daily 5 activities for the first week of school

Back to School Puppy Packet

1-2-3 Come Do Some Back To School Activities With Me

assessing kids the first week of school, back to school activities, alphabet activities, assessments, games, As children head back to school, it's helpful if you can do some early assessing with your kinders and firsties to see where everyone's at, yet that can be time consuming and really not all that fun for your kiddos the first week of school, when they're already antsy sitting through rules, regulations and procedure talks. 

assessing kids the first week of school, back to school activities, alphabet activities, assessments, games, With that in mind I designed the puppy packet using the adorable clip art of DJ Inkers. 

It's a wonderful back to school packet that you can use for a variety of activities. 

Fill in your students' names on the "Look who's been spotted" worksheet.  I've included templates for preschool, kindergarten and 1st grade, plus a blank one to write in whatever you're teaching. 

assessing kids the first week of school, back to school activities, alphabet activities, name activities, assessments, games, Students find their name and color the circle their favorite color.  Be sure and include your name on the heart. 

Having simple worksheets like this gives your students something to do, and allows you a few minutes to work one-on-one with them.

assessing kids the first week of school, back to school activities, alphabet activities, name activities, assessments, games, To quickly and easily whole group assess where your students are at, play the "I spy" games for numbers, shapes, plus upper and lowercase letters. They'll have fun and you can see at a glance who's having difficulty.

assessing kids the first week of school, back to school activities, alphabet activities, name activities, assessments, games, The packet also includes 2 writing prompt activities.  I've designed these as extra large bookmarks, with 2 on a page. Students can choose one, color it and complete the prompt.

assessing kids the first week of school, back to school activities, alphabet activities, name activities, assessments, games, It's a quick home-school connection that lets parents know what their child did that day. 

I've included completed samples for you to share as well.

assessing kids the first week of school, back to school activities, alphabet activities, name activities, assessments, games, Another writing activity is D is for dog.  Students can roam the room and spot items and words that start with the letter Dd. 

If you do Daily 5 this is a nice option.

assessing kids the first week of school, back to school activities, alphabet activities, name activities, assessments, games, The packet also includes a Whose Name Is On The Bone? activity.  Because my Y5's were learning how to recognize their name, I filled a dog dish (I bought mine at The Dollar Store) with paper bones that I had written their names on. 

For a few minutes each day, I'd hold up a bone and the child who recognized their name would bark.  I know it sounds silly, but they absolutely LOVED this.  As time permitted, we'd do 3-6.  To help get the "wiggles" out, after they had sat through whatever else I had planned for carpet time, I'd play the song Who Left The Dogs Out?  

They'd pretend to be puppies and crawl around on all fours singing and barking 'til the song ended.  I'd reign them in and we'd transition to our next activity. (Too cute and rather hilarious!)

Click on the link for a nice YouTube video featuring the song and cute dog animation.  Who Let The Dogs Out?  For a shorter version, sung by kids and showing some nice dance moves for them to imitate, click on this link: Who Let The Dogs Out?

assessing kids the first week of school, back to school activities, alphabet activities, name activities, assessments, games, As another simple fill-in, I've also included 4 dog-themed bookmarks in color as well as black and white, plus one you can give for good behavior.

assessing kids the first week of school, back to school activities, alphabet activities, name activities, assessments, games, Click on the link to view/download the Back To School Puppy Packet. Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.  

assessing kids the first week of school, back to school activities, alphabet activities, name activities, assessments, games, Work's done for today, so I'm off to play.  As always, summer is flying way too fast!!!

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." -Scott Adams

 

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More Teaching Common Core Standards With Kiddy Lit V

Getting To The Core, With Clothing, Specifically--What She Wore!

activities for Mary wore a red dress, lessons for mary wore a red dress, daily 5 activities for the first week of school daily 5 activities for september, writing prompts for september, writing prompts for the first week of school, writing prompts for back to school, writing class books, class book ideas, class book writing prompts, common core lessons for first grade, common core lessons for kindergarten, common core activiries for first, common core activities for kindergarten, rhyming word lessons, color lessons, color activities,color booklets, rhyming word activities, Mary Wore A Red Dress is another of my favorite back to school books.

It’s a great book for introducing color words to students.

In my “Red Dress Packet” I’ve included 11 color-picture cards to go with the book.  You can pass them out to your students to use as manipulatives when you read the story.

Print and laminate them.  Attach a magnet or piece of Velcro to the back and have students sequence them on your white board or a flannel board to enhance story time.

After the reading, pass out the pieces again and have students retell the story using the manipulatives.  See if they can get them in the proper order.

activities for Mary wore a red dress, lessons for mary wore a red dress, daily 5 activities for the first week of school daily 5 activities for september, writing prompts for september, writing prompts for the first week of school, writing prompts for back to school, writing class books, class book ideas, class book writing prompts, common core lessons for first grade, common core lessons for kindergarten, common core activiries for first, common core activities for kindergarten, rhyming word lessons, color lessons, color activities,color booklets, rhyming word activities, I’ve also included 2 different class books with two different writing prompts.

