FREE lessons and activities for the second day of kindergarten
SECOND DAY OF KINDERGARTEN
You made it to the second day of kindergarten!
Yesterday was busy… but fun right?
I hope you loved the activities I shared. Isn’t the school tour, Miss Bindergarten and our fruit salad friendship activity so fun?!
I have more fun, FREE lessons and activities for you today as part of my new back to school blogging school series.
Be sure to sign up above (it is free with your email address) so lesson plans and all these activities shown on the blogpost will end up in your inbox today.
This page contains affiliate links. Read Full Disclosure
Yesterday, I talked about the importance of having activities on student tables so student felt welcome and had something to do right away.
I do this for the second day of school as well (soon we switch to morning work, but the first few days we do hands-on activities.)
Today, I’ll share my free labels and favorite activities that I switch up during center time.
These activities are perfect to have out on the first few days of school and can also be used throughout the year in centers.
WATER WOW - we absolutely love these! There are so many options and the kids stay engaged. You just use water, they dry and repeat!
PUZZLES - we love the Melissa and Doug packs, and they hold up well because they are wooden.
READ AND SPELL - this kit works on so many skills and is used all year
PATTERN BLOCKS - every classroom and homeschool needs pattern blocks! I prefer the Learning Resources brand.
WIKKI STICKS - these are amazing! I use them often in small groups and the kids love working with them.
MAGNA TILES - these are expensive, but worth every penny. They are by far the most played with “toy” in the classroom and at home.
GEO BOARDS - I recommend introducing these in small groups to set expectations, but they are really fun for the kids and work on so many skills.
These are a few of my favorites, and you can read more about these activities on THIS BLOG POST
I always try to be present right at the door every single morning to greet students and look them in the eye.
At least then I know that every single student was seen and acknowledged that day.
Students come in and have activities waiting to go on their desks.
This buys me time to meet parents again and tie up any loose ends that always happen on the first few days of school.
WHAT DO I TEACH THE SECOND DAY OF KINDERGARTEN?
You can use these activities in any order you wish throughout your day.
If they are labeled free, these activities are headed to your inbox or some can be printed right here on the blog!
My goals for the second day are:
Activity #1: We start guided reading - FREE UNIT
Activity #2: Introduce phonemic awareness + August Poem - FREE
Activity #3: Introduce how to label (concepts about print skills) - FREE
Activity #4: Hands on centers/activities listed above
Activity #5: We make our “K is for Kindergarten” class book - FREE
Activity #6: We read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and make name trees - FREE
Activity #7: Back to school assessment - FREE
Activity #8: We continue to go over rules and procedures
I absolutely love using THIS digital calendar and morning meeting kit for so many reasons!
This video gives you an overview of how to use this calendar in Google Slides and PowerPoint. It shows you everything that is included… this is so much more than just a calendar!
I have these calendars for the ENTIRE YEAR!
At the beginning of kindergarten, I spend a lot of time teaching phonemic awareness.
Did you know that phonemic awareness is NOT phonics?
Phonemic awareness is 100% auditory… meaning we don’t use letters or words yet.
Yes! You read that correctly.
According to all the research behind the science of reading, phonemic awareness is absolutely critical, yet so many reading programs barely touch on these skills and skip right into teaching phonics.
Chances are, if a student is struggling to learn how to read and decode later in the year, it is because they do not have a strong phonemic awareness foundation.
Phonemic awareness is my #1 priority and focus in my small groups for almost the first half of the school year in kindergarten.
I create small group phonemic awareness binders (shown above) that makes it easy and fun for you to teach these critical skills.
CLICK HERE to purchase the complete program that teaches all 7 steps of phonemic awareness.
Teaching in small groups is probably my favorite part of the school day.
SONG + NAME GAMES
Phonemic awareness activities can be as simple as singing adorable name game songs. We love this one by Raffi.
This is also a great way to get to know everyone’s names.
IDEA:
Write everyone’s name on the board, and then play THIS version of the song so you can insert everyone’s name.
My kids are SO excited to see who’s name will be next!
AUGUST POETRY
Each student has a poetry folder that takes them through the entire school year. We memorize a new poem every month.
I outline how I teach this on my poetry blog post HERE
This poetry unit for August will show up in your email inbox!
Be sure to sign up at the top of the page.
Poetry teaches so many skills, including rhyming which is an important phonemic awareness step.
This is how I teach guided reading for the year. CLICK HERE to visit my guided reading homepage
I use THIS reading comprehension bundle for the entire year.
CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM NAME ACTIVITY
We read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and make these adorable name trees.
You can write their names in marker at the bottom and they can trace.
This activity works on so many skills.
This activity will arrive in your email inbox!
SUMMER 2023 UPDATE
I just created an entire kit to help children learn how to spell and write their name! The activities shown above are not included in your free first week lesson plans, but you can CLICK HERE to learn more on the blog or CLICK HERE to purchase.
CLASS BOOK
We love making class books! We read A My Name Alice and then make K is for Kindergarten books.
This book is so fun for alliteration and rhyming (two phonemic awareness skills!)
It is fun to play with student names and they can’t wait to see who I will say next.
Once we are done with the pages, we bind it and read the class book.
LABELING
Labeling is unit 1 in my kindergarten writing curriculum.
BACK TO SCHOOL ASSESSMENT
See where your students are at with this FREE back to school assessment!
Testing students and recording data has never been so easy.
Print this for FREE CLICK HERE
Read my complete blog post on assessing students and documenting report cards HERE
CLASSROOM RULES AND PROCEDURES
This is how I teach students my classroom expectations and rules. I teach a couple rules each day, and we review often.
This kit is not free, but it can be purchased HERE
I hope you’re enjoying this back to school blog post and email series.
I love sharing what I create with other teachers and homeschool families.
Most of these activities will be showing up in your email inbox!
While you wait, you can read what I have planned for tomorrow:
CLICK HERE to learn about the third day of kindergarten
CLICK HERE if you missed the first day of kindergarten.
I HAVE THE ENTIRE FIRST WEEK PLANNED FOR YOU!
Back to School Resources for Kindergarten
Click the resources below or CLICK HERE to visit our back to school homepage.
