Full of Emotions

First Day of School!!!!!! YAY!! :) 

A day full of emotions...

-Excited: A fresh start to a new year.  

-Happy: See everyone happy faces again. 

-Sad: Summer has come to an end, and I don't get to see my dog every second of the day ;)

-Terrified: What is going to be walking into the classroom this year?

-Comfort: This is where I am supposed to be.  A steady person, sometimes the only steady person, in these students lives for the next 9 months.  

And the students....

-Excited: A new teacher. They remember me from last year walking by and saying hello. They think I'm the coolest person ever.  

-Mad: They had to wake up early, summer is over, and this lady has to tell me what to do all day. 

-Happy: They get to see who was in their class last year.  New friends :) 

-Nervous: A brand to year, new experiences, new teacher

First graders are sponges. They first day is the honeymoon day.  All students are like sponges.  Read this book: Be You! by Peter H Reynolds.  I promise you won't regret it! 

You read a ton of books on the first day, I'm sure.  But this one is a feeler.  This one gets the juices going on the first day of all of the things you can be for the school year.  It shows them know matter who they are I will love them and accept them. It shows them that they can be anything they want to be, a kind friend to all of the friends in our classroom. It also starts the classroom discussion of how people are different but that what's makes them the coolest person in the world.  

You also teach vocabulary: 

-curious

-adventurous

-connected

-persistent

-different

-kind

-understanding

-brave

Extension activity: Have the students draw a self portrait. Have them pick one of the new words they learned and have them write a sentence: I am ____ because ______.