Long weekend, 1st week recap, and Sept currently.....

Can we do this every week, please?!  I know, everyone hates  to hear teachers whine, because "you have 3 months off in the summer."  If they understood the half of what we did, and what little we got paid....I think there'd be a whole lot more holidays :)

Anyways.  Last week.  Whoa.  I have a very "active" bunch.  25 kiddos to be exact.  We did all sorts of get-to-know you, diagnostic tests (yuck,) and learning routines and procedures.  Next week, we're gonna dive into that curriculum; and also start the Daily 5--I'm soooo excited!!  But here's a Cliff Notes version of last week.

We read a whole lotta back to school stories.  My kiddos favorite: Pete the Cat (of course!)  They love, love, love Pete!  We went to the authors website, and read our book along with the online version.  They were singing that song all week!  I was going to save the other Pete books for sequencing activities, but I might have to sneak-preview them next week...to hopefully prevent a complete mutiny on the bounty.

We completed the Kissing Hand scavenger hunt, with QR codes.  LOVED IT!  I set them up in groups, and gave each group and iPod or iPad, and we all went together around the school looking for clues.  I can't stress enough how easy these QRcodes are, and how engaging they make activities.  Once we found the clue, they would take turns scanning the code, and once every group had the page open--I would help them read it & we searched for the next one.  One stop was our principals office.  We were all pretty calm, but he has rockstar status in our school--everyone needed a hi-five.  AND as we were using our "sneaky feet" to move quietly out of the office; he brought out the light saber.  WOW--instant hype!  That was all I heard about for the rest of the afternoon--"Did you know Mr. Principal has a light saber?!"  "But Miss Curtis--it lights up AND makes noise....can we get one?!"  All in all, QR code hunt.....huge hit!

We also needed practice with identifying letters and sounds.  I decided to help them get some wiggles out in the process. We went outside and sat on the curb of our basketball court.  I brought my big magnetic letters out, along with an alphabet go fish game.  I put the letters about 20 feet away, and gave each one a word.  They had to decide what letter that word started with & race to go find it.  LOVED IT!  They'd get back & share with us what they found, and go put it back for the next person.  Clean up was a breeze too.  I just gave everyone a word at once & told them to find the letter & put it back in the letter drawer. I have a feeling I'm going to be looking for alot of these more active games this year!

It was a long week, and I'm glad I have this long weekend to catch up on sleep.  What fun activities did y'all do on your first week back?
and of course....sept. Currently with Farley: