Cut and Paste the Months of the Year

Teaching the months of the year can be very fun. Of course, the words are incredibly long and I don't actually expect my students to know how to spell them, but I do want them to be able to read them. Each month I do a cut and paste the month sheet. We spell the month name orally at calendar daily and this activity will let them use that practice to find and order the letters in the name. Grab my cut and paste sheets here.

Behavior

Ok, we all know that behavior management is a must in any grade. In Kindergarten we need clear guidelines for our students. I use a happy face, uh-oh face, and sad face in my classroom on my white board for students to see how their day is going. (Pictures to follow soon.) It's great for the kids to know what they need to do in class and have a visual of how they are doing. You also need to be able to communicate to the parents about the students' behavior. I have attached my Behavior Calendars that I use for the year. Each month I put a new behavior calendar in their homework folders (see pictures of my folders in my last post) and it stays there the WHOLE MONTH. If a student (or parent) takes the behavior calendar out, that student cannot get a sticker on his or her behavior rewards chart until the behavior calendar is returned. If it is completely lost or destroyed (like milk spilled on it) I will replace it. I am trying to teach them responsibility for their belongings and actions. The calendars have a key at the bottom explaining what it is the parents are looking for. Pretty simple: if students stay in the happy face during the school day I will write a happy face on their chart. If it is an uh-oh or sad face, I will write that. If the behavior requires a note home explaining the behavior that needs to be corrected I will write a check mark in the box, along with the uh-oh or sad face. That way, even if the note gets “lost,” the parents will know there was a note and ask to see it. You might be thinking, “I don’t have time to write 25 happy or sad faces!!” Yes, you do. Make the time. If you want your classroom to work smoother there needs to be responsibility and consequences at school AND at home for school behavior. Overall, it takes me 3 minutes to write in their folders at the end of the day before I pass them back to go into their backpacks. Here is a copy of my behavior calendars.

Homework Folders

For the past 2 years I have been using the BEST homework folders. They are so simple, and hold so much!

The folders are Nicky's Folders and are at www.thepageprotectorstore.com. 

They are a little pricey, but worth every penny. They last the whole year, don't take up much space (I keep them in a locker crate), and are washable. There are two plastic sleeves inside and pockets on the inside and outside of the covers. I can put my weekly letter, homework, any new info, info to review, their behavior calendar, and work to send home inside. A very good investment.

At my school the Kindergarten, as a grade level, uses these folders. I have yellow, another class has red, another has blue, etc. We have even started the 1st grade using them this coming year because they are so awesome! Students take these home every night and bring them back everyday. They MUST bring them back everyday with behavior calendar still inside. Keeps everything nice and organized.

Learning the Letters in Our Names

The first week of Kindergarten is soon upon us! Ok, ok, it's a month away. But, I still need to be ready to handle the first day and the first week of school. The theme for our first week of school is Names.
We will make our names in all kinds of way. We will trace them, cut and glue them, find them, and sing them. Here is one activity that we will do the first week.

 

I will write my students' name on the line with a highlighter so that they can trace it correctly. Then we can color our special letter and glue fun things to it like sequins, beads,etc.  This activity is a nice one to hang up for Back to School Night so the parents can see it. Grab it HERE.

Kindergarten Sight Word Bundle (Limited Time)

I was asked yesterday if I could bundle my sight word units. And I said sure! So here is a bundled version of my units on TpT and Teacher's Notebook. The bundled unit is $8, which is a better deal because before they were $5 each! I am only going to have this available for the Back to School season, so get it soon. I have continued the read it, color it, write it activity into the primer words in this unit. If you bought the Primer Words Part 2 unit previously head on over to TpT for an updated version with this added activity. :)
Grab it HERE!