The 1st Day of School -> FREE assessments, name badge & crown

Well summer is officially coming to an end this weekend as I prepare to go back to work next Tuesday after Labour Day. I've been into my classroom a few times this week moving furniture and preparing centres, activities and provocations to welcome my newest group!

I moved classrooms this year as I only have 15 students and took a smaller room.

Here are a few pics of my new classroom:

This is the view from the hallway door.

Here is our whole group gathering space (which also doubles as the blocks area), with the Book Nook behind and Dramatic Play behind that.

I don't have a desk but I use the white container you see in the background to store my "teacher things" (i.e. staples, notepads, etc.). I use this half moon table for small group work, reading groups, etc.

The large rectangular table is our Writing Centre and the table set up behind will be Science/Discovery (right now it has some shells I've collected over the years for students to explore).

This is one of the provocation tables in the room. Behind is our snack table.

Because I don't have many children this year, I didn't need such a large carpet space. I broke it up using large shelves (which house the blocks) and have mirrors on the backside where the children can use this area for Small World play.

NAME BADGES

I've had a lot of requests asking what I do on the first day of school. I always start by meeting my students and parents outside in our yard before the bell. Many parents are new to our community and might not know who I am so I created this badge that I wear on a lanyard.

You can download this *editable* name badge for FREE by clicking on the picture below.

1st DAY OF SCHOOL CROWN

We welcome our students by having them decorate and wear a 1st day of school crown.

You can download this for FREE by clicking on the picture below.

ASSESSMENT

I often get asked how I assess students. I carry around my Student Anecdotal Binder with me everywhere!!! That's because I'm constantly writing down things that I see students doing, playing with, showing interest in, saying, helping, etc. This is a MUST for every Kindergarten teacher - it's the best thing when it's time to sit and write the Communication of Learning (report cards) because most of your notes are in one spot!

I don't have a formal assessment for the beginning of the year. Instead, I use a variety of things to give me a general understanding of where the student is with his/her learning.

Click on the picture below to download this recording sheet for your own binder.

Each student writes his/her name on the Name Sample page. I do this several times during the year and again in Year 2 (SK) so we can document their progress. This gets filed in the student's portfolio. I got this idea years ago when I took Kindergarten Part 1 AQ course with Joanne Babalis and loved the idea!

Download this name sample page for FREE by clicking on the picture below.

I use this Letter/Sound Assessment page to track how many letters and sounds students know. On the reverse I have included a variety of sight words. I like to assess students several times a year (or even into Year 2) - I just date stamp the top of each column.