:
1. We use quiet voices.
2. We listen with our whole bodies.
3. We walk across the classroom.
4. We are kind.
5. We follow directions.
I even made a little poem about it.
It goes like this:
(And there are hand motions to go with it.)
(And there are hand motions to go with it.)
We raise our hands before we talk,
(Raise right hand up.)
(Raise right hand up.)
We listen,
(Right hand cupped to right ear.)
we always walk,
(Fingers of right rand walk along the top of your left forearm.)
(Right hand cupped to right ear.)
we always walk,
(Fingers of right rand walk along the top of your left forearm.)
We're kind,
(Touch both pointer fingers to the sides of your mouth as you smile.)
(Touch both pointer fingers to the sides of your mouth as you smile.)
We follow directions.
(Clap, clasp your hands, and place them in your lap.)
(Clap, clasp your hands, and place them in your lap.)
Teaching logistics is easy if you explain what you want the children to do and then have 1 or 2 students model it.
Explain:
-how to walk to the tables
-how to create the table activity
-how to use the manipulative activities at each table.
Have 1 or 2 students model moving to the tables and YOU model how to create the table activity and use the manipulative activities.
By the way, I place the manipulative tubs on the tables and students may play with them when they finish their work. Each day of the first week I rotate the manipulative activity tubs to the next table. That way the children get to explore different manipulatives each day.
-how to walk to the tables
-how to create the table activity
-how to use the manipulative activities at each table.
Have 1 or 2 students model moving to the tables and YOU model how to create the table activity and use the manipulative activities.
By the way, I place the manipulative tubs on the tables and students may play with them when they finish their work. Each day of the first week I rotate the manipulative activity tubs to the next table. That way the children get to explore different manipulatives each day.
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| Here are 3 of my 5 tables. I move the manipulative tubs from one table to the next at the end of each day. |
Class Mascot, Boomer.
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| Here is Boomer! We found him by my Show & Tell Apron! If you want a teaching apron like this one, visit http://showandtellaprons.com. |
Simple, Independent Activity: 1st Day Hats!
Something simple like this hat is perfect for the first day of school because they can wear it home.
After they cut it out and glued on the red band and white star, I called them up to take their First Day Photo. I used this laminated hat for all of the photos.
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| The words on the red band: I had a superstar day in kindergarten! |
Recess:
Go outside and tour the playground 10 minutes before recess begins and find your mascot on the slide or on a swing.
Literature:
Have you seen this book yet?
Harriet Can Carry It,by Kirk J. Mueller
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| Click the image. |
If you bring in a beach bag this story can become an interactive activity as your students place graphics of the items Harriet is asked to carry into the beach bag. There is also a cute activity you can create with this kangaroo:
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| Click the image to grab your FREE kangaroo & beach gear. |
I staple the bottom 5 inches of a lunch bag to Harriet. We sort the graphics and place the images that were in the story into her pouch and we place the images that were not in the story outside of the pouch. All of the pieces fit nicely in the pouch so students can take Harriet home and retell the story to their family:
CLICK HERE for the FREE graphics.
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| Click the link to get the free graphics framed in boxes. |
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| Click the graphic above to get this FREE set. |
Think of Harriet as
a summertime version of The Mitten.
Lunch & Fire Drill:
We walk to the lunchroom and discover our mascot there.
After lunch, we discuss and practice a fire drill.
Then, we do a group activity like a movement song or a game like one of Heidi's Songs.
I LOVE HeidiSongs! She has amazing DVDs about letters, sounds, numbers, sight word, and so much more. You can see all of her products by
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| Click the image to see all of Heidi's products. |
2nd Table Activity:
Chick-Chicka-Boom-Boom, Welcome To Our Classroom! We read the book and then, this activity stays at school to create a cute bulletin board.
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| Give students the random letters or the letters in their name. |
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| Isn't this a cute bulletin board? |
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| Here is a 2D version of this activity. It makes a great page your your memory book too! |
Literature or Complete 1 Page of Our
Letter Name Book:
We Look for "A" or "a" in our names:
We look at each nameplate and the students tell me if they see an "A" or an "a" in any of the names. I list all of the names that have an "A" or an "a", we count how many we have, and fill in the first page of our class Letter-Name Book. We look for 1 letter each day for 26 school days. Then, this book becomes part of our class library.
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| Click the image to grab this Letter-Name Book. |
CLICK HERE to grab my Letter-Name Book.
It is also part of my
Have the class help you to complete the first page of your daily diary: This re-caps the day and helps your students remember what they did in school that day so when their parents ask them, it is fresh in their minds.
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| Click the image. |
to grab your Daily Dairies for the entire year!
This set is also part of my
Beginning of the Year Bundle.
It contained 1st day certificates,
a Class Mascot Book,
Daily Diaries for the year,
and the Letter Name Book!
It contained 1st day certificates,
a Class Mascot Book,
Daily Diaries for the year,
and the Letter Name Book!
CLICK HERE to grab that bundle.
Have you signed up for your
FREE trial of ESGI yet?
Use my code, KFUN,
to get $40 off of your 1st year
and you will be entered to
win one of 11 Amazon Gift Cards
valued from $50 - $500!
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This post contains affiliate links.
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