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Back to School
I love the beginning of a new school year! From bright and happy bulletin boards to the smell of new crayons, it is an exciting time for both teachers and students. At the beginning of the year, I cover the following themes:
There is always so much to do at the beginning of the year! I have tried to fill these pages with some helpful tips for getting started and making it through the first couple of days! Enjoy your visit and email me if you have new ideas to add!
Books are linked directly to Amazon.com. Click on the links for more information. Amazon will hold your books in your shopping cart for 90 days, so feel free to build your classroom library as you research new ideas for your classroom! When you order directly through the link on our classroom website, you help us earn money towards gift certificates to purchase more books for our classroom library!
Click on the links to find what you need or scroll down for more fun ideas! Back to School Bulletin Boards
Students can't wait to find out who their new teacher is! So, as soon as I get my class list, I send home two letters. To save postage, I mail them together. One letter is for the new student and the other letter is for the parent. I also include instructions for creating a family bottle. This idea comes from Dr. Jean Feldman and it is a wonderful way to build self-esteem and help shy students enter the classroom with confidence. Click on the links below to view my letters.
The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
This heartwarming story is one of my favorites, and it is a wonderful way to begin the first day of school as it eases children's anxiety. I have an adorable raccoon puppet that I share with the children before reading the story. I have to admit that I did have trouble finding a stuffed raccoon. However, my mom found a wonderful raccoon puppet at First Monday in Canton, Tx! I introduce the puppet as Chester and then pass him around so that all of the children can take turns greeting him. I then ask the children if any of them felt a little bit nervous or scared about the first day of school. Sometimes, there are a few children who are willing to share their feelings. I tell the children that Chester was a little bit nervous about the first day of school too, and he has a very special story that he would like to share with us. After reading the story each student creates a page for our class book about our first day of school. Chester becomes our class mascot and enjoys traveling home with his first grade friends on the weekend. He has a bag and a journal that travels with him. I also include a copy of The Kissing Hand for the first visit home. Audrey Penn has written a sequel titled a Pocket Full of Kisses, and I send this book home when Chester goes for his second round of visits. Kissing Hand cookies You will need: A roll of sugar cookie dough Hershey Kisses Hand shaped cookie cutter (I found one at Wal-Mart and Michaels!) Roll out the dough and let each child cut out a hand. Bake according to directions. When you remove the cookies from the oven, press a kiss in the palm of each hand. Eat for snack!
At the end of the day, I re-visit The Kissing Hand and tell the children how glad I am that they are in my class. I stamp each of their hands with a red heart and ask them to come back and visit Chester and I tomorrow. ( I recommend using a washable ink pad.) The stamp gives the children something to share with mom and dad when they get in the car. You can also purchase foam hands with hearts cut out of the center. I found a packet for 99cents at Hobby Lobby. I think they would make cute bookmarks!
Lots and lots of wonderful ideas! There are bulletin boards, poems, recipes, writing, and much, much more! This site has links for wonderful cookie cutters and a raccoon puppet!
Tons of back to school ideas!
Never Spit on Your Shoes by Denys Cazet
This is a funny book about a puppy named Arnie and what happens on his first day of first grade. In the story, the class is asked to help make up the rules. One student suggests, "Never spit on your shoes." I love to use this book to begin talking about classroom rules. To make up our classroom rules, I have adapted an idea from The Responsive Classroom. It is very important that children understand why we have rules and that there is a purpose for having them in the classroom. This avoids children thinking that they have to do something because "Mrs. McDowell says so." According to "Creating Rules With Children," by Mary Beth Forton, there are several goals to achieve when establishing classroom rules.
Goals of Creating Rules with Children
psychological- in the classroom
After reading Never Spit on Your Shoes, I ask the children to help me write a list of rules we should have in our classroom. I accept every answer and record it on chart paper. After we have a nice long list, I stop and say "Whoa, that's a lot of rules. I don't think I can remember all of them." I tell the children that I think we should put this list away and look at it again tomorrow. If the children are still wanting to add more rules, I ask them to hang on to them until tomorrow. Next, we start talking about what we think we will learn and do in first grade. We record this on chart paper also. I then ask the children what they hope to do the most this year. What is their dream to do in first grade. We then go back to our seats, and draw pictures of our "hopes and dreams." I give children cloud shaped tracers and white construction paper. They trace the cloud shape and cut it out before drawing their picture. I go around the room and have each child dictate to me what he or she hopes to do this year. These are displayed on a special bulletin board titled, "Hopes and Dreams for First Grade."
Over the next few days, we spend time sharing our hopes and dreams and talking about how we could achieve them. We re-visit our list of rules and talk about why we even have rules in school. The children learn that we won't get to do any of the things we hope to do if we do not have any rules in our classroom. They also discover that we can condense our long list of rules into four or five statements that will encompass all of them. I allow the children to come up with simple rules that will help us learn, keep us safe, and take care of our friends, our school, and our classroom. The children get to sign the rules before they are posted on our Hopes and Dreams board. This gives the students a sense of ownership and by signing the rules, each child promises to do his very best to follow them so that every student and Mrs. McDowell can achieve his or her dream.
