Wednesday, September 4, 2013

First Day FREEBIES and Our Lastest Giveaway Winner!

Howdy peeps! Lindsay here . . .

Well, I survived. Barely.

Our school district had its first day of school yesterday, but at my school the first day of kindergarten is the "Kindergarten Tea" and the parents and kids just come for 2 hours.

Easy peasy, right?

Well, it went really well, HOWEVER there were probably almost 60 people in my room with my 28 kindergarteners, their parents, and a few little siblings as well. And combine that with the fact that my room was probably around 95 degrees, it made for a HOT AND SWEATY first day!!

I'm proud to say that this preggo (that's me!) put on her big girl panties and survived, although not without copious amounts of sweating. And waddling.

After welcoming my kiddos and their parents, their first task was a classroom scavenger hunt - which they LOVED!!  They felt OH SO  important looking around the room with their paper and clipboard! :)


Here is a closer look at the scavenger hunt itself.  You can click on the picture below for a link to this FREEBIE in my TPT store!! :)


And of course the MOST exciting part was the treat at the end that they discovered in their cubbies . . .


 . . . Smarties for my lil smarties, of course!!!


Next I had stations at my five tables where each student rotated from table to table with their parents. Each table had an activity for the kiddos to complete (a dot-to-dot, tracing the ABCs, pattern blocks, etc. - which were all great for some informal observations as to what my kiddos can already do!) and an activity for the parents as well (sign-up sheet for volunteering, filling out my "getting to know you" student info form, etc.).

At this particular table I had the parents take a lil card and write a love note to their kiddo, which I then put into their pencil boxes.  I wish I had thought to take a picture of one of the completed notes - they were all so sweet and heartfelt!  Even though my kidlets could read their love notes on their own, they were SO excited to have a lil something from mom and dad when they got their pencil boxes today (the 2nd day of school).

If you would like to use this template, you can click on the image below to link up with this FREEBIE in my TPT store.



Aaaaaaand . . . I finally gave in and jumped on the bandwagon.  Here is my "1st Day of Kinder" frame that I used to take super cute pictures of my little kidlets with!  (I am lovin those funky letters - courtesy of the "Boho Birds" set from Lakeshore!)


And today . . . well today was our FIRST REAL OFFICIAL DAY of kindergarten.  So naturally there were some tears. And a few kiddos crawling around the floor, and some others lining up with the wrong class after recess . . . but overall, I think I have a super sweet bunch this year!

Even though we were all DYING of heat stroke, we did manage to do the cover and the first page of "My First Week in Kindergarten" packet. (Click the picture below to check out this FREEBIE in my TPT store!)  I have my kiddos do this packet at the beginning and end of every year and it is such a fun thing to put out at Open House to show my student's amazing progress! 

First my kidlets wrote their name and practiced NOT "scribble-scrabbling" on their cover page.


Then we did self portraits!  Again - such a great informal assessment to see their fine motor, what details they are adding to their pictures, etc.


And then tomorrow we will be doing writing and a dot to dot! :)




Well, that's all I have to share for now!  I hope some of these FREEBIES will come in handy for your class next year!

One more thing before I sign off . . . we have a winner for our magnet board giveaway! Drumroll please . . .

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congrats to Sue B!!!!  We will be contacting you soon about your fabulous prizes!!

Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday night! I'm off to raid the freezer . . . surely there is a carton of chocolate ice cream in there after my long day of teaching, right??

Lindsay

43 comments:

Miss Kindergarten said...

aww Mrs. Messyhair!! Looks like you had a fabulous first day!!

Sarah said...

cute ideas! I especially love the smarties!..very cheap gift idea :)

Sarah
teachingiscolorful.blogspot.com

Traci Clausen said...

Those letters look PERFECT on that frame! I love them. The SMARTIE gift is such a smart idea and seriously.... WHEN is it going to cool down?!?!?

The Polished Teacher said...

I can't believe you have 28 kinders! We have 20 and I couldn't imagine any more in the room!

ThePolishedTeacher

Unknown said...

Love! Could you post a printable for smarties??

Actor in Training said...

Already printing mine for next year! Thanks for the resource.
Pearl

Unknown said...

Love this! Thank you for posting! Any way we can get the template for the smarties?

Unknown said...

Love the scavenger hunt. I would also like the template for the smarties. Thanks!

Unknown said...

I'd love a template for the smarties too!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Can I get the smarties template too?

AmyJ said...

Can I get the smarties template too? I LOVE it!!

Unknown said...

Add my name to the list of requests for the Smarties template! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

How do I get the template for the smarties?

Justin said...

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Unknown said...

How do I get the template for the smarties? Super cute :)

Unknown said...

I would love the smarties template too PLEASE:)

Anonymous said...

I would love to have the template for the Smarties please! :-)

tlawson said...

Where can I find the smarties template?

Unknown said...

Me too me too for the smarties template!

Unknown said...

I would love to have the template for the smarties PLEASE!!!!

Unknown said...

I would love to have the template for the smarties please!!

Anonymous said...

I too would like the template for the Smarties please!

Unknown said...

Hi! Could you please email me a template for the smarties? My email address is jenlcarp@gmail.com Thank you so much!!

Deaton's 2nd Graders said...

I would love the Smarties template please!! Such an adorable idea!! kitchdeaton@gmail.com THANK YOU!!

Ms. Guckes' Classroom said...

Can I have the Smarties template please? Thank you so much! sarah_palmer@dpsk12.org
THANKS!

Unknown said...

I would also love a template for the Smarties! Thanks! samanthacaris@gmail.com

Unknown said...

I would also love the smarties template! aquick@dcsd.org

AmyJ said...

Can I get the Smarties template too? SOOO cute

Unknown said...

Not sure if you are giving out the smarties template. I thought it was in here and bought my smarties :) pjohnson@alexandercsd.org

Anonymous said...

I see that I am not the only person who would appreciate a copy of the Smartie template! If you are sharing, thank you!
lharvey@hoover.k12.al.us

JHartman217 said...

I would love the smarties template too! laurenorsini13@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

Smarties template? :) Please? :)

The Traveling Turtle said...

the template for the smarties freebie is in her TPT store. Just as an FYI.

Anonymous said...

I would LOVE the darling smarties template, please! What a cute, colorful way to welcome kiddos!

Unknown said...

I would love a smarties template, please!! It is adorable! sks8477@hotmail.com

Unknown said...

I would love a smarties template too!
ppeterse@aisd.net

Unknown said...

I would love the template too :)

Unknown said...

I would love the template too :)
cbaum@spring-ford.net

Unknown said...

Could i please have the smarties template? thank you!! bethk@trinityprep.net

JoBea Genama said...

SUPER CUTE !!!! Do you have a template for the smarties :)

Unknown said...

WERE YOU EMAILING TEMPLATES FOR THE SMARTIES? I WOULD LOVE TO USE IT!
AMANDA.ROWLAND10@GMAIL.COM

Unknown said...

I would love the Smarties template, too. Thank you! Have a great school year.

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