First Week...WHEW!

I have so neglected my little blog and all 49 of my amazing followers!

The first week of school was crazy busy, with a sprinkle of tears (I had two who were missing their mommies), a lost tooth, a little hair makeover with fuchsia play-doh as an accessory, a birthday that snuck up on me, extreme heat, scab picking (eww!  First teachable moment=NO PICKING...ANYTHING!), and lots of fun.  I have to say that this is the first time in a long time, that my back to school week was a real success.  I have a few chatters...but they're also making new friends...so I kind of tolerate the extra chattiness right now.  Everyone got home safe and sound every night which is a huge worry of mine at the beginning of the year and everyone came back with smiles the next day!  I am really blessed to have a great group of kiddos this year!

Our week wouldn't have been so much fun without the amazing creativity from bloggers like Abby Mullins @ The Inspired Apple, Deanna Jump @ Mrs. Jump's Class, Jennifer White @ First Grade Blue Skies and the hundreds of other bloggers I've been stalking all summer.  I love sharing ideas with other hardworking teachers...which brings me to this...I really think I do some cool things with my kiddos so I'm going to try my best to start sharing more with my fellow bloggers.

One of the things I have fallen in love with is Scholastic's Cut, Paste & Write ABC Activity Pages.

I love these activity pages because each letter has a short poem that matches each letter and picture, shape identification, following directions, and tracing and writing one letter at a time.  We always start at the carpet as a whole group to read/memorize the poem and talk about how the letter is formed.  I am working on slides for my Smart Board for this that I'll be willing to share.  They are a work in progress right now, so if you would like them, leave a comment below and I can email them to you as I get them finished.  I'll also post them on my blog once they are all finished.  Here are some samples of the actual page the children complete:

I would like to say that I'm pretty picky on handwriting but for the beginning of the year I think these practice pages are "just enough" for my little friends.  While they are working, I do look at their letter formation, but I'm also looking at whether or not they know their shapes and colors, I'm observing their cutting skills, I'm looking to see how they hold their pencil and if they can follow basic directions.

I spent my Sunday in my classroom getting all of my math and literacy workstations organized and I'm pretty excited to start using them this week.  We'll also be kicking off The Daily 5 with learning how to choose "Good Fit Books" and building stamina to "Read to Self".  I love that my kiddos are already ready to gain a little more independence in our classroom!

Hope everyone is transitioning back into their school routines!
Have a good week!