It's time to start thinking about BACK TO SCHOOL!

Thanks Ellie from Ms. Woodward's Class for spending the last three and a half hours with me over coffee and lunch! We came armed with our laptops ready to tackle the ever-growing list of things to do to be ready for back-to-school. Catching up with Ms. Woodward gave me some much-needed motivation for thinking about back to school. It's hard to believe that we're already nearing the end of July.

This summer has proven to be the busiest summer I've ever had. For starters, I also just completed the second week of summer school with the new, incoming kindergartners. Because I teach reading in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade, summer is the only opportunity I ever get to teach kindergarteners. 

We focused on counting, identifying and writing the numbers 1-5. I used a lot of finger plays like "Five Little Ducks" and "Five Little Monkeys" to engage the children. First, I read the books to the children encouraging them to join in with the predictable pattern while counting backwards with their fingers. 

Next, I printed duck and monkey masks and glued them onto craft sticks for the children to act out each story. Click on the images below to be redirected to Classroom Jr. Teaching Resources to print your own masks.

I purchased a set of 12 bingo daubers from the Dollar Tree and a ton of stickers. The students practiced number formations using the daubers and stickers before attempting to write the numbers with a pencil.

To help the children practice writing, identifying and counting numbers 1-5, I created several practice worksheets and activities.

Our theme for summer school is "Under the Sea." After reading and learning about sea animals, the students made their own fish.

I am also currently taking an intensive, 3-credit course in Foundations of Reading. It's the first of six courses I am taking to get obtain my additional license in reading instruction. While this course has been a lot of work, I love having the opportunity to communicate and share with other teachers from all over the Twin Cities. The two books below are required reading for the course. I highly recommend them for any K-12 teacher, regardless of the grade and content area you teach. Reading and discussing the books has reignited a dormant part of my brain. I can't wait to apply the reading instructional strategies I have learned in my classroom in the fall.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Mai