Summer Project-Lego Table

I took on soooooooooo many different projects this summer.  Seriously, I have no idea what I was thinking.  However, they are all finally coming to completion.  I had the idea of making a LEGO table for my classroom last year after my mom gave me my old LEGO table for my children at home.  It wasn't hard, and didn't take that long.

STEP 1:So this is what I started with.  The first step of this project, like many projects, it to pick out a piece.  Then destroy it beyond repair and pick a different piece.

STEP 2: Have some wine and contemplate your project handiness.  

STEP 3: Pick another end table that you won't miss.  Extra points for 80's retro gold.

STEP 4: Pick a paint color.  I wanted to do something that was LEGO blue.  I did one coat of white chalk paint to help cover up the black.

STEP 5:  Forget to take picture of chalk paint foundation.

STEP 6: Paint it your chosen paint color.  I had to do 2 coats of the blue, and did 3 in some spots.  Here is what it looked like then.  

STEP 7:  Drink some more wine and/or iced coffee.  Seal the paint with your choice of paint sealer.

STEP 8:  Add LEGO slats.  Here is the link that I used to buy the LEGO slats.  I cut them to size with some regular scissors.  

STEP 9: Gorilla Glue it on.

STEP 10:  Play with Legos on table to make sure it works.  Kids are experts at this!

STEP 11:  ENJOY YOUR NEW LEGO TABLE!!!

Overall, I'm very happy with how it turned out.  I'm excited to see how my Kinders use it this year.  

Happy August 1! Have a great school year!

The First 2 Weeks

Ok, today during math groups it finally felt like we are getting into the grove of things.  As I have stated before, I dislike the first days of school.  However, I love the fact that the routines come fairly easy and the kiddos learn it so quickly!

We have worked very hard on our color books.  We got them sent home on Friday.  It is a great way to introduce many different skills and color recognition within the first days of Kinder.  You can download My Book of Colors here.  Go ahead, it's free!

Here is what the color copy looks like.  I print this off to use as a book during our choice reading.  It's awesome to see the kids go back and read it.

This takes a while.  However, the kids really do like it and it is a great way to solidify those color skills.

Another beginning of the year must is Pete the Cat.  I LOVE Pete the Cat.  The yellow papers show a craft where the students had to assemble Pete, put shoes on him, and cut apart the sentence strip to show what shoes they love.  The original idea is posted here.

Mat Man is another beginning of the year staple in Kinder.  We make journals with our drawings of all of our friends.  With Mat Man, we watch this video that goes over the different parts of the body.  This is a great way to show how to build a person.  Then, I broke the kids into small groups to build Mat Man as we listened to the song.  

They did so awesome!  This week we are gearing up for our apple unit.  Stay tuned for more fun!

The first day

Oh my goodness.  I am soooo tired!  To be completely honest, I don't really enjoy the first couple of days.  I LOVE it after we get routines in order, and the classroom starts to flow.  And even though setting up those routines is a SUPER IMPORTANT part of how the year goes, I am not fan.  Today we did some super simple activities.  We took a tour of the cafeteria to talk about lunch room procedures.  We also did some fun name activities.

We worked on using the dobbers.  I like to set up these procedures now.  It makes for things to do faster in the weeks to come.

In this picture, we put stickers on our names.  This was a great way to see where some of the kiddos fine motor skills were at.  

I know we accomplished other things, but the first day is SO exhausting.  How was your first day?

Back to School Night

Back to School night at our school is always a couple days before Kindergarten starts.  The kiddos (and parents) can come in, we have a brief slide show to go over some of our building specifics, and I always have my kiddos do a scavenger hunt.  Here is a preview of different things I set up for back to school night.

This is my door that I'll keep up all year.  I might add some student work to it, but for the most part, this door will remain the same all year.  

Look at this awesome monkey a co-worker of mine asked her husband to draw!  Isn't it fabulous?!?!?!  I'll add the kids' names to the door.  This is a door I'll change out, but not a lot.  I'm not a good door decorator.  You'll find that out as the year goes on. 

For the parents that brought their supplies for back to school night, I have them put their shared supplies in the these tubs.  Other supplies will go in their pencil boxes and stay in their cubby.  

The stack of papers on the left are for my texture alphabet.  I ask that all the kiddos take one and bring it back later.  I'll hang it up above our curriculum alphabet.  The papers on the right are a scavenger hunt for the room, it has different things like finding their cubby and the bathroom.  

Because back to school night can be so crazy, I also send the parents home with a packet that covers most of our classroom items, such has dismissal procedures, parent volunteering information, and contact information.

I also send home a classroom schedule.  

This is something I'm very excited about this year.  This year I'm trying the remind app.  I've heard really good things about it.  I'm always looking for ways to make communication easier for parents and myself.  

I also send home a scholastic book order.  I send one home a month with a cover letter stating the due date and ways to pay online.  I really like how scholastic has revamped their website.  Super fun!

This is a little card that I also give out at back to school night.  In my district, each classroom has a direct line.  I have the parents take these home and put them on their fridge or another safe place.  Again, the more communication, the better. 

How was your back to school night?