Getting Ready for My First Day in K!

My first day teaching kindergarten is tomorrow! I am super nervous and super excited at the same time. I wanted to share with you a couple of pics on how I am getting ready for my big day. Wish me luck!

 

I have this on an easel by my door. It helps students and parents get started right away. I love getting to see how they write their names. It tells you so much about your kiddos' abilities.

 

I have all of my supply bins labeled on the back counter so parents and students can quickly drop off supplies. It is also nice to not have to worry about labeling each item with the students' names. In kindergarten, we are learning to share. Learning being the key word. :)

Here is the job my kiddos are going to do for me at their table. That caterpillar is just too stinking cute! My plan is to get kids comfortable and then gently help parents out of the room. I will offer hugs though if needed. The nametags I got from Amy Biddison. I love that there are numbers to 30, the alphabet, colors, and left and right on one nametag. Plus they are on sale right now. Be sure to check her out!

 

Here's a quick view of one tables caddies. I organized the materials with cups and each table has a different colored ribbon to mark their tables color. I have cute tags too but I am waiting for our school to get some more laminate in. Please note that there are no scissors or white glue in the caddies. I am holding off until I can teach proper procedures. Plus if a kiddo cuts their hair the first day, I'll just die.

I am so ready to hit the ground running with Daily 5. I will be doing day 1 tomorrow of Read to Self. I love using Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes to teach the 3 Ways to Read a book. Wish me luck...I'll share how it went tomorrow. :) 

Books I Can't Plan Without: Daily 5 and Cafe

I have read quite a few educational books in my day and even though I may love some advice or take snippets away. There are only a few books that have stayed on my bookshelves for most of my teaching career. These are the books that I can't plan without. These books help guide my instruction and today I'm going to talk about my top 2 favorites.

The Daily 5 and Café by The Sisters: Gail Boushey and Joan Moser

 

I love the 2 sisters and I love their outlook on kiddos reading and literacy needs. I have always looked at the Daily 5 as being what the kids are doing during literacy time and Café being what you, as the teacher, are doing during literacy time. These 2 books go hand in hand. I have heard people say that Café is too advanced for primary kiddos. I say, "Hogwash!" I've used it in first grade and I am going to use it kindergarten next year.

My favorite quote from these ladies has to be "Fair isn't everyone getting the same thing. Fair is everyone getting what they need in order to be successful." A lot of time, we have 4 rotations of reading groups and they are 15 minutes each. When every group has rotated through, we are done. Everyone is getting 15 minutes. The time is equal but is the education fair? One student might need 30 minutes to grasp a concept and another student need 10 minutes. Hmmm....that doesn't seem fair.

This is not to say that I do not do reading groups. I do and I love them. It is to say; however, that I keep a close watch on how our learning is going. If we are catching on to the concept/skill, we move on. If we need additional help, we keep working. If there is only one kiddo excelling or needing assistance, you can bet your bottom dollar that they are on my one-on-one list.

I found this picture on pinterest from Joe Bower from For the Love of Learning and I thought it brought the point home beautifully.

Here is a freebie poster from The Curious Apple. I might have to make something like this to hang by our rules.

 Along with these books, here are some tools that I created to help me with my own planning for the 2013-2014 school year. You can click here to see more info about this packet or here to visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Daily 5 and Café.
 

Daily 5 Book Totes

I have throughly enjoyed reading the Daily 5 and CAFE this summer. I have so many ideas that my mind is swimming. One of my favorite things I put together was our class book bags for Read to Self. I thought long and hard about what to use for book boexes or bags and one magical day at the Dollar Tree I found these fantastic totes.

I love that they have a pocket on the front for various reading items (I'm thing word rings, book marks, highlighters, ect) and my kiddos look so cute carrying them to their special spot.

I put all of my students' names on them with Avery labels, scrapbook paper, and zip ties. I was considering using the metal rings that open and close but to be honest I felt like we would lose the names, metal rings or both. Plus zip ties are cheap and durable!

For the cubbies, I just took two small standing bookshelves, gave them a little spray paint love, and turned them sideways. The color coded slots help the kids find and put away their book bags quick and efficiently. Love it!
Tell me about how you do book totes/boxes? What works for you?


Priscilla