I am happy to report that I survived my first week of school!
It was actually my best first week of school in 18 years.
I already know and love my first and second graders, and they
came back to me still trained, so
I just needed to train my kindergartners. It's definitely a
work in progress! They are so stinkin' cute, but, most of them
cannot sit still yet or fight the impulse to blurt out anything
at any time. I can be reading a story and someone will
raise their hand. I'm thinking it will be a question or
comment about my story, but, it never is! It's more like,
" I have a little brown dog."
"That's great! I love dogs! But, my story is about
the first day of school!"
Between not sitting still, blurting out anything at any time,
and having to use the bathroom constantly, we didn't
accomplish as much as I had hoped. But, I did accomplish
the most important thing...keeping them happy and occupied
so they wouldn't miss their mommies!
In kindergarten, we brainstormed some rules in the classroom, in the lunchroom, on the playground, and in the hallway. Then, they illustrated their favorite rule in each category.
We also made a class book, introducing ourselves. This is always a hit, because they love when I read it out loud and they have to guess who is who.
In first grade, the children completed some stations.
ABC Order
All About Me Essays
Welcome Back to School
Trivia Game
We also made a tree map about First Grade.
The children made their own, but, I forgot to take
pictures. After they made their tree maps, they filled
out a web like the one below.
(My awesome student teacher made the above and below charts.)
Next week, they'll copy their web onto pretty paper. When they are done, they'll have a nice 5 sentence paragraph.
My second graders made a class book about our rules and procedures.
They also made the same tree map, web, and 5 sentences paragraph as my first graders. In my back to school activity packet for second graders, I differentiated this activity and made 2 harder versions. However, I chose to use the easier version. (And, I remembered to take pictures!)
Here are some finished paragraphs.
We did lots of other activities and stations, but I didn't
have time to take pictures of everything. Most of the activities featured in this post can be found on my blog or in my teaching store. Some are free and some are paid for items. I'll leave the links below, in case you are interested in them.
On a side note, my little yorkie, Max, is not thrilled that I returned to work and can't be home loving him all day.
I think he's upset with me! What do you think?
