K-1 IPSF Summer Enrichment Academy

This summer is off to a great start!  I'm thrilled to be teaching 2 classes in IPSF's Summer Enrichment Academy.  I am teaching "Fly Into First Grade" in morning and "Kinderfun" in the afternoon.  I'm using animal themes to guide instruction. This first week was all about jungle animals; our read alouds were about jungle animals and our writing/math activities were centered around jungle.  The next week is farm animals, and the last week will be ocean animals.

I wanted to do a fun activity on the first day so students would have fun and feel comfortable in their new classroom.  I also wanted a stress-free activity to allow me to talk with them and get to know them individually. 

 

We made July calendars for our new month and dot-painted fireworks.  I did this activity with both classes and changed it slightly to adapt to their developmental needs.  The first graders wrote all the numbers in the calendars and cut out their stars.  The kindergarteners traced all the numbers and used star stickers.

We also do a lot of writing to get students ready for the school year.  My first graders have a journal and each day, we write a response to the read aloud.  We check our writing with the checklist on the bottom of the page to ensure that we used an uppercase at the beginning, finger spaces, etc.  Self-checking is a great skill for students to make a habit!  My kindergarteners are working on handwriting and drawing a matching picture.