Staggard Enrollment Day

Glad my room does not have to be totally together the first week of school, due to staggard entry to Kindergarten. 25 students per day come on the first day, so we have a 6-25 ratio in one classroom. The students were all together in the morning for a little while and then we broke out into 3 groups with 2 teachers in each group to give them a reading assessment. Then later that day we gathered back together for a cute little activity.  Before I read the "Gingerbread Man" to them, we showed them some gingerbread cookies on a tray that we were going to put in the overn to bake while we were having story time. When the story was over a teacher went to check on them told them that they had ran away just like in the book.  We decided to go on a hunt for them them which was really just a tour of the school. When we came back to the room another teacher had put the cookies on the table ready for snack. The students really enjoyed it, but after the 4th day, we (the teachers) never wanted to hear that story again! Then they worked on some Gingerbread color sheets and watched a movie about the Gingerbread Man to compare and contrast. After that they headed off for rest time while we graded their assessments from that morning.  They were not that informative, but did help administration create our classes a little more fairly. Not sure I am crazy about the way they do things, and will make suggestions for next year, such as putting only 4 or 5 kids in one room for the whole day. This way they can really have a chance to learn proper daily routines, even if they are not going to be in your class the next week. Less stress!!! Maybe even consider testing them in the summer with a more comprehensive type of test too.

While the kids were working on their color pages, I called them out one by one to take their first day picture with the cute frame I made. Yes, I am a pinterest fanatic! I can't post their faces, so I will show you mine. :)

The week was concluded by a parent meeting Friday morning, now that we knew who our students were. By that day, I had made a lot more progress in my room. Below is my area for Morning Meetings.

Each day I choose a helper to read the morning message with me.

We are using puzzle pieces to count up to 100 day!

Share time is also part of our Morning Meeting. Obviously the names are missing right now, but if their apple is picked, they get to share that day.  ,

I would love to hear what other schools do for the first week of Kindergarten!!