I am looking for some new get to know you activities for this year for the first couple of days of school. What do you do in your classroom?
I have too many back to school activities.... oy!! First week Monday - Wemberly Worried - creating class rules Tuesday - I Like Myself - similarities and differences, self portraits Wednesday - Chrysanthemum - accepting others and ourselves, name activities, graphing the letters in our names Thursday - The Crayon Box That Talked - working together, creating a class project (crayon box or a quilt, not sure yet!) Friday - The Way I Feel - emotions and handling them, introducing Peace Island, class book "Today I feel _____." Second Week Monday - How the Butterbees Came to Be - character traits, introduce Caught Being Good program Tuesday - The Little Engine that Could - believe in yourself, "I can _____." Wednesday - It's Okay to be Different - "It's okay to ______" class book if time! Thursday - May I Please Have a Cookie? - manners - I have a minibook to make if we have time Friday - How Dinosaurs Eat Their Food - cafeteria manners I also have a book I just bought, Cookies: Bite Sized Life Lessons, I think it's called, that I may read the next Monday during morning meeting, and each day following during morning meeting we'll have a discussion on one page in the book (fair, respect, generosity, etc). That will carry on for a couple weeks.
You are welcome! How much time do you spend on this sort of thing before you move on? I have SO MUCH community building literature. There are several books I'm saving for minilessons later in the year. I think the second week we'll mainly just have the story and discussion and not an activity, so that we can start practicing independent reading and center procedures.
The first full week of school I start right in with our reading series and spelling. The second day of school we start right in on our math series. For social studies I do lots of getting to know you, for about a week or so and then we go right to the series which is communities. I really like doing centers but I don't like all the practice needed to get them going but it is worth it!
We start right in with our reading series as well, but I try to take the time to read a few "getting to know you" books ~ like "Chrysanthemum" and "The Kissing Hand." Sometimes I like that we start w/ reading series on week 1 ~ establishes a routine etc., but other times I worry that it's too much at first.
It's just some tiny area of my room with some books about feelings, a feelings poster, a stress ball, a journal and some crayons. If a student is angry, sad, upset, I send them to peace island to calm themselves down or get out some emotions in positive ways. So I'll use this book to introduce it.
great idea! how to you introduce it to your kids and do they abuse it at all or do they have to have permission to go there?
They can ask me if they need to go, or sometimes I'll send them. Sometimes students tried to abuse it. We talk about how it's a place to help them, if they don't use it appropriately then it's not helping them, and they are interfering with their learning. They can come back to the group when they are ready, but sometimes they try to hang out there longer than needed. If that happens I give them a time limit. I'm still trying to figure this out myself.
Kirby, where did you get the idea of using all of these books?? I love books and using books to introduce a concept! Tell me about the Crayon Box That Talked book. I'm pretty familiar with the other books (some of them) but not this one. And can you tell us more about your Peace Island. What did you make the island out of, a table, a beanbag chair??
Oh yeah, "Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon" is a great one!! It was one of my students absolute favorite!!! I think I will read this to discuss differences/ and believing in yourself!
I have that book too!! I have a bunch of other community/character ed books but I think I'll save them for through out the year... Some of the books my mentor teacher used when I student taught. She spent a lot of time at the beginning doing read alouds and great discussions about building community! Other books I just found. I'm addicted to buying books. It's trouble! Here is a link for more info about The Crayon Box That Talked: http://www.kinderart.com/multic/mlkjr_crayons.shtml Last year for Peace Island I had this little wicker shelf/table thing someone gave me, a basket with the books/crayons/etc, a chair, and the emotions poster. I'll see if I have a picture.
I like that idea! :clap: That is such a great substitution from the "time out" technique. Some kids last year NEEDED time out, at least for a few minutes. And I know that this year is going to be a bit more challenging. I think that I will try to find a cute little table to put somewhere and create my own peace island. It can definately fit in with the atmosphere of my classroom being that we do the peace circle etc. Thanks.:up: And I am IN LOVE with the crayon box that talked idea!:wub: I found the poem and I think I am going to do that bulletin board as soon as the school year starts. I think it is absolutely adorable and it speaks volumes for what I want the kids to practice as far as getting along. Thank you soooooo much! I'm going to order the book right now.
