Free playdoh mats HERE!
So…two day school week {check!} Full week of school backed up to a three day weekend {check!} We actually have a PD day on Tuesday and have a three day school week…what what! So, back on topic…in this post I will recap our first full week in kinder and then give you a peek into week 2! You can download last week’s plans by clicking below!
Last week we worked a ton on our names and using our supplies! Lots more too…but those seemed to be the two big focuses 🙂 I found this adorable pocket chart activity for free HERE! I wrote my kiddos’ names on sentences strips and then cut the second set up and placed into an envelope! 
We went through each kiddos’ name and then they were able to mix and fix them at their tables!
I made these name sheets for the kiddos and they were able to rainbow write their names and practice writing them as well!
We used THESE freebie name mats and built playdoh snakes for our names!
After using the name mats for playdoh snakes we also practiced writing our names using dry-erase markers! Smiley/frowny faces you ask? Well, this year we are working REALLY hard to cut down on that bad habit of starting our letters from the bottom. So, I had the kiddos draw a smiley face at the top of their mats to remember to start from the top! 🙂
I had ran a copy of the mats on plain paper before transferring them to cardstock so we used the paper version to practice writing our names {with markers- win!}
Every year the kiddos always love to build their name using torn rainbow paper! This is from Deanna’a name unit! This year I purchased the slightly thicker poster board from the Dollar Tree! It was a little sturdier 🙂
Fine motor paper tearing and glue dot practice too! WHOO!
Also from Deanna’a name unit is the must-do chicka boom tree! We LOVE our chicka boom trees each year! We also listen in to Chicka Boom HERE!
We also brought in some environmental print to add in with our names! This activity was super simple to prepare and I simply printed off the environmental print images for my kiddos to save time! I will be placing it into a poetry/word work center for daily 5!
And……even MORE name practice! 🙂
Now let’s take a look at learning to use our supplies! On Monday we made an anchor chart showing how to earn 3 star coloring! We will color within the lines and make sure our coloring makes sense {when necessary}!
We then set forth with practicing those coloring skills! I have a lot of these fun color practice sheets in my August/September Taking Back Weekends Packet!
On Tuesday we moved on to learning more about our scissors! THIS song is always a hit each year and I sing it as the kiddos practice over and over again! So, for the first time of the kiddos practicing cutting we always lay flat on our tummies with our arms supporting us! I have found that this really helps with the kiddos keeping their arms flat and not rotating their arms “upside down” to cut!
We continued with lots more scissor practice sheets which can all be found in my August/September Taking Back Weekends Packet!
The following day we moved on to learning more about our glue bottles! We love THIS song to practice that a little dot holds a lot! 🙂 We also read this fun book about what NOT to do with our glue bottles HA!
You can download this cute little sheet for free HERE! Don’t worry glitter during the first week of school went off without a hiccup, but I did the glitter pouring 😉
We added in some more fine motor and gluing practice with this apple craft! This is also part of my August/September Taking Back Weekends Packet!
This was our first week for KinderLiteracy and it was so much fun! The kids always love Rainbow Fish so it was of course a hit! Below is our vocabulary words for the week!
You can listen to my review for the words with my kiddos here!
And here are our essential questions for the week…
Jack and Jill for week one!? Why not! We also like to add in name practice with the poem as well by adding in our friends’ names to the poem!
Rainbow fish craft always turns out so stinkin’ adorable!
We also take this first week to simply practice letter strokes before moving on to the actual letters of the alphabet! On day one we practice lines! Down, down, down! I place white butcher paper up on the board so the kiddos can practice that true “down” motion with their marker. When the kiddos are working at their tables they don’t always understand what “down” means!
Days two and three we worked on the slanted stroke! We reviewed “down” as well so I somehow just got a picture of that! 😛 Along with the hands-on practice we follow-up with a practice sheet from my August/September Taking Back Weekends Packet!
Day four was all about circles! On this day I placed the white butcher paper onto the tables and the kiddos practiced their circle stroke!
Day five we wrapped up our strokes with practicing all three on these awesome dry erase practice cards! You can snag them for FREE by clicking on the link below!
In math we worked with numbers one and two! We also worked on same and different along with lots of new number sense games! For this activity the kiddos worked with their partners to build towers for numbers 1-3.
We LOVE hidden number already! It was a hit last year and already this year too! This game is from my KinderMath Number sense packet!
This activity works with same! The kiddos played “match me!” Student A lays down items and student B simply matches them!
The kiddos also got to play a little five frame flash for a number sense game! I’ll share more how I play it whole group soon! 🙂
I put together a basket of items we could use to discuss same! I chose items that were like but also offered a variety of color so the kiddos could really use math talk to talk about how items were the same!
I like to have the kiddos work on one number sense game each day so on this day I gave them a set of number cards 1-5 and matching teddy bears…they simply turned over a card and pulled out that many bears!
As we are learning our numbers we are sure using Miss Kindergarten’s freebie number posters! We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!
Now let’s take a moment to see these ADORABLE number bunnies…awwww!!!! These cuties are in my number sense endless bundle!
This week we started building our read to self stamina! It’s always a fun time and the kids learn to take this special time of the day so seriously…which leads to strong INDEPENDENT workers! You can read more about sample weeks for daily five HERE!
You can snag the daily five stamina chart HERE for free too 🙂
This week we worked a lot on our school-wide behavior expectations! I have several of these sheets and a little adorable reader in my August/September Taking Back Weekends Packet!
In writing we worked hard on labeling!
We are also added onto our whole brain teaching and dipping into a few Kagan structures this year! I gained this great idea from Vicky Plant! When the kiddos are taking turns sharing the student with the balls is talking and then passes the ball to their partner. This has really helped to hold both kiddos accountable for sharing! 🙂
At the start of every year I also ALWAYS share this quick attention getter with my kiddos! Along with this and Class? Yes! I have their attention! You can get this poster for FREE from Simply Kinder HERE!
This year we are already loving GoNoodle, but we are OBSESSED with Flex! It’s the strangest video on there I’m pretty sure but we do it e.v.e.r.yday!
You can download my plans for week 2 directly below! 🙂
Tara, a wonderful week! It is helpful seeing how you pull everything together through your week. Thank you for all the pictures and links!!! Cathy K
This might be a dumb question, but did you get through all of your kiddo's names (for the pocket chart activities) in one week? How many kiddos did you try to do a day with that? Thanks!
I did all of their names in one sitting but we skipped the mix and fix section! I out that up at the end and modeled how to do it and then the kiddos mixed and fixed their names at their tables 🙂
What font did you use for the rainbow names?
Hi there! It's KG Blank Space Solid! I then make it white and do a black outline! 🙂
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/KG-Blank-Space-Font-Personal-Use-1533769
Tara
Thank You!!
I love these ideas! The butcher paper on the tables is GENIUS! The hidden number game looks like an awesome activity I need to try this week! I am so glad I am following your blog! You are my saving grace this year! It has been rough!
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Jennifer
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