Five for Friday: 3, 2, 1... and we're ON!

School is back in session! I know some of you have been back at it for quite some time already, but we just finished our first week. I'm thankful it was a four day week since our classrooms don't have air conditioning and it was HOT outside. Despite the heat, our first week was a success! My heart has been won over by a delightful class of kinders! They are absolutely precious! (And a double bonus being that only one student has cried and no one has had an accident yet. We are on a roll!)

Here are five randoms from my first week back. Thank you Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching for hosting!

The first day of school I always send home a little note thanking my kinders for a wonderful first day. (And then I save the left over chocolate for "emergencies"... safely in my desk.)

Click HERE to get this FREEBIE at The Very Busy First Graders blog

We started the year celebrating! This year I had two student birthdays the first week of school.

I tried a new idea called the Birthday Book Box. The birthday boy/girl can pick out a book from this special box to keep as their very own. In order to cut back on cost, I filled mine mostly with bonus books from Scholastic and a few coloring books from the Dollar Store.

Click HERE to visit my earlier post on Celebrating Birthdays to see what else we do on their BIG day!

I always start the first week off with a mini Chicka Chicka Boom Boom unit. We read the big book, we pain coconut trees and add letters, we even make and eat coconut trees!

We made these edible Chicka Chicka Boom Boom trees for our snack on the first day. How cute?!?

This is all you need to make them. The only prep is cutting the apples (and dipping them in lemon juice), but you can buy them in precut packs to make things even quicker.

It was a good activity for following directions. I would pass out the supplies and would have students practice raising their hand if I didn't give them the correct number of apples or grapes.

I am so thankful to be able to teach at a school that incorporates the Bible into all apsects of its curriculum. We also have a stand alone Bible curriculum that goes through the Bible (from creation to the life of Paul). I started our Bible lesson on the first day by bringing this gift.

We made guesses as to what could be inside! A toy? Game? (One kid guessed a "frog". Umm...probably not. Haha!)

The Bible! We discussed how the Bible is God's gift to us. It's a letter telling how much He loves us and how we should live. I also brought a letter my grandma had given me. We talked about how when someone writes us a letter, we are excited to read it. We don't just leave it in the envelope - we open it! Just like the Bible. This year in kindergarten we are going to open and read God's letter to us every day!

Here is a sanity saver. Back up clothes! I can think of numerous times I've gotten food coloring, chocolate milk, paint....(insert stain causing agent), on my clothes at school. Then, I have to quick wash that area of my clothes in the sink and walk around the school with a prominent wet spot until it dries. It even happened this week! I was helping students paint our coconut trees and the green pain shot at me. A well meaning student said, "I think you should wear a paint shirt". 

Here's my bag of extra clothes that I keep at school. I went through my closet this summer and donated a bunch of clothes. I saved one outfit that looked nice, but I didn't wear very often to have this special role. Now I can man the painting table with confidence!

I hope everyone had a fabulous week! Enjoy the weekend!