At Open House, I share our rule creating experience, including the long list of first grade rules. I discuss with parents how important it is for children to understand why we have rules and how this allows them to take ownership of what occurs in our classroom. I give the parents a homework assignment. Each parent has to write their own hope or dream for their child this year. I display these hopes and dreams with those of the children. I also send home a family contract for students and families to review, sign, and return.
School Rules We have rules in our classroom to:
We want to reach all of our hopes and dreams this year. We know we will not reach them without rules. We promise to do our very best to follow the classroom rules so that we can be safe, learn lots of new things, keep our school looking its best, and take care of our friends and teachers. (Christian school addition: We know that it pleases God when we follow rules and try our best.) As a class, we created a list of 4 very important rules: 1. Be safe. 2. Be kind, respectful, and loving. 3. Take care of our friends and teachers. 4. Take care of our school. Rule Contract Please read and review the top portion of this letter with your child. Then, read and sign the rule contract. Keep the top half at home to help you remember why we have rules. Return the signed bottom portion to school. I have reviewed our classroom rules with my family and I promise to do my best to follow the classroom rules this year. I know that I am responsible for my body and for the choices I make. I understand that we have rules to be safe, to learn, and to take care of our friends and school. If I follow the rules, my classmates and I will be able to reach our hopes and dreams. (Christian school addition: I will also grow to become more like Jesus. )
Student signature:____________________________
Parent signature:_____________________________ For more information on creating classroom rules with your students, visit The Responsive Classroom. Also, I highly recommend the following professional books for beginning the school year. The First Six Weeks of School is a wonderful resource for new and old teachers. It is very helpful for planning activities for the first few weeks and for setting up effective classroom management during the first six weeks of school. Jody Capehart is my current head of school and she has wonderful ideas for teaching children and parents how to cherish and guide children. Her newest discipline book is Discipline by Design. If you are a Christian school teacher, be sure to read Teaching with Heart. Visit her website The Capehart Connection for more information. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to work with her and learn from her. Dr. Becky Bailey also has wonderful ideas for discipline. Her book I Love You Rituals is filled with ideas for creating rituals you could use with your students or parents could use with their children. Her book Conscious Discipline is an excellent resource for learning about how you discipline as a teacher and how you can be more effective.
The Responsive Classroom
also recommends the following titles for setting up happy and safe
learning environments:
Rule
Jar
During
the first weeks of school, students enjoy practicing basic classroom procedures
and rules using the "Rule Jar." Inside the jar are slips of
paper. Each slip lists a procedure or rule, such as "Show me how to
sit in a chair." I also include silly ones like, "Show me how
not to line up." This quick activity is a fun way to get children
thinking about how we act in the classroom and it is a great filler when you
need a two minute activity!
Continue your
study of rules by examining what kinds of rules students have at
home. Ask students to think of other places they might find
rules. For more lesson plans on rules in our community, visit
Georgia's Department of Education website. Their
All About Rules lesson plans work perfectly at the beginning of
the year!
The first few weeks of
school always include playing name games. Here are just a few of my
favorite activities! If you have one, email it to me and I will add it to
my pages with your name!
Spider
Web
You
will need a ball of yarn. It must be in the shape of a ball to work. The
multicolor yarn is most fun for this game. The class sits on the
floor in a circle. The teacher introduces herself and shares her favorite
color. Holding onto a piece of the yarn, she rolls it to a new
friend. The new friend says his or her name and shares his or her favorite
color. Before rolling the ball to another friend, the child says
"That's Mrs. McDowell and her favorite color is pink." The child
holds onto a piece of yarn and rolls it to a new friend. The third child
would introduce himself, share his favorite color, introduce the child
that rolled it to him and his color, and then introduce the teacher. For
example, "My name is John and my favorite color is green. That's
Amanda and her favorite color is purple. That's Mrs. McDowell and her
favorite color is pink." I get the class involved in saying
everybody's name and favorite to make it more fun and help us learn each other's
names. This is an activity that my second grade teacher, Mrs. Sandy D'arconte did when I was in second grade!
Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
This is a wonderful story to use during the first couple days of school because
it focuses on names. It also works really well with an All About Me unit.
Need more Kevin
Henkes lesson plans? Here are a few activities for extending the story:
Name
Graph:
Start by
graphing Chrysanthemum's name on an alphabet graph. I like to
enlarge my graph on the copier to at least legal size. Have each child graph the letters of his or her first and last
name. Afterwards, have students tally the number of vowels, consonants,
syllables, and total number of letters in his or her name. This activity helps you quickly assess letter recognition and
counting skills.
Name Art:
Die cut the
letters in each students name prior to the first day of school.
Place the letters in a ziploc bag. On the first day of school,
students can color and decorate both sides of each letter.
Laminate the names vertically and hang from the ceiling.
Attach a clothespin at the bottom and use all year to display
seasonal or thematic crafts!
