First Day Survival Kit

It's fun to give something to your students for "Surviving" their first day of school.  We have a cute poem that we use at our grade level but because of allergies in my classroom, I had to tweak it a little. Here is what I do (in case you'd like to steal it).  

You will need, band aids, Smarties, erasers, stickers, baggies and Starbursts.

I then wrote the following poem:

Today was your first day of first grade.

I knew you'd make it through.

We had a lot of fun today

and tomorrow we'll have fun too.

There are many things I have planned this year.

I know you'll learn a lot.

And so I've made this little kit

to remind you of what you've got...

*An Eraser: The best way to learn is from mistakes, and we'll make a lot together.

*A Sticker: This class will stick together and cheer each other on.

*A Band aid: You have a teacher who cares about you and will take care of you while you're at school.

*Smarties: You are a smart person today and tomorrow you'll be even smarter!

*A Starburst: You are a STAR!

Let's have a great year!

~Mrs. Doran

Then I put all the items in little baggies and hand them out at the end of the first day of school 

(that is if I survive it...).

First Day Fun

I was at a staff retreat recently and we learned this fun activity to get to know each other's names (though most of us knew each other) and learn a little bit about each other. This is a great game for the first days of school.

All you'll need is a beach ball and a marker (or I used clip art and packing tape).

On the beach ball you can write questions like "What makes you scared?" or "Where is your favorite place to be?" etc... Or if you have lower elementary students (like I do), you could find clip art that represents questions.  For example the dog and cat picture above could be, "Do you have any pets?" and the bus picture could be, "What is your favorite thing about school."

The way the game works is you stand in a circle and throw the beach ball to someone.  When they catch it they say their name.  So if I caught the ball, I would say, "Hi, I'm Laura." To which everyone would reply, "Hi, Laura!" Then I would look at the pictures near my thumbs and share something about myself with the group. Below my thumb landed on the crayon box so I would share with the group my favorite color.  Then it would be my turn to throw the ball to someone who hasn't had a turn. 

This is a fun game to play that helps you learn names and a little more about your students.

Terrific Tooth Tote

Perhaps you saw my "Adventure of a Tooth" post recently where I talked about what I do when a child loses a tooth.  I wanted to share what I did to house the tooth binder and the books I will send home.

Today I went to JoAnn's and got three canvas totes for 8 bucks.  I also got some sparkly puffy paint (it wasn't necessary but I'm a girl who likes glitter). To house my 'teeth' things, I decorated a bag and called it "Mrs. Doran's Terrific Tooth Tote" I used sharpies to draw and write and then I went over the tooth and Ts with the sparkle puffy paint.  It turned out really cute.  I am planning to use the other bag as a birthday bag and I haven't yet decided what I'm going to use the third bag for but I know I'll come up with something.

Window Washing & Penny Pinching

 Those who know me well, know that I am always looking to save money.  Some of my friends at work always ask me for some of my money saving tips so I thought I would share this one.
I loved Windex, but it costs money and I used it with paper towel (also money).  This is all you need to wash your windows quickly, easily and with little money.


You will need:
a bowl or tub
Dawn dish soap
a sponge
a squeegee
and a dish towel (whoops, forgot to take a picture of that)

 Fill up your tub with water and a few drops of dawn dish soap and soap up your windows with your sponge.

Then squeegee off the water.  I prefer to go top to bottom (not side to side).  You will need to wipe off the squeegee between passes with your towel (so you don't have any streaks).

Warning: Washing windows with sponges can become a family affair. Suddenly I had to get more sponges (but thankfully I only had one squeegee, so I kept it).

It works great and better than Windex (in my opinion).  I took this picture through my door. Another reason to be in love with my squeegee.  Now I use it on my counters, my stairs and my windows. You should go get one.  You won't be sorry!!

Goodbye Dog Hair on Stairs

We have two Humane Society Specials, but sometimes it feels like we have more. They drop fur so much that I sometimes wonder if they snuck another dog in here! We have to vacuum every day but one place that ALWAYS seems to need extra attention is the stairs. I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought before I 'pin' it anywhere, I better make sure it works.

All you need:

Animals who drop fur

A squeegee

The reason I hate the stairs is because simply vacuuming them is not enough.  I need to get my fingers in the grooves to really get the hair that gets tucked back there (and I often wonder why it always seems to go back there). I took the squeegee and it was AMAZING! It took me no time to clean the stairs and my fingers weren't aching when I was done.

Bonus! I showed the Bigs how to do it so I can add it to the "Oh No" can!

The Adventures of a Tooth (Free PDF)

One occupational hazard of being a first grade teacher is watching kids twist and turn their teeth,  finding bloodied Kleenex in your trash and having someone shout, "IT CAME OUT!" in the middle of a great lesson! But, one of the joys of being a first grade teacher is seeing the excitement that comes from a child when they lose a tooth!  Last year I graphed the teeth that were lost in my classroom by recording the child's name and day they lost a tooth and putting it up on my window. This year I'm taking it a step further by stealing an idea from my childrens' first grade teachers.

 Last year after my daughter lost her first tooth, she came home with "The Tooth Bag" that had a book (or two?) for us to read together and a composition notebook where Ali Jane wrote (with a lot of detail I might add) about the circumstances of her losing her first tooth.  She also illustrated it and it was adorable!  We went through the book looking at entries from students who lost teeth before her and she loved it and truth be told, so did I.
By now you may have noticed that I often tweak things a bit and so this is what I'm doing. I'm totally stealing the bag and book idea but instead of a composition book, I am sending home a little binder.

 On the first page is a "Congratulations" on losing your tooth note with directions.  If you want to see how I worded my letter you can click on any picture to enlarge it, or email me and I will send you this file in publisher (you will obviously need to change your name). The student who lost a tooth will take a blank journal page from the left, illustrate and write the story of their lost tooth and put it in a plastic page protector. The reason I am going this route and not the composition book route is two fold.  1. I am anal about how things 'look' and whenever I put a paper in a protective sleeve it tends to look better and 2. (and most importantly) By putting each entry in a sleeve, I can remove the entry and send it home with the students at the end of the year so they can look back and remember what happened to that baby tooth they lost back in first grade.

You can click HERE for what I sent home (though I took out my name).  Have fun!

What do you do when a child loses a tooth?  Share, so I can steal it! ;-)

For Quick Group Work

This is a great idea that I learned in my class this summer from my wonderful instructor Jeanne D.  I haven't used it yet, but am excited to try it out.  All you need is some flyswatters and some flies (see my bottom picture)! If you are wondering what I am using to hold my flyswatters (which by the way were 2 for a dollar at the Dollar Store), it is a Pringles can covered in contact paper.

The fly swatters actually work as "buzzers" to signal when students are done with an activity that they need to do quickly. Because of this, you could use it in any grade level or any subject.  In first grade for example, maybe I will give the students a target number (7) and they have to pass along a white board and everyone in the group has to show another way to get to 7 (for example: 7 tally marks, 6+1, a nickel plus two pennies... etc). Once they have 5 correct ways to get to seven (and they must do this in absolute silence) someone gets to signal they are done by hitting the fly swatter on their table. I should add that they should all work together to make sure that all the answers are correct and if someone's is not, it should be crossed out by someone at the table (again with no talking).

This could be used also in a quick review on any topic.  I may use it to practice spelling high frequency words or brainstorming a certain topic where I give them a certain number of ideas to write down quickly. I love the idea!

And don't worry... they have to hit a target (and it's not the student sitting next to them)!
And bonus... no loss of life!