Freebielicious: It's Throwback Thursday

Thanks so much for stopping by for Throwback Thursday! Hopefully you will grab a new idea on this Throwback Thursday or at least get a little 'refresher' before school starts again! Up first is...Caitlin Clabby from Kindergarten Smiles!

Hi all! It's Caitlin Clabby from Kindergarten Smiles and today I am 'throwing back' my most popular post from my blog--the First Two Days of School in Kindergarten. The post I am going to share was actually written two years ago, but you can find this past school years version HERE.

The first week of kindergarten is complete! I am always glad to have the first couple of days under my belt because they are by far the most exhausting! I tried to document everything we did the first two days of school in kindergarten. You may have to excuse some of the pictures... I took most of them in a rush! Of course I planned to do way more than I actually did! But, I tried!

Day 1:

I had coloring sheets out on the tables. We let parents walk their children into school the first 2 days so I knew I would be distracted.

All of the children were busy coloring while I talked to parents and asked them to say their goodbyes :)

As they finished coloring, I walked around and put a sticker on each paper. Then, I asked them to try to find their name on the mailboxes and put their coloring sheet inside. They did wonderfully at this! (hold high expectations and they will meet them!)

We gathered at the carpet and read Officer Buckle and Gloria. The kids loved this book!! It is a perfect introduction to discussing rules.

I wasn't quite planning on introducing the behavior chart just yet, but I had a little one who definitely needed to see this already. So we gathered at the clip chart and went over each 'color'.

Then, it was time for a school tour! Before we left we went over hallway rules and we practiced lining up in number order. While we were in the hallway we worked on keeping our feet close to side of the hallway.

Then, we read 'The Day A Monster Came To School' and again, talked about the rules of our classroom. When we were finished I introduced the 4 centers that they would be working on.

1. Monster Spin and Graph

2. The first page in their Rules Book

3. Exploring Unifix Cubes

4. Exploring links

I sat at the 'Spin and Graph' center for a couple of minutes, but then I was able to leave them to complete the center independently while I walked around. I had the bell set for 15 minutes (if I saw the kids getting restless then I would ring the bell a tad early!)

When the bell rang, we played a quick game of 'Simon Says'. For instance, 'Simon says stand up.' 'Simon says push your chair in.' 'Simon says point to your next center.' I always ended with that so I could make sure they all knew where they were going when I said 'switch'.

We ended up only finishing 2 centers before it was time for the park. (Don't forget to stay flexible this first week. You most likely won't get to everything that you have planned!)

We are lucky enough to go to the playground everyday for 30 minutes. Then we go straight to lunch for 30 minutes.

After lunch we have an awkward 15 minutes in the classroom before specials. Usually during this time I am going to try to squeeze in calendar math, but today we continued our centers.

They were loving the Spin and Graph!!

Then it was time for their first special. They have one special everyday for 30 minutes. Today it was music!

When we returned to class we gathered at the carpet and read Manners at School

Then we worked on the cover of our Rules Book whole group.

If students finished super fast, I directed them to the back table where they could play with the math manipulatives that they used at their centers earlier.

While they were doing this, I called over students one at a time to take their first day of school photos!

Then, we gathered on the carpet to play a little 'getting to know you' game! This activity is in Alisha's Kickin' It in Kinder Unit.

Students wold roll the dice and answer the questions that they rolled. It was adorable! I was expecting some of the kids to be too shy to answer...but they all couldn't wait for their turn!!

Then, believe it or not, it was time to go home! I turned the TV on while I passed out folders and tagged all the kids with their dismissal clips.

Day 2:

The second day was very similar to the first day, but not as hectic! I actually finished everything I planned! haha

Again, we started the day with a coloring sheet. This totally helps get the day started! I had parents handing me school supplies and wanting to know how their child was doing, etc. So I was handling different tasks while the children were busy coloring.

Today as they finished I showed them where the 'hand in box' is. I showed them how to highlight their name with a highlighter before handing in their paper. This helps catch all of the 'no name' papers!

If you would like to grab the little 'stop' sign, you can grab it for free HERE

Then, we gathered at the carpet and read Splat the Cat. Such a cute book!

Now it was time for morning centers

1. Word Work

2. The second page of our rules books

3. Write the Room (this was my center for the day)

4. Introduced one of their free play activities (we usually have free play the last 30 minutes of the day)

After centers were complete we headed to the park and then to lunch. When we returned we did calendar math.

Then we headed to specials. After specials I will normally do math, writing, then free play. BUT we aren't starting our math or writing until next week. Instead we played 'I Have, Who Has' whole group.

The first round I really had to help them to remember to say I have ___, Who has ___? They were kind of just shouting out I HAVE IT!! But, the second go round they did beautifully!

Then we did our first page of our memory book, had snack, packed up, and headed home!!

All of the Monster activities can be found HERE

Some other centers we did throughout the week:

a monster ABC game

Word Work: magnetic letters

Practiced our cutting skills

and played a monster roll and dot game!

Have a wonderful first week of school!!

Next up is...Mandy Myers from A Special Kind of Class!

Hi everyone! It's Mandy Myers from A Special Kind of Class. I hope you are enjoying the hop this week. I know I am. Today I am 'throwing back' one of posts from last summer -- bubbles. This was one of my "bright ideas" blog posts and I choose this one because it's a great summer activity that you can easily do at home with ingredients you probably have in the home. Kids of all ages love bubbles and this recipe makes huge ones.

Who doesn't like bubbles? Especially on a summer day. For my recipe you will need:
1. Dawn soap (I don't know why, but apparently it works best)
2. Water
3. Jell-o powder (or a no name brand, any flavour)
4. A container and measuring cups
5. String and a straw (if you want to make your own wand)