Another week down and two freebies

I love it when the kids finally start to get a hang of all the new routines and procedures. Makes life so much easier. Here is a look at some the activities we did last week.

 

Another all about me graph. We graphed the color of our hair.

 We did our first science experiment. Do you think a coconut will sink or float? We graphed our hypothesis. The idea came from Deanna Jump.

 

Here is a recording sheet we completed. Click below to download. It was a little tricky for my kinders but they loved asking their friends and going through the process.

 

 We also explored a coconut using our five senses. They kids loved it when I cracked the coconut open with a hammer. Chart idea is also from Deanna Jump.

 
This little interactive writing activity goes great with Pete the Cat Rocking in my school shoes.

The school buses are from Deanna Jump's fun with names unit.

Here are my birthday balloons. This year instead of giant pixy stixs I am using crazy straws. So much cheaper and just as fun for the kids. You can download the balloon from What the Teacher Wants.

 

We started using Kim Adsit's Reading workshop unit. It is a must have. Here is our journal for anchor charts.

This is one of the anchor charts we made together.

This is my hall chant I sing with my kids before we go into the hall. If you would like to make one just click the picture below to download.

Click below to download

 

the first two weeks of school

The first two weeks of school of been exhausting and busy. We have been busy busy learning all our brand new routines and procedures. My class is so sweet and already have me laughing. Here is a look at what we have been up to.

We had fun with with our names. We counted the letters in our name.

 

 

 We read A my name is Alice and made this cute craft from Deanna Jump's fun with names math and literacy unit.

We rainbow dotted our names with bingo markers.

 

We read Chrysanthemum and graphed how many letters we have in our names.

 

We graphed how do you get home from school from Deanna Jump's back to school unit.

 

 We also graphed boys and girls in our class.

 

 Oh my I  am in love with Miss Viola Swamp from Julie Lee. They turned out adorable. After reading Miss Nelson is Missing we compared our class to Miss Nelson's naughty class.

 

We also made No David from Julie Lee and talked about being a peacemaker versus a peacebreaker.

 

Here our some of the anchor charts we made in class

 

You can read more about Mr. Potato head over here.

  

For those of you who have asked my PIRATE binder forms are uploaded onto TPT as a free download. Grab here and here.

 



My first day

Today was the first day back with kids. For first days it was pretty good. Exhausting of course but good. Here is what I did to introduce myself to my new kids. I grabbed some items from around the house that described me and put them in the mystery box.

 {The mystery box is from Abby at The Inspired Apple}

Then we charted all the things that I love. Super simple!

One of my favorite first days of school books to read is Jake. Luckily I only had two criers this morning. One I actually had to pull off his father's leg.

Tomorrow we are going to review our first day with this little writing activity. I changed it up a little from last year. Click below to download.

Teacher Week Freebie Friday

Setting up a classroom after attending professional development all day is exhausting! I am all set for Monday. I am so excited to get to know and teach all my new little kiddos.I met most Thursday at our meet the teacher night and they are all adorable.  I have some good freebies for you to use in your classroom.

First here is a peek into my classroom.

 

 

Freebie for ya!

Supply labels can be found here or click the picture below.

 

 This is my brand new painted purple wall. It is so bright and pretty. I love it! Last year it was covered in yellow butcher paper. Once I get my final class list I can put their names up.

Tissue paper pom pom how to instructions from here. They are super easy to make and look so good up! They hang above each table.

 

Freebie for ya!

Reward your class behavior with this simple management technique. Grab it here or click the picture below. This spin on brownie points came from one extra degree.

I added rewards on the back of each cupcake. When my baking sheet is filled with cupcakes I let a child pick any cupcake. We flip it over and read the back. The next day we get to have the reward. Desk friend allows them to bring a stuffed animal from home to sit on their table top all day.

 

Here is one of my new station labels. I am putting together a little pack of station icons and labels for your room with I can statements for differentiation. It will be posted very soon.

Laundry basket idea from the very creative first grade blue skies.

setting up

This week I have been working away in my classroom. The kids come back on the 27th.

I found this glitter wrapping paper at Michael's and fell in love. I love all things glitter. I put this baby up on my two bulletin boards in the room and love the finished look.

 Close up with green and white polka dot ribbon border.

 New additions to my teaching table . . . Ikea stools and rug.

 These filing cabinets were such an eye soar all year long. No more. I spray painted them red and added white polka dots.

 I found some left over red paint from last year and decided to paint my last ugly bookshelf.

 For those of you who have asked this wonderful product is how you get the beautiful circles. Thanks to Ms. White for introducing me to this.

I also made a bunch of these. Like I said I love glitter!

 Hung this banner from Martha Stewart over my windows.

For those of you who have asked for my pirate themed behavior chart and Pirate binder files they are coming very soon.

Happy decorating!