Teacher by the Beach: Back To School

Welcome back to school!! We only had 2 days of school for our first week, but next week, we're going to be going right in to all of our curriculum. It's a great curriculum, so that doesn't bother me any.

Last year, I was just trying to stay afloat with all the NEW in my life. SO this year, I'm going to try and blog about our week so you can take a peek into our Classical Academy life. It's quite grand.

Here was my Meet the Teacher Picture - I shared a reel over on my instagram, if you want to see that!

This is what the board has looked like in the past...but we don't have bulletin boards yet (new school... doing things in stages as the money comes in), so I just improvise and put them on the white board with magnets.

Now, obviously, we take a LOT of time going over procedures, the notebooks, folders, and binders...and alllll the other to-do list items we have to get done on the first day or 2. But these are some of the fun things we did throughout.

We read one of my favorite books for the first day. And it was really awesome last year since our school was a new school.

I also took their picture for their memory books. I was so proud of myself for actually doing this the first day! lol That's why my sign says the first week...because sometimes I don't get to it on the first day. Although, now that my students wear uniforms, no one would be the wiser, right!? ha!

They also started coloring some of their pages in their Memory books. I love these books every year. Here's what they beginning of the year looks like....

And then at the end of the year, they get the same pages, but don't remember their beginning of year responses, so they can compare their answers...but also their handwriting and their drawings!

In math, we do an activity where we try to figure out the teacher. I give them some different math problems, and they have to try to work it out on their desk. It's a great way to see who remembers what strategies from First Grade.

To get them up and moving, we play a "Snowball" game where they write their name on a piece of paper and crumple up the paper.

I play music and they throw around the snowballs at each other until I stop the music. Then they have to open the paper, find the person whose name is on the paper and then introduce themselves or say hi to each other (using their names). We do a few rounds of this, and they love it!

Another ELA activity we do is to read Listen Buddy, and then talk about Whole Body Listening. Now, you would hopefully know your students at this point, if they have a 504 or IEP. They may not listen like this...but in general, these are the things we focus on when we're listening.

We also did the "M&M" activity - Marvelous to Meet You.

I played KidsBop music and they walked around (or danced around!) and when the music stopped, they did "hand up, pair up" to find a partner.

I told them the person with the shortest hair always went first. They grabbed an M&M and read the chart for the corresponding color. Once that person was finished, the other person went. We did a few rounds of this, and the kids asked for more!

You can click THIS LINK to download a printable copy of this. I just hand wrote this real quick the day before.

And since our heat index here is through the roof, we had inside recess on Friday. So that meant we had plenty of time to get done with our first window clings!

I did the pineapples at the end of the year last year, but my teammate convinced me to do them first this year. I just love how these look on our windows.

Check out THIS post for more ideas throughout the year.

And then it was time to go home, after a FULL two first days.

Next week, we're hitting the curriculum and first up is Fairy Tales! Hopefully, I'll be back to share with you more on that.

Ok, I know this list can be EXTENSIVE. There are a TON of beginning of year books.

Here are JUST A FEW (ha!) of my favorite Back to School books!

Get ready, settle in, and prepare to scroll - ha!

Do Onto Otters - I've had this book ever since it was a Florida Sunshine Junior Reader book WAY back in the day. It's such a great book to talk about how to treat others.

Edward the Emu - Another great book that focuses on celebrating who you are. There is no need to change who you are.

Pencils on Strike - You've heard of The Day the Crayons Quit - right? This series is such a fun extension of that book. In our school, we spend a LOT of time talking about correct pencil grip and pressure and paper slant. So this is a fun book for us to read in the beginning of the year.

Get Ready for Second Grade, Amber Brown

This is one of my favorites for the beginning of second grade - it's a good picture book to chapter book Segway. In the book, Amber Brown is nervous to start school, which the student can usually relate too.

Listen Buddy - This is SUCH a cute book. Buddy has trouble listening and causes all kinds of chaos. The kids get a good laugh throughout the book. By the end of the book, Buddy SHOULD learn his lesson. Check out my activities I do with this book in THIS POST.

The Smart Cookie - This book is perfect to show that we are all smart in different ways and that getting perfect test scores doesn't mean you're worthy. PLUS, this book series is just the best!

The Day You Begin - Gosh this book is so good. It's about how you might feel different from everyone, and it can be scary. But you can find the courage to make the connection with your classmates or teammates.

A Letter from your Teacher - I have this on my End of Year Books post, too. It's such a heartwarming book to share with students that you're there not only to teach them, but to provide a safe and caring environment for them.

Yoko - This book is another one that is great for talking about the differences we all have. Yoko gets teased for the food she brings for lunch.

I've done the Friendship Sushi activity to go along with it. It's always yum to bring food into the lesson!

We Don't Eat our Classmates - So this book was actually introduced to me by a former student when it first came out. He was so excited to bring it to class to read to the class. It's another book about learning manners and etiquette. It's such a fan-favorite!

Hooway for Wodney Wat - OH. MY. GOODNESS. I absolutely LOVE this book. And if you have any kids in your class with a speech impediment, this book is SO cute! And who doesn't love a Helen Lester book!?

A Bad Case of Stripes - Honestly, I LOVE reading this book in the beginning of the year! But I actually don't read it because Sean Astin does an AMAZING job of reading it. Check it out on Storyline Online.

You're Finally Here - I've done this book for a few years too! I've done a lot of activities from Linda in SECOND GRADE and when I taught FIRST GRADE.

Our Class is a Family - another book from the same author as "A Letter from your Teacher" that helps to build that classroom community.

First Day Jitters - I KNOW you have heard of this book, but I couldn't NOT put it on the list, right?! I just love that it's about the TEACHER who is nervous...because, YES, teachers are nervous, too!

The Name Jar - I just love this book. With all the different cultures we have in our school (and I'm sure yours too!) it's such a great book to celebrate their name and their culture. I've learned so much from having discussions about names.

Elmer - awww, Elmer. He's such a favorite of mine. It's a book all about being yourself. I've been using Elmer for many years - here's a POST about some activities I've done with him in the past.

The Magical Yet - This is fun rhyming book about having a growth mindset. Check out some of my Growth Mindset activities I've done HERE.

The Book with no Pictures - SOMEtimes you read books JUST for fun...and to get them excited about learning. Well, this is one of those books. This book is so fun!!

The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors - This is another book that you read JUST for fun (and yes, you have to do it in your dramatic voices - ha!). It gets the kids excited about reading and they want to keep picking it up to read. Of course, we have our own battle of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Giraffe's Can't Dance - Another one for the week of Growth Mindset. Check out some of the activities I have done with this book on THIS post.

Spaghetti in a Hotdog Bun - okay, THIS one, is one of my ALL.TIME.FAVORITES. We read it just to read it and have a good conversation afterwards. But THEN... I show them this picture...