1-2-3 Come Do Some First Day Of School Activities With Me

It's been a busy week, so I just have a quick activity for this article.  I hope you can pop by tomorrow for a big classroom management packet that I've been working on, and finishing today.

I know there's a lot to do on that first day of school, but I liked to "over plan" as I never knew the abilities of my new bunch of kiddos. 

Along with the zillions of other things a teacher has to get done, there's always a few things to do that we need some one-on-one time with each child, but what do you do with your other students?

It would also be great to simply have a few moments peace to sort through forms and notes, while students quietly work on something that they can accomplish independently; independently being the "must have" here.

  With these things in mind, I designed two "sanity savers" entitled: "I made lots of new friends today!" 

Use it as an autograph page for your really young students, or a writing prompt for older children. 

Need more sanity?  Extend the activity by telling students to draw a picture of themselves, with one of their new friends on the back of the paper.

Since my Y5's were learning how to write their name, an autograph page provided great practice.  If you don't have enough time for everyone to sign everybody's paper, make one master that everyone signs, and then during recess or lunch break, run off copies. 

At the end of the day, pass the papers out for children to color, while you get a few last-minute things done before dismissal.  Yippee for a special keepsake that I'm sure parents will enjoy too. 

If you teach older students, have them write about some of the new friends that they made.  They can color the picture as well, and if time, they could also have their new friends sign the back of their paper. 

To help practice making decisions, whenever possible, I liked to give my Y5's two choices of something, so I made two coloring pages your kiddos can choose from.  (If you haven't learned yet, offering more than two choices to little ones, is time consuming and overwhelming for some.  They simply can't decide, and you don't have the time to waste with Pokey Joes. ) Click on the link to view/download the I Made Friends Today activity. 

Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  If you have a first day of school idea that's worked for you, I'd love to hear about it.  You can reach me at: diane@teachwithme.com  or post a comment here. 

I'm off to go splash in the warm puddles with my grandbaby... Wishing you a happy day.

"A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning." -Brad Henry

123 Come Color With Me!

Color words were an important part of my word wall.

My Y5’s easily learned these because I included them in so many easy reader booklets, which really helped build their self-esteem.

This booklet Helps with Common Core State Standard: RF.K.1b

Students TRACE, WRITE, COLOR, & GLUE their way through 10 color words. (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, black, brown and white.)

It’s really a fun way to reinforce learning how to read, write and spell color words while reinforcing cutting skills as well as listening and following directions!

You can work on one page a day (perfect for Word Work for your Daily 5 activities) or one a week if you do "Color of the Week" like I did.

This is a great booklet for a portfolio as well, because it shows student improvement.

If you feel that color words are part of your "high frequency word list" then this activity would also help with Common Core State Standard: RF.K.3c

Click on the link to view/download My Color Words

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you can pop back tomorrow for more back to school ideas.

Feel free to PIN anything you think others might find helpful.

“What comes from the heart goes to the heart.” -Samuel Taylor Coleridge