New Students

As the new school year is approaching and I am gathering all of my materials to write the names of my students on (name tags, clothespins, name sticks, locker tags, etc.), I thought I would share a helpful tip that I have received in the past.  It feels like I have 25 different things that I write names on.  When I have a new student join our class in the middle of the year, it takes so much time to gather all of these things (if I remember where I stored them).  Tip:  Take a gallon size Ziploc bag and place 1 item of everything in it.  This will be your "New Student Bag".  When you have someone join the class, take out the bag and begin writing their name.  I did this last year and it was so handy.  I had everything at the tip of my hands and I did not have to search for 25 different materials.  I hope this helps!

August?!

I cannot believe it is already August!  This month always seems to fly by so it is time to get things in gear for Back to School.  Where has the summer gone?!

Educational Games

Most of my students love to play educational games on the computer and abcya.com is a wonderful website!  There are times when they are able to use this site in the classroom and I know many of them play at home.  Children love technology and video games, so why not make it educational?

Check it out!

http://www.abcya.com/

Smart Exchange

I use this website on a regular basis to find ideas to use on my Smart Board.  This is a place to share ideas with other teachers and you can find files already created for FREE!  You can search by keywords, subject, and grade level.  This is a wonderful site that you should check out if you have a Smart Board in your classroom!

http://exchange.smarttech.com/search.html?q=

Books for the First Day of Kindergarten

These are a couple of my favorite books to read to my class on our first day of Kindergarten!  The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn is a great book to help put the children at ease and remind them that they will make new friends. 

Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten is a fun rhyming book.  All 26 letters of the alphabet are used for each child's name. 

What are your favorite books to read in the first weeks of school?

Tux Paint

Tux Paint is a great tool you can use in your classroom!  The best part is...it's FREE!  This is a way students can create pictures to go along with their writing. 

Students can also create a Letter Search project.  I have created an example below for the letter f.  Students can place the letter in random spots and try to hide it with objects.  Other students can see if they can find all of the hidden letters!

I am sending a little sunshine your way since our summer seems to be filled with clouds and rain! (At least at my house!)