One reinforces their name and what they wore to school having them incorporate a describing color word.  “My name is _______________. I wore ______________________ to school.”

The first page begins with the teacher: “I'm the teacher, _____________. I wore _______________ to school."

The other is a take off of Martin’s Brown Bear and asks: “________________ what do you see?” What makes this class book so special is that the teacher glues the students’ first day photograph on the pages and students use describing words to write the sentence.

activities for Mary wore a red dress, lessons for mary wore a red dress, daily 5 activities for the first week of school daily 5 activities for september, writing prompts for september, writing prompts for the first week of school, writing prompts for back to school, writing class books, class book ideas, class book writing prompts, common core lessons for first grade, common core lessons for kindergarten, common core activiries for first, common core activities for kindergarten, rhyming word lessons, color lessons, color activities,color booklets, rhyming word activities, There’s even a page for the teacher. 

You could also take pictures of the principal, secretary, lunch staff, librarian, playground assistants and anyone else you think students need to be familiar with, and include those in the book, so you can use it as a handy reference tool as well, helping your students become familiar with names as well as faces.

This 38-page packet of fun activities that reinforce color recognition, reading, writing and math skills also includes:

  • 10 color-word wall word flashcards with 10 matching color cards +
  • Covers to make an Itty Bitty Color-Word Book
  • 5 Graphing extensions
  • 8 skill sheets including "Rhyme Time" with words that rhyme with dress, shirt, pants and hat.
  • "We CAN Tie Our Shoes!" Poster-Roster
  • A connect the dots tennis shoe and
  • 4 Certificates of Praise for shoe tying

Class book pages are great for your Daily 5 activities, or September writing prompts! activities for Mary wore a red dress, lessons for mary wore a red dress, daily 5 activities for the first week of school daily 5 activities for september, writing prompts for september, writing prompts for the first week of school, writing prompts for back to school, writing class books, class book ideas, class book writing prompts, common core lessons for first grade, common core lessons for kindergarten, common core activiries for first, common core activities for kindergarten, rhyming word lessons, color lessons, color activities,color booklets, rhyming word activities, activities for Mary wore a red dress, lessons for mary wore a red dress, daily 5 activities for the first week of school daily 5 activities for september, writing prompts for september, writing prompts for the first week of school, writing prompts for back to school, writing class books, class book ideas, class book writing prompts, common core lessons for first grade, common core lessons for kindergarten, common core activiries for first, common core activities for kindergarten, rhyming word lessons, color lessons, color activities,color booklets, rhyming word activities,

Click on the link to view/download Activities For Mary Wore A Red Dress Packet

Thanks for visiting today.

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

“Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the whole world.” –Albert Einstein

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More Back To School Ideas: How Do You Go To School?

back to school ideas, ideas for the first week of school, activities for the first week of school, lessons for the first week of school, daily 5 activities for the first week of school, graphing how you get to school, easy reader booklet of how you get to school,

Picture Clues Help Students Read

How Do You Go To School? Is a fun easy reader for your students to do the first week of school.

It’s a great way to reinforce the end of the day routine and who should line up where, because of how they will get home.

Graphing how everyone does that, will help children get to know the different means of transportation available, plus get to know their new friends better.

Children read the simple sentences using picture clues, trace and write the mode of transportation word, and then cut and glue the matching numbered picture to the page.

When everyone has completed their booklet, read it together as a whole group activity to reinforce concepts of print.

This will also enable students to share it with their families at home.

Click on the link to view/download the How Do You Go To School? easy reader.

back to school ideas, ideas for the first week of school, activities for the first week of school, lessons for the first week of school, daily 5 activities for the first week of school, graphing how you get to school, easy reader booklet of how you get to school, Thank you for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others might find helpful.

I hope you can stop by tomorrow, for another back to school idea.

“Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon.” -E.M. Forster

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More Back To School Ideas! Student-Made Dictionaries

Nailing Common Core State Standards With Fun Vocabulary Building Word Books!common core state standard lessons, common core reading state standard, common core lessons for kindergarten, word work lessons for kindergarten and first grade, student made dictionaries, daily 5 activities for september, daily 5 activities for the first week of school, daily 5 word work activities, student dictionary template,

Dictionaries are a great way to practice the skill of alphabetizing. 

They help students become aware of new words, and by writing them down, defining and categorizing them, students are building their vocabularies.

At the end of the year students have a great keepsake and are truly amazed at all the words they have learned and can now read, spell and use!

Choose one dictionary for your students to work on, or pick several; there are 8 to choose from, including several generic ones. 

The cute cover designs are the artwork of Laura Strickland and Phil Martin.

Use the common ABC page template for all of the dictionaries.

Students write their name on the cover and then jot down the word on the appropriate letter page, and define it.

It would also be a good idea to have students trace the upper and lowercase letters for extra alphabet practice.

Run off more pages if students find more words that begin with a certain letter, such as T, S, M etc.

Run off and collate these booklets at the beginning of the year.

Students can keep them in a folder, file, portfolio or their cubby for easy access.

common core state standard lessons, common core reading state standard, common core lessons for kindergarten, word work lessons for kindergarten and first grade, student made dictionaries, daily 5 activities for september, daily 5 activities for the first week of school, daily 5 word work activities, student dictionary template, So that my students are empowered and can find their booklets quickly, each child has a number at the beginning of the year.

This is far easier than alphabetizing things.  I quickly collect booklets etc. and put them in numerical order.

The dictionaries make a perfect addition to your “Word Work” for Daily 5.

If you don’t do Daily 5 they are terrific as independent work for your writing center.

If you do a sight word or the Dolch word dictionary you will be helping to fulfill the Common Core State Standard: RF:K.3c

I've also included a tip sheet of how to guide 1st graders so that you can also incorporate Common Core State Reading Standards: L.1.4a,  L.1.5b, L.1.5c

Click on the link to view/download Student-Made Dictionaries.

common core state standard lessons, common core reading state standard, common core lessons for kindergarten, word work lessons for kindergarten and first grade, student made dictionaries, daily 5 activities for september, daily 5 activities for the first week of school, daily 5 word work activities, student dictionary template, Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you can pop back tomorrow for more back-to-school ideas!

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

"Anyone can be cool, but awesome takes practice!" - Unknown

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More Back To School Ideas! A Monthly Class Keepsake Booklet

The Very Hungry Student

back to school ideas, back to school activities, activities for a porfolio, student portfolios, back to school lessons, first day of school ideas, first day of school activities, first day of school lessons, daily 5 activities, september writing prompts, monthly writing prompts, writing prompts for the first week of school, writing prompts for the first day of school, fun writing activities, writing centers, school keepsake booklets, student booklets, keepsake school activities,The Very Hungry Student is a fun way for students to write down what they have learned each month.

Because it records their accomplishments, it’s a terrific way to build self-esteem.

Because students write in it each month, you will see improvement in their handwriting, as well as their writing abilities, so the booklet is a good addition to a portfolio, if you have them, or tuck into a student folder, to take out and share with parents during conferences.

Practice reading the simple rhyming sentences, after students complete their page, so that at the end of the year, children are able to read their booklet when they take it home to share with their families!

I have a cute caterpillar with a face for one cover, but you can make this even more special, by having students glue their photo over his face for a “student caterpillar” instead.

Because this is a quick and easy writing assignment, that students can do independently, it makes a nice Daily 5 activity too.

back to school ideas, back to school activities, activities for a porfolio, student portfolios, back to school lessons, first day of school ideas, first day of school activities, first day of school lessons, daily 5 activities, september writing prompts, monthly writing prompts, writing prompts for the first week of school, writing prompts for the first day of school, fun writing activities, writing centers, school keepsake booklets, student booklets, keepsake school activities,back to school ideas, back to school activities, activities for a porfolio, student portfolios, back to school lessons, first day of school ideas, first day of school activities, first day of school lessons, daily 5 activities, september writing prompts, monthly writing prompts, writing prompts for the first week of school, writing prompts for the first day of school, fun writing activities, writing centers, school keepsake booklets, student booklets, keepsake school activities,If you don't do Daily 5, keep the booklets for your writing center. 

They make a great writing prompt for the first day of school, as there is a page specifically for that.

Because there is a page for each month, you could start out September and each month, with The Very Hungry Student's page as your writing prompt for the month.

For an activity that helps students with verbal acuity, gather children in a circle and have them share that day’s page by reading it to their classmates.

At the end of the year, you can discuss what everyone’s favorite thing was that they learned, or their favorite month of activities.  If they overlap, graph them.

A little bit of science is covered, as the very hungry caterpillar is "bursting with knowledge" and turns into a butterfly, flying into the next grade.

In June, (s)he is once again a fat little caterpillar, promising to slim down over the summer, so they are ready to fatten up and gobble down more knowledge, in their new grade!

Click on the link to view/download The Very Hungry Student booklet.

back to school ideas, back to school activities, activities for a porfolio, student portfolios, back to school lessons, first day of school ideas, first day of school activities, first day of school lessons, daily 5 activities, september writing prompts, monthly writing prompts, writing prompts for the first week of school, writing prompts for the first day of school, fun writing activities, writing centers, school keepsake booklets, student booklets, keepsake school activities,Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN anything you think others might find helpful.

I hope you can pop in tomorrow for another back-to-school idea!

"Stop trying to fit in, when you were born to stand out!" - Dr. Seuss 

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