Mrs. Wheeler's First Grade Tidbits: MORE First Week of School Ideas

Hi, everyone! I am back after completing my second full week of school. Hard to believe we've been at it for two weeks already! I have a fairly small class this year {16-don't hate me!}. I've never had a class size this small in my 13 year career, so I deserve it! They are a lot of fun so far! I'm here sharing a few more ideas for the first week/weeks of school!

Before I start my post, I must share an AWESOME product with you!!! So I shared about these light filters on my Facebook Page but I wanted to share here, too, in case you missed the post. I've been teaching for 12 years and have had horrible headaches multiple times a week for as long as I can remember while teaching. I tried everything...meds, turning half my lights off, essential oils, drinking tons of water, etc...but I was still getting them. A co-worker introduced me to Classroom Light Filters and I decided to make the investment this summer. I bought enough for all of my lights. I've been in school for two full weeks and have had...wait for it...ZERO HEADACHES!!!!!!!!!! If you suffer from headaches or light sensitivity, you MUST try these. I am linking them below. If you do end up trying them, please let me know how they worked for you! *The link below is an affiliate link. The thoughts on this product and how it worked for me are my own.

Last week, we read Interrupting Chicken and did my free sort to go with it! The kids think the book is so silly! Every time someone interrupts now, I ask them if they are being an 'interrupting chicken!'

Grab the freebie by clicking the cover below. And grab the book below!

We also played a simple dice/counting/fine motor game for Math! I got the idea for this game from Cara when she did a FB Live about it this summer. Partners each need a container of manipulatives {I used the glass stones from Dollar Tree}, 4 small solo cups {I got the shot glass size}, 1 die, and a pair of tweezers {link below}. They each get 2 cups. They each fill one of their cups with 12-15 stones. To play, take turns rolling a die and counting out that number of stones with tweezers {dropping them into the empty cup}. Game continues until one person has emptied their cup! This is an excellent game covering many skills!

Also for Math, we played a few more games from my "Number Sense Math Games on the Fly" pack. I love how simple these games are and I especially love that I can whip one out of my organizer at any time {I keep copies of each game in folders} for a game!

We began our Math program. We use Go Math. I'm not really a fan but I don't have a choice. I have to use it. I do supplement it A LOT with games and other fun things to help make it bearable! Do you use Go Math? What are your thoughts about it?

If you do use Go Math, you might like these free vocabulary cards that I found on TpT to go with it! I've been introducing the words for each lesson as they come up and we talk about what they mean. I also keep them on display for the whole chapter. I love how they are color-coded by chapter!

We read Elmer and made these fun elephants using manilla graph paper. I have done this craft with my kids for 13 years now!! Every year of teaching! They always love it. We also read Corduroy and made these matching bears that I got off TpT HERE.

We read David Goes to School and made David directed drawings that I found from Jen. *Can you tell we do a lot of "projects" during the first month of school? The kids need these this time of year!

We started Spelling and practiced our words on Friday with an activity from my "Spelling on the Fly" activity pack.

We started our writing journals. The kids decorated the covers and I glued them to construction paper to make their journals more sturdy.

We also started Handwriting. I print these and place them in 3-prong folders to make books.

And...we started Morning Meeting! This is so much fun! I bought Brooke's packs and downloaded her free organizer. *I'll do a longer post about this another day!