First Day of School Poem

I can't believe that Tuesday is the first day of school.

Are you ready?

I'm not sure I am. I'm excited and I must admit a little nervous.

The first day is always a bit nerve wracking. 

I know that my students are excited though.

I also know that on the first day of kindergarten, the most nervous people will be the parents.  Many of them have never been away from their child before.  This is new.  This is scary.  

Special needs parents are a unique bunch.  Imagine having a child that can't talk, can't walk, can't do anything for themselves.  It would be the most terrifying thing in the world to entrust your most vulnerable child to complete strangers.   

That's why on the first day I like to do a little hand print poem.

It's something to show the parents that their child did have a great day.  

They accomplished something. 

They participated.

It's something they can keep forever.

Better yet, it's free.

To grab the poem, click on the last picture.

Have a great first day!

5 Little Pumpkins - Hands on

Halloween is fast approaching and I'm squeezing in some last minute activities.  I wanted to do the poem "5 Little Pumpkins" with the kids and I wanted it to be more hands-on than felt or paper pieces.  My lower kiddos really need the hands-on, "real" practice.

My original intention was to get some mini pumpkins for the kids to use but I couldn't find them in the grocery store this year.  I went to the farmer's market but I couldn't justify the price they wanted for the little ones.

Instead I ended up using a bag of clementines.  It was only about $4 for a bag and I got a couple of sets of Jack-o-lanterns out of it.  This way I could have a couple of children doing the poem at the same time.

Use a sharpie to add a face to the clementines.  Tip: Do this when they are warm.  The marker doesn't write well on cold clementines.  

I used a piece of wood for the "gate".  A large block from the block center would work too.

As I read the poem I had the children pick up each of the "Jack-o-Lanterns" in order.

5 little pumpkins sitting on a gate

The first one said "oh my it's getting late"

The second one said "there are witches in the air"

The third one said "but we don't care"

The forth one said "we are ready for some fun"

The fifth one said "let's run and run and run"

So ooooow went the wind and out went the lights.

And the 5 little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

At this point I push all the pumpkins off of the gate and have them roll on the ground.

After a few adult readings I found the children were able to do the poem on their own.  I placed all the materials in an accessible location for them to go to and act out. 

Freebie Friday - Back to school poem

For your freebie this week, I thought I would give you something for your first day of school.

This is such a cute poem and all you have to do is add hand prints.

This year, I changed the frame and added a page for kindergarten, pre-school and grade one.

Enjoy.