Back to school - Week 1 (with lots of FREE downloads) | Mrs. Albanese's Kindergarten Class

It's the long weekend before school starts (which is next Tuesday) and I'm putting the final touches on my timetable, week-at-a-glace and paperwork to send home to parents.

I set up my classroom this week and, although the set up is primarily the same as last year, I know that it changes often as students express interest and co-create the learning environment with us as the year goes on.

Here are a few pictures of what it looks like for the beginning of the year:

Dramatic Centre - the small ceramic plates come from Ikea

Science/Discovery Centre - large sunflowers will also be added to this centre for children to explore the seeds

Light Table - the shelf to the left (not in picture) holds a variety of transparent materials and loose parts which are perfect for this centre

Math Centre - a variety of materials focusing on early numbers (1-10) are on the shelf

Do you follow me on Instagram? @mrsalbanesesclass

I posted a virtual tour of our entire classroom which shows a much better picture of our class.

I decided to try something different this year in terms of my day plans.

I have always used a "Week-at-a-Glance" document to plan out the week rather than day by day. With the Ontario Kindergarten program, provocations and materials set out are intentional and rather than change things every day, we like to keep them out for students to explore for at least the week (although we might tweak something as we go).

*Side note: The schedule below may change (i.e. library) during the first few weeks of school *

I got the idea for this template from Mrs. Wills Kindergarten.

You can download the above Week-at-a-Glance PDF version{here}.

If you would like the editable version to modify this for your own class click {here}.

I used the following fonts if you wish to keep it the same (free to download):

KG Primary Penmanship

KG Behind These Hazel Eyes

Here's a closer look at some of the provocations and centres I set out for the Week 1 of school.

All of the Year 1 (JK) students will be making a crown to celebrate their first day. We have been doing these for years and I think they are so much fun! If they can, the students write their name on the line and decorate the crown with foamies, stickers, alphabet stampers and crayons.

It reads "I started school today!"

Can you match the letters?

This is another provocation I like to start with each year. The alphabet pebbles are from Quality Classroom.

What do you know about numbers?

We set out simple materials for children to explore and show us what they know about numbers 1-10.

Routines - from day 1

We start our daily routines right away. We gather on the carpet once the children get undressed and listen for announcements. The Helper of the Day is revealed, one letter at a time - we start by showing only one letter and if your name starts with that letter you stand up. Then we show the next letter, if you have it in your name you keep standing, if you don't you sit down. We continue until the children are able to guess and the name is revealed. We also look closely at the Helper's name - how many letters does it have, how many syllables, what smaller words can we find inside, etc.

We also teach the children the Alphabet Song - which we sing every morning when the Helper of the Day and a friend take the attendance down to the office.

Click {here} if you would like to see this product on TpT.

We also begin with a new poem each week. For the first week, we will be introducing the Welcome poem. You can find this poem and so many more to last you the entire year in my Rhyme and Chime pack on TpT. You can click {here} if you would like to see that product.

New centres are introduced the first week so that students are familiar with where they are but we really like to leave things as open-ended as possible for students to explore the materials.

We also start by explaining our Daily Schedule to the students. This helps children with anxiety as they can visually see the things we will be doing for the day and when it will be home time.

You can find this {here} in my TpT store or by clicking the pictures below.

Getting Organized!

We have been using the same system for organizing our students for years - a simple zippered pouch from Dollarama! They are durable enough to last the entire year (for most students!) and the zippered pouch means that notes and money won't get lost.

I made these editable mail bag labels that fit perfectly inside the zippered pouches.

You can find these {here} on TpT.