By the way, I'll have to think my rules out for this peace island idea. I can see some kids wanting to go there instead of doing what needs to be done. Hmmmm??????
I guess I am going to do the crayon bulletin board too! I ordered a quilt from oriental trading with a PO, and the quilt pieces coming together was the same concept as the crayons in the pack, so I was just going to do that. But I found out we probably won't get our stuff until well after school starts. I'm excited to do the crayon box!!! Yay!! At my school we follow the Make Your Day program. If they interfere with the learning, safety, or well being of others, they choose "step" (sitting away from the group to think about how to make better choices). They earn points if they are doing what is expected (even if they are on step they can earn points!) and if they earn enough points they "make their day." Anyway, it sounds confusing if you are not familiar with the program. I try to seperate peace island from Make Your Day. If it's an emotional issue I'll send them to Peace Island, but if it's something where they are interfering with others learning, they choose step. It's confusing but the kids know the difference. I'm still having some difficulties with the kids going there instead of doing what's to be done. I still hold them accountable for their work, so they do it either way. And I can usually tell when a kid doesn't need to go. But it's hard to say "no" to some kids and let other kids go.... so yeah, I'm still experimenting with peace island so if you have other ideas please let me know. I know there are breathing techniques some people use. I don't know them but I need to find them somewhere... those would be good strategies for Peace Island.
I don't know, maybe I'll make a rule that if you violate any "rights" of others, you are not allowed to go to the peace island. But if a child is just having a bad day, unfocused, fussy, etc., then maybe I'll let them go to the peace island. There, they can read a book, think about their emotions and then come back when they are ready. I will really have to play it by ear the first couple of months. But do you know if this quilt is still available on oriental trading? It sounds interesting to do it using a quilt.
I had this last year: http://www.orientaltrading.com/appl...om+quilt&Ntk=all&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&N=0 This year I ordered the photo quilt for this year. Maybe we'll read the Keeping Quilt when I finally get the order in, and we can do it then. Ooo I found an article about the Peace Island concept: http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/newsletter/15_2nl_2.html
In Jane Nelson's book Positive Discipline she called it Hawaii, I think. I wondered if 1st graders would understand that Hawaii is a soothing place. Another teacher I know called in Australia. Maybe I could read Alexander and the Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day first and explain that when he was having a bad day he wanted to get away from it by going to Australia? Get a cute Koala Bear, maybe a travel poster, etc? Regardless, I like the idea. When my boys are emotionally out of control I send them to their rooms, not as a punishment but to calm down. They can come out when they are ready. It works EVERY time. Sometimes they start looking at books and forget to come out so I can see that a teacher may have to invite them back if they are taking too long.
Okay... if all of you don't stop sharing these great ideas, I'm never going to be done planning my room for this year!! Everytime I sign on, I add another thing to my idea notebook!
I love the peace island idea. I think I am going to use it too!! Now that I am thinking abut it I may just call it Hawaii. It seems like for some reason my kids now about Hawaii and that it is a beautiful place. I was just at the local party supply store and they had all kinds of palm trees and Hawaiian things. So maybe if I can make the area look nice it might just work out. Now all I have to do is figure out where I might have a little extra space in my room!
I would be afraid that if I jazzed it up with palm trees decorations and such, it then becomes the FUN place to go. I really like the fact that Miss Kirby's peace island looked simple, nothing flashy.
MrsNickle you may be right! I'm rethinking this now! Oh, all the new ideas for this coming year, no wonder why I lay in bed at night thinking instead of sleeping!!!
I also added a pillow to peace island later in the year. Just a little "bee happy" pillow. One of my kids last year would punch a pillow and all of a sudden his anger would melt away.
peace island and MYD Kirby, Does using your peace island interfere with MYD at all? Also, I see your in AZ... where in AZ are you teaching? Im a first year in Phoenix, using MYD also. Also, I was wondering how do you introduce MYD to your students? IE, explaining points, concerns, etc.
Miss Kirby Loved the Peace Island thing....I will be adding this to my room also...YOU ARE AWESOME!!! I am getting so many wonderful ideas from you! Thanks!
