We survived the First Week with Kindness, Sharing, and Oh My Gosh, It Is Hot!

Hello All!
The first full week of school is past and we survived! Hurray! I have to say that my kinders did such a wonderful job this week, but by this afternoon (Friday), they were beat and so was I! To top it off, we are in the middle of a heat wave here and despite the fact that we have air conditioning, little bodies still know that the weather is miserable and it is hard for them to focus as the days go on.... We are hoping for rain and cooler weather this weekend! Sitting inside the house on a rainy day sounds pretty comfy to me right now!

This week we did some Name activities. I always plan so much the first few weeks of school and then forget how slowly things go at the beginning! Most of our time is spent on routine and rules and procedure and that leaves little time for the "wonderful" things that are written in my plan book! (Smile). We did literacy and math as a whole group this week. We practiced "READ TO SELF" and began letter and sound identification. We started 2D shapes in Math. Here is what we did in between procedure and academics....... !

1.  We read "The Rainbow Fish" and used watercolors to paint a Rainbow Fish. The kiddos added sequins for scales. We talked about sharing and how that is what we do in kindergarten!




2.  We read "Chrysanthemum" and painted flowers and discussed kindness.


 3.  Although "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" is a book about the alphabet, we used it as a book about names and the kiddos used foam letters to spell their name up the trunk of the tree.




4.  Debbie Clement wrote a really nice blog post about how kindergarten has changed and she found out that the original meaning of kindergarten actually involved a "garden!" She asked if any kindergartens today actually had gardens in which children can play and learn. Well...... although we do not use this garden as much as I would like, we DO have a kinderGARDEN! Here is a picture of it... and you can click HERE to read Debbie's blog post.


 5.  And last...... This a picture of our floor at the end of the day today.... really not too bad after all the cutting we did!



Have a wonderful LONG weekend! For those of you who start school this week, Happy Back to School! To read more posts about Back to School, hop on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching Five For Friday linky party!


Until next time!

Blessings,
Cindy





9 comments

  1. Love your activities for the first week! Especially the Chicka Chicka one :)

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    1. Reading "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is so much fun and there are so many adorable activities to go along with it. I chose this one because it took little prep and the cutting was limited for the beginning of school!

      Thank you for commenting!

      Blessings,
      Cindy

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  2. I love your garden! One of the reasons I chose my 'name' The KinderGarden was because of the origins and background of kindergarten.

    My Kinder-Garden

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    Replies
    1. I really had no idea of the origin of the name until I read Debbie's blog post! What a sweet way to begin their entrance into school!

      Thank you so much for commenting!

      Blessings,
      Cindy

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  3. I love your blog design - it so bright and full of color and information. I am your newest follower. We are doing 'Rainbow Fish' this week and will be making a fish with paint and wash and a sparkly silver scale.
    Paula from Paula’s Place and iSURF Maths

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Paula! The Rainbow Fish is one of my favorites! I have seen so many fun activities to do with that book! Your idea sounds wonderful!

      Thank you so much for commenting!

      Blessings,
      Cindy

      PS - I love my blog design, too and take no credit for it! It was done by my wonderful blog designer, Diana, from Custom Blog Designs! :)

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  4. Cindy. It's totally AWESOME to 'see' your garden! Thanks so much for including a reference to my article and for sharing their in the first place -- to get that conversation started.

    I am soooooooooooooo encouraged to see the 'active ARTS' at play in your classroom, seeing how you weave the picture book study into your week.

    Wishing you every good blessing for a delightful year ahead.

    Debbie Clement
    RainbowsWithinReach

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  5. I love that you have a garden! It looks like your kids had such a fun first week. We start next week...eek! :)
    Karen
    Mrs. Jones’s Kindergarten

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  6. Your back to school activities are so precious. I love how you let them add sequins to their fish! I am archiving that in my brain for when I do something similar! I also love the "beautiful" name handout. How sweet! Thanks for some great ideas!
    Your Newest Follower,
    Natalie
    www.thepolkadottedchirp.blogspot.com

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