1-2-3 Come Make A First Day Activity With Me

I know a lot of teachers have a Dr. Seuss theme for their classrooms, so I thought I'd make an activity you can do with your students on the first day of school. 

Simply run off the template.  On each stripe of the cat's hat, students write the things that they enjoyed doing the most and then color the stripes.  Add a first day photo for that finishing touch. 

Encourage older students to use complete sentences.  Younger students can simply write a word or two. 

You may want to start by brainstorming with your kiddos.  To help them with spelling, jot their answers on the board.

There's a hat without the 1st day sentence as well, so you can also use this activity during March's celebration of Seuss or a Cat in the Hat Day.

I've included a poster with another similar Seuss quote. Use it to introduce the above activity, or for a discussion at the end of the day of what your students enjoyed the most, and how everyone contributed to making that first day special.

Click on the link to view/download the Seuss Hat First Day Writing Craftivity. 

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope your days are as filled with fun as mine are. 

I'm off to watch my grandson (22 months) play in his kiddie pool.  So loving summer...

1-2-3 Come Review A Great Back To School Book With Me

Since the Miss Nelson Is Missing packet has been such a popular download, I decided to whip together a few more activities to accompany one of my favorite back to school books.

An interesting way to review the story, as well as reinforce rules for appropriate grammar, is with the Miss Nelson Is Missing punctuation cards.  Hang the cards on your board and read them together as a whole group. 

Choose a student to come up and circle letters that should be capitalized explaining why and then have another child add end punctuation. 

You can also do this with a pointer and pocket chart or pass one card out to each child to correct with a dry erase marker. 

After eveyone has shared their card, have students choose 3-6 cards and rewrite the sentences correctly.  This is a great Daily 5 word work activity too.

Another idea is to run off copies of all of the cards, have students trim and collate into a mini booklet, where they make corrections.

Encourage children to read their Miss Nelson booklet to their family, explaining what they did, as they retell the story.

Click on the link to view/download the Miss Nelson Is Missing Punctuation Cards.  Thanks for visiting today. 

I hope you are getting excited to start another school year, but still making time to relax and enjoy the rest of your summer too.  Wishing you all the best...

Staying Organized and Saving Time With Absent Work File Folders

When I taught 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd grade, keeping track of who was missing what, when students were absent, then finding and collecting those papers for them to do, was time consuming.

I learned early on that I needed a system to expedite things.  You will LOVE this idea as it's sooooo easy to implement and such a hassle-free time saver. I designed  cute “We missed you!” “Glad you’re back!” ABSENT file folders. 

Yesterday, I updated this FREEBIE, as students are absent for more reasons than just being ill.  (If you have older students, simply adjust the clip art for something more appropriate.)

After I took attendance, if a child was absent, I put a sticky note with their name and the date written on it and stuck it to the front of the Absent File Folder and laid it on the top of their desk.

When I taught 1st grade, I handed out work to the first student in each row. They passed it back to the others, so the child who sat in front of the absent student, would make sure that they put a copy in the Absent Folder, taking this time consuming responsibility off of me.

Since my students also worked from workbooks each day and then ripped out their assignment to take home, the helper student would open that child’s desk, rip out the workbook page and also include those in the folder, or I would do it while my kiddos were working.

That saved me from having to write out things like: Do workbook pages in such and such etc. Likewise, if I gave a spelling test or other quiz, I’d include a blank copy with a make-up date on it, that they’d use on that day.  If notes were put in folders, or cubbies, to go home in backpacks that day, I made sure they were put in the Absent Folder.

The folder would remain on their desk until the student came back.  If they were gone the next day, another date would be put on the sticky note and the papers from the day before would be stapled with a due date, and that day’s papers would then go on top.

This also made it a breeze for me when a sibling unexpectedly popped in at the end of the day (things are already hectic) to collect work for their brother or sister, or if the office called down that a parent stopped in to pick up work. 

No more rushing around looking for "stuff" or trying to remember what I did or passed out, all while trying to get my students ready to go home! 

I’d simply take out the contents, add a Xeroxed “Get Well note”, which I kept in a file, and hand it to their family member.  Because children are gone all the time, I absolutely LOVED this time saver; using it no matter what grade I taught.  It's my favorite classroom management tip, because it's such a stress-buster.

Even tho' my Y5's and K's did not have to make up work, as did my upper el students, most families still wanted work that they missed, so I kept these types of folders for them too.

 Not only didn't parents want their child to "get behind" but I didn't want them to miss out on special projects and activities that we did.; especially if we made a keepsake art project.  I simply tucked in all of the materials needed for them to make one at home.  Parents were very appreciative, especially if their child was not really "sick" but quarantined and bored.

Simply print off copies of my master (I made 7 folders so that I had plenty) glue to the front of a file folder, and then laminate.  Remember the folder does NOT go home, just the contents.

Keep the folders on your counter or desk, with your attendance roster and lesson plans.  Make sure you have a note about them in your sub folder and explain the process to your students, so they can take charge when you're gone.

Click on the link to view download my newest creation for absent work file folders with clip art from Laura Strickland. Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.

I hope this idea helps you save time and alleviate last-minute stress.  It's a beautiful sunny day, and time to go water my garden.  All the best to you!

"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do." -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe