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Sarah Plum

K-5 Resources for Diverse Classrooms

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You are here: Home / Archives for first week activities

Make the First Week a Rockin’ Success

August 17, 2014 by Sarah Plum(itallo) 6 Comments

Going into my third year I feel MUCH more comfortable than I did my first two — but I still have those beginning of the year jitters much like any teacher does!

One thing that I felt was missing my first two years was cohesion that first week of school. There are so many tasks that need to be completed — paperwork, baseline assessments, learning routines, learning and practicing procedures, getting to know you activities, etc. — but there’s nothing that really binds it all together naturally!

Last year, at the end of the first week, I swore to myself that next year — next year there’d be a theme. Bear with me here, but I have #reasons. Here are my top two:

  1. Engagement. Thematic teaching — even of procedures — ENGAGES children. And that’s the most important thing, I feel, the first week. Hooking them into the power and awesomeness of your classroom and learning!
  2. A back-up plan. When you’ve got a theme, there is SO MUCH you can do with it to extend beyond what you’ve already structured or planned. Did those lunch-line procedures take a lot less time than you’d planned? Awesome, well it’s rockstar week, so let’s have a silent air-guitar contest!

I’ve been mulling over my first week of school theme ALL summer. I’ve been eyeing some clipart sets… and brainstorming… but nothing special was happening.

Then Krista Wallden {from Creative Clips} posted her Rockstar Kids. I literally GASPED in the middle of Target. I looked kind of like this:

WHOA.gif
I posted a little about this on Tuesday, but believe it or not {and those of you that know me will BELIEVE it!}, I couldn’t stop thinking about this theme.

So I kept creating… and creating… and creating…

And now I am SO. STINKIN’. EXCITED. about the first week of school!

 

First%2BDay%2BSign.png

So that’s my little dude. Modeling his own first day sign. That I added to the pack. {Let’s just ignore the fact he’s seriously going to Kindergarten.}

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I said to William, “Which bracelet do you want to model?” and without hesitation, “THE DUDE WITH THE GUITAR!” Alright then, son!

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Guys. Guys. I originally made this craftivity and made a sample, and then I thought to myself, “Self, why don’t you make one for you?” So I totally made my own as a goal-setting/tone-setting for the year and I can’t wait to share it with my team and my kiddos! Then. Then my husband showed me a video of kids reacting to technology and stuff from when I was a kid, and I had this brilliant idea:
Summer%2BMixtape%2BCraftivity%2B(Collage).png

I’m just going to let you soak it in for a minute. Seriously, who remembers waiting for your favorite song to come on the radio and then scrambling to hit record?! Me. This girl. And that song was totally from New Kids on the Block. I cannot wait to explain what the heck that thing is, and what a mixtape is! {Also? I totally loved reflecting on what an awesome summer this has been!}

I also — in my #can’tstopcreating glory — added a few other gems:

Stationary%2B(Close-Up).png Tour%2BDates%2B(Close-Up).png
I’m lovin’ the editable note paper and important dates sheet! I’m already loading mine up for Meet the Teacher so that parents have it in hand LONG before Back-to-School night! {Also, how cool is it being a Tour Manager for a week? In my mind I’m in some cool European city!}
Fan%2BMail.png
I also cannot wait to have parents fill out little notes of “Fan Mail” for their kiddos during Meet the Teacher! Some kids, especially those that are new to the school, really need the extra encouragement and lovin’ that first week, and I am so excited for their families to be able to provide that!
Sound Check
Our first Social Studies unit is our district Code of Behavior/Citizenship — and one of the first assessments we do is a quick check of student understanding of our rules. This really gives me an idea of who is internalizing what we’ve talked about this first week, and where I need to do the most re-teaching and re-modeling! I also made posters. Because I can’t help myself and someone needs to take away my computer. Who’s going to volunteer?
Poster ExampleVIP Passes - Options
I’m going to leave you with the VIP passes I made for myself… I’m still deciding what color ribbon to attach it with. Thoughts?

 

Filed Under: 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, Blog, Content Areas, Decor & Themes, Grade Levels, Running a Classroom, Writing Tagged With: Back-to-School, first week activities, student engagement

About the Author

Sarah Plum(itallo) is a teacher of emerging multilinguals and 21st Century Grant coordinator in Virginia. She writes curriculum for inclusive classrooms and presents professional development on a variety of topics.

Read more about Sarah and her background in education here.

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