Routine is Good....Right??????

Well that was a short break!!!!!  We went back to school today and I must admit it was good to get back into a routine.  We had a great day filled with lots of activities.  Since this week is only two days we didn't start a new story in Reading Street.  I really wanted to jump back into reading though because DIBELS testing starts next week.  I also wanted to get back into the Daily Five routine.  So......after the traditional writing about what they got for Christmas I had each firstie choose a good, fit book. We are currently using the literacy block model from the Daily Five book and I love it.  Basically you have whole group instruction for 3-7 minutes and then they go to Daily Five for 15-20 and you cycle through.  After choosing their books I  set the timer for ten minutes.  They chose a place in the room to sit and read.  When the timer went off they chose their first daily five.  When the daily five time is over I play a song and my kiddos immediately know to meet me in our group area.  For this meeting I gave each child a story elements foldable a.k.a a paper folded into four squares.  :0)  Their first assignment was to recreate the cover of their story.  When this was finished they chose their second daily five.  In our next group meeting the assignment was to draw the setting of their story.  They then chose their 3rd daily five. In the next group meeting I asked them to draw a character from the story.  When that assignment was finished they chose their 4th daily five.  For the last group assignment I asked them to write about the plot of their story.  Then off they went to their last daily five.  I LOVE THE WAY THIS WORKED THIS MORNING.....I may do more of these kind of assignments!  Here are a couple of pictures of the finished products.  Aren't they precious????

Well...next we had to create something for the new year....plus our hallway was looking a little bare!!!  I found the cutest writing activity and craftivity that the Glyph Girls created.  Take a look at our cute New Year's Kids.

You can get this activity HERE for FREE!   It looks great and my firsties love them!!

My teamies, Sayward and Marcia, were busy creating today too!  They started my penguin unit!  (We just didn't have time today in my classroom but I can't wait to start learning all about emperor penguins next week.)  I have pictures of how my besties are using the unit.  I love that each teacher can take a unit and make it their own.  It made my heart smile to see these penguins today!  I felt like a proud momma.  If you want to purchase Tackylocks, an Emperor Penguin in Disguise you can go to Teachers Notebook or to Teachers Pay Teachers.   Take a look at Mrs. Lowery's glyphs and Mrs. Sutton's penguins.

If you started back to school today I hope you and your firsties had as much fun as we did!!!