This is a fun questionnaire to send home and children love learning
about why their parents chose their name! Thanks to Mrs. Critchell at Kinderteacher
for posting this activity on the web!
Alphabet Soup:
Fill a sensory
table or plastic tub with foam letters. Add water if you want!
Include a laminated class list in the center. Allow students
to ladle letters into a bowl and then use the letters to spell
classmate's names!
Name Necklaces:
Cut fun foam
into squares. Write one letter on each square and string on
lanyard lace to spell each students' name. Use black for
consonants and red for vowels. Students can use the necklaces
to scramble and unscramble classmates names or make new words with
the letters in their names. Don't want to buy foam?
Write the names on sentence strips. Cut the letters apart.
Cut part of the pocket off of an envelope and attach yarn.
Insert letters in pocket to spell names. This pocket can be
used as a name tag or for spelling new words!
Hello
Book! (An idea from Dr. Jean)
Take
a picture of every student. Mount the picture on construction paper with
the words, "Hello, (student's name)!" Use the book to get to
know everybody by singing:
Hello,
Sara!
Hello,
George!
Hello,
Brandon!
We're
glad you're here today.
Substitute
student names as you go and sing to the tune of "Goodnight Ladies."
"Hickety Pickety Bumblebee"
This is a cute chant that
promotes phonemic awareness and helps students learn each others' names. I
have a bee puppet that I pass around a circle as we say this chant.
Hickety pickety bumblebee,
won't you say your name for me?
(Child says name.)
Let's whisper it!
Let's clap it!
Let's cheer it!
Repeat with next student.
This is a fun way to welcome
students back to school and help ease anxiety. After purchasing all
of the treasure items, I sort them out into white lunch sacks. I
discovered that I could send the lunch sacks through the printer! However,
be careful. The printer will eat a number of bags and it is very
frustrating. However, the bags did turn out really cute! Here is
what I put in the bags and what each item represents:
Here are some little things to treasure and remind you that I think you are the
best
and what we will have a wonderful year together! Keep them in a safe
place
and look at them any
time you want to remember what an important
and special member of our
class you are!
Smiles and Hugs,
Mrs. McDowell
The penny is to remind you that you are valuable.
The crayon is to remind you that everyone adds a little color to every day.
The smiley face is to remind you to smile and be happy.
The smarties are to remind you that each one of you is my smartie.
The cross is to remind you that God loves you and will always be with you.
(Christian schools may
choose to add this.)
The beginning of the year is
the perfect time to review the alphabet with first graders or play with it with
kindergartners. Here are some fun games!
Before and After
Have students stand in a line. Flash an alphabet card and say either
"before" or "after." If you say before, the student must give
the letter that comes before it in the alphabet. If you say after, the student
must give the letter that comes after it in the alphabet. For example, if the child is shown the letter D, he or she must say "C."
The Alphabet Song
Sing the alphabet song and leave out or add letters. See if children
notice which letters were omitted. This is fun to do with a puppet.
The Alphabet Rap
A-B-C-D-E
Learning Together in First
Grade
by: Barbara Gruber & Sue Gruber
First grade is a special place,
See the big smile on my face.
Games to play and songs to sing,
We learn about everything.
Pencils, papers, books to read,
We have everything we need.
So much to learn, so much to do,
We must listen to you-know-who.
Our class is a busy bunch,
Look-it's almost time for lunch.
We know all the ABC's,
Right down to the XYZ's
Reading, writing, spelling,too,
We even know two plus two.
We learn together all year,
Second grade will soon be here!
There's time for work, time for play,
Learning new things every day.
First grade is a special place,
See the big smile on my face.
Put out a basket of alphabet books for students to browse during the
first couple weeks of school. Here are some you might want to
include:
The Alphabet Tree
by Leo Lioni
This is a wonderful way to teach
students about how letters get together to form words, sentences, and meaning.
After reading the story, re-tell it using food!
Materials:
celery stalk for each student
Alphabits cereal
Frosting and popsicle sticks for
spreading
Gummy Worm
Plates
Invite students to spread their
celery "tree" with frosting and use the alphabits cereal to create words for the
word worm to eat!
The War Between the Vowels and the Consonants by Priscilla Turner
Students adore this story! The story helps students learn that
words need vowels. After reading the story, give each student a cup
of Alphabits cereal. Have students sort and graph the vowels and
consonants. I use a graph that I downloaded from
The Mailbox.
A Box of Crayons
By
Shane
DeRolf
While walking in a toy store
In reading,
math and all the rest.
I promise to
obey the rules
In my class and
in the school.
I’ll respect
myself and others too.
I’ll expect the
best in all I do.
I am here to
learn all I can,
To try my best
and be all I am.
Everybody Has a Name
Everybody has a name.
A School
Prayer
-Monica
Williams
So every
morning when I wake
I'll ask God
then to be with me
To bless each
one I love at home |
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Be the first to own Nancy Carlson's new back to school book! It is scheduled to be released July 20th! Order it here!
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Get the year started with literature! Immerse your students in high quality literature and teach them to love reading! Here are some books to add to your back to school library!
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