The Pigeon HAS to Go to School!: Ideas, Activities, and a Freebie for this Back to School Favorite

Last summer I added Mo Willems' The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! to my classroom library.  Of course, this addition was a no-brainer.  Willems' books are always super popular, especially Pigeon books.

Just as predicted, my students loved this book.  It is the perfect length for the beginning of the year, when attention spans are extra short and students need a little break from all the procedural training they are receiving.

Since I knew this book would be a hit, I decided to make it the centerpiece of back to school.  I created some basic "Pigeon themed" math and literacy activities, as well as a simple craft.  I used these activities intermittently during the first week and was able to glean some great info about my new students' basic math and literacy skills, as well as their fine motor skills and listening skills. 

One of the Pigeon themed activities was a number/number word/counting mini book. Students traced and wrote the numbers 1-10, as well as the number words 1-10.  Then students illustrated a picture to go with each number.  We broke this activity up over a couple of days.

Students took part in a listening activity.  Students had to complete a picture according to a series of questions/statements that I read aloud.  (If you've every made a glyph with your students, this activity feels really similar.)

Students also put together their first puzzler for the year. This puzzler focused on number representations. Students cut and glued the puzzler pieces to tell what number is represented in the box. By the end, students have a completed picture that they can color.  
I use various puzzlers throughout the year. This the Pigeon puzzler is a great introduction to how to complete a puzzler.

Students loved making their simple, one-page craft Pigeons. All that was required was the Pigeon pattern (I used white card stock), scissors, and glue.  The class Pigeons made a really quick and cute back to school bulletin board.

In addition to these activities, students worked on counting/cardinality, geometry, place value, number bonds, handwriting, the alphabet, rhyming words, sight words, and more. The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! is a perfect springboard for a variety of skills. 

For a math freebie (from the printables featured above), click on the picture below. This freebie provides practice with ten frames, counting, and number identification.

If you have not added, The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! to your classroom library, I highly recommend it. There are so many directions you can go with this book. More importantly, your students will love it and be totally engaged.  What a great way to start the year, by reading a book that students truly enjoy. :)

For more details about the all of the Pigeon inspired activities I used with my students, be sure to click on the picture below. 

Of course (like most), I'm not certain what this year's back to school days will look like. Whatever the setup, I know I'll be using The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! to help me kick off the year.

Thanks for stopping by.

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Bright Beginnings: Back to School Math and Literacy Centers

As you all know, teachers work during the summer.  We are gathering materials, revamping pacing guides, redoing classrooms, attending workshops, reading professional books, and hitting the Target dollar spot (hard).
Summer is the perfect opportunity to reflect on what worked and what didn't work.  It is a time to really think about how to implement a new strategy.
Yes, friends...teachers work during the summer.

One project I've taken on this summer is revamping many of my monthly literacy and math centers.  I've been using these centers for the past three years and loved having them as a resources.  But, now it's time for a little (and in some cases big) makeover.
I wanted to give you a peek at the progress I've made this far...
First up is my back to school math centers...

These math centers include practice with numeracy, counting, early addition, ten frames, tally marks, and more.  Below is a sampling of the updated centers in my Bright Beginnings {10 Back to School Themed Math Centers}.

The companion literacy centers, Bright Beginnings {10 Back to School Themed Literacy Centers} have been completely updated as well.

These literacy centers include practice initial consonant sounds, letter discrimination, cvc words, syllables, rhyming words, sight words, and more.

These center sets were created for my first grade class.  However, they would be great for beginning of the year second graders (that might below level) or perfect for high flying kindergartners.

If you already own these centers, be sure to download the updates.  If you are interested in adding these resources to your back to school collection, you can click here for more details.

I hope you are having a wonderful summer.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

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A Peek at My First Week of School

The first week of school...

It's exciting.  It's nerve racking.  It's busy.  And boy, is it TIRING!

The first week (or three) are certainly not a normal picture of how things flow in the classroom during most of the year.  My main focus is helping students get comfortable with me, each other, and how we do things in class.  

While it's tempting to go ahead and dive into curriculum, I think it is really important to take plenty of time to teach your students routines and procedures that will follow them the rest of the year.

With that being said, here's a peek at some of what went on during the first days in our classroom.

I made little Welcome to 1st Grade goody bags, which I totally forgot to give out one first day.  So, my new firsties got their treats on the second day of school.  Oh well...

During the first few weeks of school, I do lots and lots of read alouds.  My young learners need breaks during the day.  Read alouds are a wonderful way to break up the time.  Plus, I love, love, love read alouds!

Two favorite books during the first week of school is Tad Hills' How Rocket Learned to Read and Rocket Writes a Story.  I used these stories to help introduce Read to Self and Work on Writing during our Daily 5 launch.

Speaking of the Daily 5, we spent loads of time working on Read to Self.  We usually start Read to Self on the first day.  But, this year, we started Read to Self on the second day.  To date we are at six minutes of sustained Read to Self.  We have more work ahead of us for sure.

As part of our launch, we continuously reference our Daily 5 I charts.  There is link to the free set of my Daily 5 I charts later in the post.

As part of the launch, I really love using my Daily 5 Trace and Read Mini Books.  These books reinforce the procedures we are working on in class.  Plus, students can work on them independently.

In math we began working on numbers to 120.  This week and next week, we will focus on number representations.  I made cut and glue bubble maps for students to show their understanding of ways to represent numbers to 20.

In addition to our practice with number representations, we also worked (as a whole group) on the first week of our Calendar Connection.  As the year goes on, the daily Calendar Connection activities will be independent.  But for now, students need guidance in how to correctly complete the tasks.

The back to school packet we used (pretty much) all week goes along Melanie Watt's book You're Finally Here!  My students love this book.  We did math and literacy activities inspired by You're Finally Here!  We also made cute You're Finally Here! bunnies to hang outside our classroom.

Even with all this craziness going on, I had to get started my beginning of the year assessments.  These assessments will take a few weeks to complete.  To be honest, the individual screenings are tough to fit in this time of the year.  But, they are really worth it.


Below are my lesson plans for the first week of school.  You can maybe get a better picture of how things fit together.  Click on the plans for a free copy or just to get a better view.

Here are links to some of the resources listed in the lesson plans:  Daily 5 Owl Themed I Charts, Daily 5 Trace and Read Mini Books, You're Finally Here! Math and Literacy Activities, Fun With Firsties (by Abby Mullins), Calendar Connection, and Student Data and Goals.

I'll leave you with one more resource that I stumbled upon this summer, Scholastic's 20 Back-To-School Tales.  This dvd has wonderful stories on it.  It is a life saver if you need a few minutes to turn in your lunch numbers or get a dismissal list in order.  Best of all I got it on Amazon for around $5.  (I know...pretty exciting;)!)

I guess that's about it.

If you are still on summer break, enjoy and know that many of us are totally jealous of you.  If you have started back to school, I hope you have a wonderful year.  

Thanks for stopping by.