First Week Recap {FREEBIES}

We did it and it was "GREAT"!!  Let me just tell you...first week of school is CAH.RA.ZY. 

Now, add a student teacher in the mix.  Her sole purpose for observing this week was to see the craziness of "the first week of school".  Okay, you want crazy......I can show you crazy.  At one point during the week I asked her "Have a gone to the restroom today?"  Poor girl, she looked at me and said "ummmm, no".  BUT I'm sure she went straight home and checked her manual to make sure she wasn't supposed to keep up with my restroom breaks.

The kids came in the first day with a Play-doh activity waiting for them.  Second graders LOVE play-doh too.  It was a great way to keep them busy while I gathered supplies and greeted parents.  You can pick it up {here}.

We learned the expectations of working with math tools.  We sorted construction paper, they LOVE doing this.  It's a great activity to promote teamwork AND it works out really great for me.  



We also got to know a little more about each other with our ALL ABOUT ME bags.

While each student presented, the audience {the rest of the class :)} needed to draw a picture of their classmate presenting and write 1 fact they learned about that classmate.  

This is a great way to keep their little hands busy BUT paying attention to the speaker.  This activity is my first social studies grade, you can click {here} if you would like to use it.  It comes with a rubric with room to write a comment and send home to parents.


We celebrated each other's names and added them to our word wall.  We used my word wall celebrations to celebrate.  I keep a bag of word wall celebrations next to the word wall.  I try to celebrate words at least once a week.  The kids write the words on their whiteboards, we celebrate, and they write them again in a sentence.  Click {here} if you would like a copy of the celebrations.


We ended our first week with a fire drill. :) LOL!!  That's fun.  BUT immediately after the fire drill our varsity football team visited the campus to read the kids a story. 

The kids were **starstruck**!!  I was THRILLED to have one of my former Kindergarten students as a guest reader. {and I felt a little old}  Seriously though, how special is that?!?!?


My sweet husband knows how tiring a first week can be....

He is wonderful!!  Flowers at work and dinner cooked at home.....I might be a little spoiled.  

I have so much more to share but I should stop and save it for another time.  Let me leave you with this precious picture.  

We were able to make a quick visit to Oklahoma to visit my newest little niece.  LOVE!!  

I'm planning a SWEET giveaway later this week so check back.