Beginning of the Year plan

1st weekSchool Books
Student Shoe Boxes (Decorate and fill with an item to tell about themselves.)
This box will be used to store their sight word books, sight word flashcards, and spelling envelope.
All About Me Unit
Make their own personal heart page filled with pictures of things they love
(ideas from magazines or home) - use in their writing as prompts


2nd Week
Colors
Pete the Cat Rockin' in my school shoes

3rd Week
Colors
Pete the Cat I love my ____ shoes
Environmental Print Wall

4th Week
Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see?
Kindergartner, Kindergartner What do you see?
White Panda?

5th Week - 6th Week
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Introduce fall

Morning Routine

These student jobs will be excused from the morning journals:
Calendar Teacher
Weather Reporter
Rhyming Teacher
Math Teacher

Calendar Teacher Job:
Fills in the calendar numbers and date poster
Presents the calendar
Songs (days and months)

Make: Date poster:
Today is_____
The date is _______
I like ___ / Today I will ___ / Yesterday, I learned ___ / I am very good at ____

Put the months on a ring and hang them by the calendar.

Weather Man:
Fills in the weather report and graph.

Math Teacher
My name is____, I have _#_ in my name.
Groups of 10 sticks that connects to the date.
Days we have been in school and add today. # chart
Number and Ten Frame

Make:
Crystal light containers 10s and 1s.

Rhyming Teacher:
Match rhyming pictures
Come up with their own rhyming pair

Animals

Introduction
We talk about what a habitat is. Then I show some animals that live in specific habitats.
I like a PP I downloaded from teacherspayteachers.com

I pass out my pictures of animals and have the students sort them into the correct habitats.

The class then gets to vote on 1 animal from each habitat to learn about.



Desert: Elf Owl (video)
Rainforest: Crocodile coloring page & video (only 1st video on land)
Artic:  Killer Whale video (hunting - just 2 minutes) &  How to draw a killer whale

Literacy Centers

My literacy centers fills in my Daily 5, but with a personal touch.
The personal touch is that the students "transform" or become the role.

1. Book Worms= Independent Reading
     Students choose items to read from their group's color box.
          - books from Guided Reading (familiar books)
          - Nursery Rhyme books/poems
          - sight word books
          - sentence pages (that correlate with my sight word program

2. Storytellers= Partner Reading
     Students choose items to read to their partner from a shared container.
          - picture books (read the pictures)
          - sight word books (switch out ones according to the ones we are studying in my program)
          - sight word sentences/poems
          - posters
          - listening center

3. Super Writers= Writing Center for superheros (goes with how I teach the concepts of writing).
     Their is an entire writing center filled with writing supplies:
         - chairs have pockets on them. The pockets are labeled. In the pocket is the student helper
           writing binder. (Contains: letter formation, sight word folder, idea topics, superhero check off)
         - Writing/coloring utensils
         - Lots of paper for writing: scrap paper, postcards, letters, story pages (variety), pre made
              books, random handwriting pages
         - Word Wall and Sample Writing Wall (or hanging)
         - Superhero posters/Check Off
         - personal grading sheet for turn in

4.  Word Detectives= Word Work
      - sight word hunt  (use glasses)
      - book hunts (for the word/letter assigned) - use magnifying glasses and recording sheet
      - build sight words
      - Search and Find (Hands on activity) - sensory
      -  Any other word work
      - Spelling

Alphabet Order

The order in which I feel is best to teach the alphabet:

Sounds are at end of letter name
L
F
X
N
M
R
S

Sounds are at the beginning of letter name:
Z
T
V
K
P
B
D
J

Difficult Sounds
H
O
I
A
U
Y
W
C
G
Q

Teach Sight Words

Lesson
Display the sight word.
Point to the word as you say it.
Have a student come up with an action to do when they read their sight word flashcards.
Use the sight word in a few sentences - emphasize the sight word. (say it a tad louder)
Have a couple students share a sentence using the sight word.
Have all the students share a sentence using the sight word with a partner.
Tell the students to take a mental picture of the word.
    (Have them use their hands and hold a pretend camera to grab attention.)
Powerpoint practice with missing letter.  (or just do this with writing on the white board)
    Powerpoint displays the word. When the students close their eyes, you switch the slide.
    The sight word is not missing a letter. Have the students shout out the missing letter. Have a 
    student write in the missing letter.
   Repeat with different missing letters until the only thing left is to have the students spell the entire  word.
 Identify the word in sentences when you are doing shared/guided reading and in anything else.

Independent Student Practice
Word Hunt (Write the room)
Word stick: walk around with the stick and place it on something and use the sight word in connection. (THE table, THE phone / HE is my friend., HE is wearing red.)
Build the word: Using stamps, magnetic letters, letters squares.)
Heidi Songs Worksheets

End of the day and homework
Read the sight word book that they will be reading at homework as homework.
Sight Word Books (I have 4 units on Teacherspayteachers.com)
High Fives on the way out. Students give the word (the sight word you learned) a high five on the way out the door while reading the word.