Friday, December 21, 2012

Christmas Celebration

Before our Christmas party, we were working on letter writing in Writer's Workshop. Each student wrote a note to Santa and they were so excited to receive a response all the way from the North Pole from Santa!  Each notes was personalizes based on what the students' wrote along with some special information that there is no way Mrs. Keene could know (unless she talked to mom and dad. <insert smiley>.)






After we opened our letters from Santa we enjoyed some treats and then had our Christmas Book Exchange. Each student brought a wrapped book (under $5) for our book exchange:




Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! 




Friday, August 31, 2012

Back to School . . . Back to School

Yes, I realize it is April 28 - and the school year isn't starting right now. But - since I am restarting my blog, I think it makes sense to start from the beginning. So here it is .  . . the start of the 2012 - 2013 School Year.

Our open house is the night before the first day of school. Here is how I manage the very exciting but chaotic meet and greet!


 First I have parents sign in and tell me how their child will be getting home - both the usual method and the first day (as many have a different routine the first day of school).

Then I provide students and the parents with a Scavenger hunt.  Click here to download and edit it for your classroom! 

 At students' seats were grocery bags for them to drop off their supplies if they brought it. This made it easy to sort through who brought what on my own time and label it accordingly.












Also - I left back to school confetti at each seat for students to take home with them. Download my version here. 











As part of the scavenger hunt - students found out library and Daily 5 option board. On the board are contact magnets for parents. They included my name, email, and phone number.









In the hall - a "Look WHOOO's in First Grade" bulletin board welcomed students to their new classroom and my owl theme!




Some other products I use in the Beginning of the Year include:

Magnet Business Cards (template on Word printed on magnet paper)
Parent Survey (I use one made from another teacher - I believe I have it pinned on my pinterest)
Welcome Letter for students