First Week Fun

The first week back to school in Kindergarten is 

C-R-A-Z-Y!!! 

You just have no idea what is coming in those doors. No matter how many hours you spend planning, you can never be fully prepared for those first few days. J

I wanted to share with you what I do on the first days of Kinder.

Day One

The Kissing Hand

I theme my day around the book: The Kissing Hand. We talk about our feelings about leaving home. We tour the school with my Chester doll and visit all of the places the students will eventually get to go to.

We created a Chester mask. I pre-cut all of the pieces (it is not hard when you put multiple papers back to back and get all of the pieces out).  This is a low-pressure craft that helps them to learn to use school glue.

Then we explore and play in the classroom.

Towards the end of the day, I play a book video of The Kissing Hand for the students again.

Day Two

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

On day 2, we start to focus on letters and our names. We read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, a wonderful ABC story. We then make a craft using the letters in our name on a coconut tree. Again, these are PRE-CUT crafts. The students feel successful doing these. I buy ABC foam letters and help the students sort out the letters in their name. I like these because they easily peel off when students incorrectly form their name. Some just do not know yet!

We later watch Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!

Day 3

Chrysanthemum

On day 3 we read the story of Chrysanthemum. I love this Kevin Henkes story. We talk of how to be a kind friend. When Chrysanthemum gets teased, she feels very sad and her heart starts to wrinkle. After reading the story. I pull out a big, beautiful red heart. I relate that heart to Chrysanthemum's heart. We talk through the story and how her heart soon starts to wrinkle.

 I say: “You live in the garden with DIRT and WORMS” and then I wrinkle up the heart, quickly and sternly. The kids quiver. We repeat this with other quotes from the book. They get the message. Then we say kind words to help flatten and fix the heart. This activity is POWERFUL. Get the printable here. During play time,  I call students over individually to put a band-aid on the heart and pledge with me to always be a friend and not wrinkle other friends' hearts. 

We also practice making our names. We review The Rainbow Song before we make the names and I also do a demonstration. I tell the students we will hang these in our classroom for decorations all year.

That is the first three days of Kindergarten! We can do many fun things while teaching friendship, how to use school materials, our names, the alphabet, emotional regulation, respect, and more!

Enjoy all the wonders and craziness of back to school! 

The Power of Praise

Over the past 2 years I have had the privilege to learn about the power of positive praise in the primary aged classroom.  I wanted to write a post to share some helpful phrases you can start to incorporate into your classroom, home, or daily language with children, specifically ages 3-7.  

Here are some simple tidbits about positive praise:

    1. You cannot “over-do” praise.

I believe children should receive praise and affirmation for the ordinary behaviors they are expected to do on a day-to-day basis. Young students are just starting to figure out the world around them and if they receive love and attention from following the rules and expectations, they are more likely to continue the praised behavior. Simply put, PRAISE THEM! Don’t feel like a broken record – let them know how much you appreciate their good behavior.

    2. Correct Simple Negative Behaviors

In my Kindergarten/First Grade classrooms I so often see students exhibiting simple behaviors: running to the door, rolling at the carpet, blurting, trying to make others laugh, being silly during learning time… A good portion of the time, I can correct those behaviors by simply saying “I love how Susie is sitting criss cross with her voice at a Level 0.” Boom, shwoosh, zoop - 3 kids just fixed their behavior. “Oh I like how John fixed his body right away to match Susie – what a great first time listener!” Swish, swash, swoop! The rest of the off task students  just fixed their behavior. Now sometimes, it is not that simple, but it sounds much more polite than the “Sit still. Turn around. Stop this…” It makes me feel much better to correct behaviors by zooming in on the positives and not having to single a student out.

3. Instill Motivation and Self Worth

When students are praised, they feel a sense of worth. When you walk by a student and say “Wow I love how you started with a capital letter and used spaces between the words in your sentences. This looks nice and neat and easy to read!” That student now feels proud of that work and will likely remember to do those things in their next writing assignment. The other students will also take note of the praise you gave their classmate and want their teacher to give them the same praise! They now feel as if they excel in a certain academic area and may put forth a new effort with their confidence! 

    4. You will feel silly!

Saying these things will truly make you feel “silly” at first  - but when you get in the wonderful habit of giving positive specific praise and you see the impact it has on the classroom environment you will never go back! Getting in the habit can be tricky at first: ask for help! I had instructional coaches and administrators look for it in my observations.

Make sure to use SPECIFIC praise!

Generic Praise                              Specific Positive Praise

Good job!	Wow! You made a capital “M” with nice, straight lines.
Nice work!	I like how you completed your journal page and used sight words during Work on Writing.
Neat handwriting!	Wow! You made a capital “M” with nice, straight lines.  Your writing looks neat and easy to read.
Bill is sitting nicely.	Bill is sitting criss cross, watching the teacher, and has his voice at a 0. He is ready to learn!

I hope you enjoy using positive praise with the little ones in your life! Helpful hint, it is quite effective with adults too! :)