Jasper Roberts Consulting - Widget

Monday, August 20, 2012

My 1st day with kids and Must Have Monday

Boy, am I one tired teacher!  Today was my first day with my new bunch of kinderkids and we had an awesome day!  They are too sweet!  I'm posting a few of the things we did today and at the bottom of this post I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin's Teacher Week for 
 My favorite book to read on the 1st day of school to teach my students about rules and being peacemakers is David Goes to School by David Shannon.  It's the perfect book to introduce how to behave appropriately at school.  Plus, it's just too cute.

We make David on our 2nd day of school (pics to come) and you can check out this little packet here.


Next, I brought out the mystery bag to talk about being a good listener.  They went bananas over this fun little activity and were so in to what was in my bag.  I let them make predictions of what was in it and had some great guesses.
Here's what was in the bag.  First, I pulled out the shoes part of Mr. Potato Head.  They figured out that these belonged to Mr. Potato himself so I showed them the potato head with nothing on it but his nose.  We talked about what else might be missing and what he needed to be a good listener.  I told them that Mr. Potato Head is the smartest toy there is b/c he uses his listening ears, puzzle hands, looking eyes, criss-cross legs, and his Thinking Cap!  
(This fun idea was adapted from my friend Deanna's Mr. Potato Head rules which you can read about here.)

We did lots of other things, but our last thing was to read First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg.  This book is adorable!  If you don't have it, it's a must for the first day of school.  So cute!

 I made this large poetry card using the poem Jitter Juice by my friend Abby.  Thought it turned out cute...can you see the fizz bubbles made with iridescent glitter?  Under the blue paper is a copy of the poem.  You can find out all about Jitter Juice in Abby's Crazy for Kindergarten packet.  I also think it's available in a couple of her other packets.
Here's our Jitter Juice jug...empty!  The kids loved it!  

 One last thing...If your kiddos are like mine, a lot of them do not know how to write their name coming into K.  The first few days/weeks can be very hectic so I always have tons of name labels on hand to put on their work.  That doesn't mean I don't ask them to try writing their name or that we don't begin working right away to learn it, but it sure saves tons of time when you don't have any.  You can see the name label at the top of this paper.  

I print out several sheets of their names in different fonts.  These are great small projects especially since K's tend to write their name huge.

Okay, Bravo if you're still reading this very long post!  Here's my Must Have Monday link-up with Blog Hoppin'.

Personal Scotch laminator from Wal-Mart...don't know what I did before I bought this last year.

ELMO document camera...use every. single. day. of the week!  

Royal Reading & Writing Center from Copernicus Education...it holds everything I need basically for whole group lessons.
 Here's an inside view...as you see it's stuffed with, well, "stuff".

Promethean Interactive White Board...I vinyled my whiteboard with lots of dots!

Vera Bradley Lanyard

I got this jewel at Lowe's a few years ago....not sure if they still make them...LOVE

Scentsy Candle Warmer!!  

Personal Paper Cutter...use every single day of the world.

Thirty One teacher bag!

And, finally, a Mt. Dew Fountain Drink...I have one every single day of the world...including Saturday and Sunday!

Thanks so much for reading this post and my blog!  Hope you find something useful!  



12 comments:

  1. I found the Monday-Friday cart on another blog and everyone on ProTeacher said that they were discontinued. I ended up taking a chance and called Lowes to see if they had any left. The Sales guy found 2 and sent me one. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! It is soooo much better than my old system of daily file folders and stacks on my desk!

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  2. Great minds think alike...I have the same Royal Reading & Writing Center {it's amazing} and the same Thirty-One teacher bag {except with my initials ; )}
    Hope you have a great first week back-I'm exhausted!
    ❤Tanya
    Ms. Solano's Kindergarten

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  3. Your stuff always looks so awesome! Love your Must Have Monday's. We start screening on Wednesday...I can't wait to meet my sweeties! Have a great rest of the week!!
    Robynn
    BusyBees

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  4. LOVE the jitter juice idea! Definitely going to add that to my first day! Thanks so much for sharing :)
    Kaitlin
    http://kandclovegrade3.blogspot.ca/

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  5. I just did your "I am a Peacemaker" activity with my kiddos. They LOVED it! Great ideas..thank you for sharing! I'm your newest follower :) Follow me on

    storiessparklesandsmiles.blogspot.com

    Allison

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  6. I have to have to have a paper cutter too!! I am so sad I cannot find the cutting strip that fits my cutter. I have not been able to find a cutter I like as well. I may have to try one like yours.

    Terri Izatt
    KinderKapers

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  7. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  8. LOVE the Mr Potato Head idea! :)

    Danielle

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  9. Pretty good post. I just came across your site and wanted to say that I have truly loved reading through your blog posts. Any ways I’m going to be subscribing for your feed and I hope you post again soon.
    Regards
    Primary Education - Little Millennium

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  10. Wow, your pics are so cool and so your post. I like your site so much. How thoughtful you are. Where do you get the inspiration for such creativity!!!! You’re so cool! I don’t suppose I’ve read anything like this before. So nice to find somebody with some original thoughts on this subject. Really thank you for starting this up. This website is something that is needed on the web, someone with a little originality.
    Regards
    Early Childhood Education - Little Millennium

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  11. For me, an interactive whiteboard is a must-have teaching device. As a kindergartner teacher, I bet it can truly help you handle the kids. For young learners like toddlers, one of the quickest ways to teach them is by providing illustrations. Visual representations can draw their attention and make them more interested in the lesson. What’s more, visual stimuli can help students create a clear image of the lesson inside their heads. And IWB is one handy device when it comes to presenting visual presentations.


    @Sam Jephson

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  12. Good post and useful information.Thanks for sharing the Post.Preschools In Chennai

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