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We have lots of fun in our room! We are excited to share our adventures with you.

Friday, July 6, 2012

First Day of School Plans and Give Away!


I get super excited about the first day of school!  It is one of my most favorite days!  The kids are filled with their nervous excitement and are really looking to see what their year is going to be like.  Because of this, I LOVE showing my little ones around the campus in an extra-special way! Instead of just giving them the old “Here’s thishere’s that” tour, I make it much like a scavenger hunt.  This year it’s based on Back to School Tortoise by Lucy M. George. 

It’s a super cute book that reminds me a little of Wemberly Worried and First Day Jitters all in one book.  Tortoise has a lot of worries about going back to school and questions what it will be like.  When he finally gets to school, there is a twistdo you think you might know who Tortoise really is? He’s the teacher! How cuteI know! 
Well, after the read aloud I introduce how we actually have Tortoise here! I mention that he’s really shy though.  When I go to pull him outhe’s not there- there’s only a note. This note leads to another notethen another, then another! 
(The one shown is to the cafeteria)


We get to travel around the school in search of Tortoise while also meeting the important people of the school and getting to know where the important places are!  My kids LOVE it just as much, if not more, than I do.  The notes actually rhyme too, so that’s always a fun measure of who can spot the rhyme already on the first day.
The notes finally lead us back to the classroom where we find a note telling us that Tortoise jumped back in the book, but that he has left us a treat.  For this year, I was thinking of doing something like these adorably cute turtle cookies made by Kirbie’s Cravings.
So cute!  That is assuming I will have time before the first day.  But, we all know how that goes.  So, plan B is to by some turtle gummies or maybe tortoise pencils or something along those lines.

We also do a few reflection sheets inspired by our tortoise read aloud and adventure. Click below for a free sheet.

First Day Favorite Part Pages


Click on the Link below the picture to get your First Day of School with Tortoise Unit, which is on sale right now. I'm also randomly giving one away to a lucky winner who responds to this post. I'll randomly pick Thursday Night!
Here's what my first day looks like in a time table fashion:
We start on an Early Out Wednesday to ease them into it. 
8:30-8:45 Meet students and give directions, They put backpacks up where their VIP Name Tags are, find a seat, and work on coloring VIP Name Tags. 
8:45-9:00 Practice stopping what they are doing to chimes several times.  Take lunch count during one of the stops. 
9:00-9:15 Read Back to School Tortoise and line up straight and quiet
9:15-9:45 Tortoise Scavenger Hunt Tour
9:45-9:50 Tour finished, discuss Tour, and line up for Recess
9:50-10:00 Recess
10:00-10:15 Work on Shell Page from First Day of School with Tortoise Unit 
10:15-11:10 Morning Message, Icebreaker Game, Name game, Poem: Hello, Greeting: High-five Hello.  
11:15-12:00 Lunch
12:00-12:25 Read aloud The Night Before First Grade then fill out Before and After Tortoise Sheet
12:25-12:45 Discuss First Day and do My Favorite Part Tortoise Sheet
12:45-1:00 Share brown bag item I brought in and explain directions, hand out bags with directions stapled on.
1:00-1:10 Clean up and pack up
1:15 Dismissal

Second Blogging down and plenty more to follow.  Next, I'll be blogging about how I run Math Workshop with some freebies included. 

8 comments:

Liz Julee said...

I would love one of the units! Your posts are great. I can't believe it's only your second post...I'll have to follow you.

Lisa R. said...

I just found your blog & I'm a new follower!! Your unit looks very cute & I would love to use it in my classroom! :)
Lisa
Learning Is Something to Treasure

Unknown said...

Liz
Thanks for commenting! Being a new blogger is a brand new fun adventure. I can't wait to share what we do in our class and get some great ideas in return!

Lisa,
I just checked out your blog...how stinkin' adorable are you?! It is so cute! I love me my polka dots and I just adore your pirate theme. Thanks for commenting!

Good luck to you both!

Jen

Heather's Heart said...

I love this idea of the tortoise scavenger hunt and those turtle cookies are precious. =)


Heather
Heather's Heart

The Hip Teacher said...

Wow, your blog is awesome! Lots of great content here. I'm your newest follower! Thanks for checking out my blog too!

~Julie
www.thehipteacher.blogspot.com

AthenaPhoenix said...

I had never heard of this book before! Must go to amazon now lol.

I'm a new follower!

✪Crystal✪
Strive to Sparkle

Molly said...

Thanks for linking up! What cute ideas! :-)

Psyched to be in 2nd!

Fancy Free in 4th said...

Those turtle cookies are sooo cute!
Looks like you are ready for the 1st day!
I am your newest follower! I am a new blogger and love connecting with other teachers!
Layla

Fancy Free in Fourth