Mrs. Bonzer's Back to School

My First Day
See me skip,
See me run.
I'm going to school
Like everyone!
See me smile,
See me grin.
When the bell rings,
I walk in.
See me work...
See me play.
I'm in the first grade,
My first day!

Directions
My teacher's here to guide me,
She will tell me what to do.
She will give me good directions.
I will listen. How about you?

At the beginning of the year we take the first weeks of first grade to teach students about school rules. We have building, playground, lunch, and bathroom expectations posted on posters in the school. We talk about our classroom as a "community" and what we want our classroom to look like. We write our classroom rules in the form of a promise and say this each morning during our morning routine. Our school expectations are revisited a lot during the school year.
Here is a fun Rules Rap book from Dr. Jean.

Also read this book for a funny look at rules.

Along with school rules, the first grade classes will have a unit on safety.
Website: School Bus Safety

We do lots of activities to get to know each other:
I start out the first day with a "SURPRISE" me bag. This is filled with things about me that tell what I like (Boyds Bear figure), my family (picures), teabag , book, etc. Students decorate their own "ME" bags to take home and fill with things that tell about themselves. I put a note inside to the parents to help their child with this. We share these the next day.
Me
Please help me decide
What items go inside,
Something about me
For all my friends to see.
What I like to do
That makes me special, too!

Click here for a poem for the "ME" sacks that I made.
You can delete my graphic and add your own.

We start an accordian booklet, "My First Days In First Grade". This was in Teacher's Helper ~ Grade 1 (Sept./Oct. 1996). This has a pocket on the front to paste on and a teddy bear to tuck inside. It originally was titled My First Day In First Grade but it takes too long to do in one day, so I added an "s" to day. Cut and paste these together before you have the kids do the activities. I also left a couple of the pages out. Some of the activities in the book are great for the first week of school:

~ How many boys in the class? How many girls? Graph on the overhead to model.
~ Find someone who: likes soccer, likes cats, likes to read, etc.
~ How did you get to school today? We also graph this on a large graph and they color the picture of a bus, car, or walker for how they came to school.
~ Draw a picture of you today. I hope we see all smiling faces!

All About Me
I take pictures of the students the first day of school and this goes up with a poster titled "Smiles are Contagious" and stays up all year. Do the poem, "I Am Special". I do this poem in the pocket chart.

I Am Special
Tune: "Are You Sleeping?"
I am special,
I am special,
Yes, I am,
Yes, I am!
There is no one like me,
There is no one like me,
I'm unique,
I'm unique!.
I learned this song at a workshop I took years ago.

Teacher's Helper ~Grade1 (Sept./Oct. 1993) Students will draw a self portrait. This page should be copied on cover page weight paper, so students can add yarn for hair. Students tell about themselves in their "All About Me" books: favorite color, favorite book, I am good at..., etc. We will share these and they will go on the bulletin board. (I Am Special! I'm Unique!) Do the poem, "Me". Students illustrate this poem. It is the first poem in their poetry folders. This poem is at my Sept. poetry page. Here is a picture for I Am Special!

I read the book, Chrysanthemum. Discuss names and how we get our names. Ask how students got their names. If they don't know, have them ask their parents and share the next day. Discuss why Chrysanthemum loved her name and why she didn't love her name. There is a lesson plan on this at www.teachers.net/lessons. Do the poem: "Everybody Has a Name". Students add this poem to their poetry folders. We clap the parts to our names as I hold up a card with each of their names. We add our names to our "Word Wall". We talk about the length of our names and put our names on graph paper and repeat it over and over to make a pattern.

Here is my page for our Chrysanthemum name flower.

Click here for a bingo mat and flower markers.

I have students' names printed on large craft sticks and students draw a stick
out of the can and put a marker on that child's name. This is a fun way
for students to learn the names of each classmate.

Click on the apple for the bingo mat I made for Name Bingo.

I have students' names made on poster board (I trace around bulletin board letters, so these are large.) and they decorate these to hang in the room. Sometimes we have cut pictures out of magazines that begin with the same letter of their name or it could be pictures about things they like.
Click here for the graph
"How Many Letters In Your Name?"

I read the book, A My Name Is ... We sit in a circle and say, " A my name is Alice and I like apples, or "J my name is Judy and I like jellybeans". Students take turns going around the circle and saying an item that starts with the same letter as their name.

"These Are a Few of My Favorite Things"
Give students a large sheet of construction paper and have them draw pictures of their favorite things. Each child will then share their pictures.

"Chester Loves School!"
Here is a small book originally from The Learning Leap website that is no longer online. I will post it here for you. Click on the book above.

Click on the raccoon for a paper bag puppet for Chester from Love to Teach.

Here is a "Welcome Back" bag card to attach to a paper bag and fill with the items listed: I ordered nice white welcome bags from Really Good Stuff but you could just use brown or white paper bags.
Dear ___________________,
You are a star in my class. (Starburst)
It's ok to make mistakes… that's how we learn. (Eraser)
Wear a smile everyday. (Smiley face sticker)
You are going to learn so much this year. (Smarties)
Everyone needs a hug-let me know if you need one. (Hershey's hug)
Stick together and help one another. (Stick of gum)
I am so happy to have you in class!
Love,
Mrs. Bonzer

Click

for a copy of this poem.

Back To School Links
Teaching Is a Work of Heart	A to Z Themes Back to School	Debbie's Unit Factory
Teacher's Corner:Back to School	abc teach: Back to School	Alphabet Soup: Back to School
The Virtual Vine/Back to School	Primary Games	Getting to Know You
Dr. Jean's Back to School Books	Scholastic's Back to School	Back to School Guide
Pro Teacher! Back to School	Kids Domain School Fun	Tips for Teachers
K-12 New Member Tips	101 Things for First 3 Weeks	Blackwell's Best Back to School

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