First with Franklin: Pete the Cat

Friday, August 17, 2012

We rocked out the first 2 days!

We made it through the first two days of school. We now know each other and I feel like the kids are starting to understand my style a little better. On our first day, one of the fun things we did was read "Pete the Cat Rockin' In My School Shoes". The kids L.O.V.E.D. it!!! We also listened to the free download from the Harper Collins website. We had a talk about what they each "rocked" in to school that day. I wore a silver sequined tank to top and told them about how I felt like a rockstar in it. (I really wanted to drive home our classroom theme, haha) Then, they each completed a sentence and illustration about what they were wearing that day that made them feel extra special. Here is a picture of a few of them.

Aren't they adorable? I let both of my groups (I teach a 1st/2nd combo class this year) do the same thing, since it was the first day. They had so much fun sharing their special items and their awesome illustrations with the rest of the class. I didn't even really know who/what Pete the Cat was until about a week ago... and now I'm obsessed! I love that little kitty cat!

************************

Here are some pictures of things I've done to get my room ready for my little rockstars. They all loved it and so do I!

Here is a picture of our behavior board.

The punch cards on the bottom are where students can earn punches for good behavior. They can earn them from me, or any other adults in the building. If I have one my kiddos that is making a not so great choice, I always try to find someone making a great choice and then ooohhh and ahhhh over their good behavior and give them a punch. It usually stops the bad choices in record time.

The necklaces at the top are an extra good behavior incentive. For each week that they don't lose any PAWS (our school-wide system), they will earn a bead to add to their necklaces. I plan to let them wear them around school every now and then. :)

Here are my Daily 5 baskets that I'm using for my students this year. I got the baskets at Dollar Tree for, you guessed it, a dollar. I love the way the colors pop against my freshly painted bookcases. I made the labels and just used silver curly ribbon to attach the tags. I love how they turned out!