First Week Back!

First week back to work and I forget how tiresome it can be to be on my feet all day! I had fun putting my classroom back together, especially with all the stuff I have had found over the summer. Here is the view from when one walks straight in the door. On the right side are the children's cubbies and also where I store some chapter books (Junie B., Cam Jansen, A to Z Mysteries, Mystery Tree House, etc.). The colorful bins and the 16 buckets on the cart are math bins with manipulatives and games.

This is the view from the door looking at the main area of the room. The screen is pulled down for Kindergarten Information Night. I want to rearrange the area to better allow me to use the overhead projector/Elmo on a daily basis. Last year, we had to rotate the cart. This year I get to keep it in my room!!

Here is a close up of one of the tables for Kindergarten Information Night. I have a name tag holder, folder of information, and a gingerbread man homework at each place. At our school, we tag our kindergarteners for the first weeks of school. This helps us make sure we get our children home the correct way. The items in the folder are packed full of information and forms for my families. Some samples can be found in my START SCHOOL USING BRAIN-BASED RESEARCH packet on TPT. The first homework we send home for kindergarten is a gingerbread man for students to decorate and share during the second week of school.

 Here is left side of my classroom. The little table with two chairs is one of the listening centers using a CD player. After that is the abc center and further down is the computer area (not shown in this picture).

This is at the front of the room by the computer center. I posted up a letter to my new kindergarten class from last year's class. I used the beginning of the year self portraits to put around the letter, as well as a end of the year class picture.



 This is a picture of the back of the room by the cubbies on the right. This side of the cart has 4 buckets of literacy games and 12 leveled buckets for independent reading.

Here is a close up view of the back white board. I found lots of freebies for this! I moved my word wall from the front board to this back board. Click on the titles below to visit the sites to get the freebies!
1. How We Go Home Chart
2. CAFE signs
3. 1-20 Number Chart
4. Reading Strategy Buddies
5. IPICK
6. Building Stamina Timer
7. My Word Wall Title and Letters

Here are the apple cookies that I like to pass out to my families for Kindergarten Information Night. I left them in the fridge... so I gave them out at Meet the Teacher this year. I attached a poem with them. It is one that has been around for a while. I also included the poem in my Start School Using Brain-Based Research packet.

After Kindergarten Information Night, the following morning is Meet the Teacher. Here is part of my setup. I put out my owl treat bags, a letter from one of my previous students, and a checklist to do the different tasks around the room.



When the families first come in, they sign in. I made apple signs for my parents and owl signs for my students. (Also included in my Brain packet.) After signing in, each student finds their nametag and places it where he/she would like to sit on the first day of school. Each student also picks a cubby hole to keep their belongings during the school day.





Another task for my kindergartners is to sign this chart about their first day feelings. 17/18 students signed that they were excited! One little girl was nervous. I am also excited!! I have two families that I have worked with in previous years. That always helps to calm my nerves. My little ones were adorable and full of smiles. I think it will be another great year!



One of the other tasks is that each student had to make an owl. Usually, I do a coconut tree and have them draw a face to put on the coconut. This year I decided to get more into an owl theme. Sorry for the blurry picture.

Here is a heart showing my parents love notes to their children on their first day of kindergarten.

For my previous students who stop by, I had owl cookies for them as a treat. 



Now I have to get ready for the first week of school! There is a sale tomorrow and Monday at TPT!! I have quite a few things on my wish list... more like 130 something! I just need to choose which do I need for the first weeks of school! My small store will also join in on the sale. Just click on the picture below to go to my TPT store. Click here to see who else is having a sale.