Kindergarten: Holding Hands and Sticking Together: Mrs. Kisloski's Smart Cookies

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Mrs. Kisloski's Smart Cookies

What do you call those tan, circular things you have for breakfast sometimes? ~~Pancakes~~ That's right- Cookies! And what do you call it when you have cookies for breakfast? ~~Gross~~, ~~Unhealthy~~, ~~Crazy~~ That's right- Delicious!

Well, simply because "Mrs. Kisloski's Smart Pancakes" didn't have a ring to it- I decided to go with "Mrs. Kisloski's Smart Cookies" for my Welcome Back theme.

Since our school was an old middle school, my class has lockers outside our room. I put a magnet with each child's name on each locker to help my children remember which locker is which. As we make projects to hang over the lockers, they can remember, but I still keep the magnet inside the locker for help or in between projects. Heaven forbid there is nothing over their locker and their locker isn't labeled! They won't have any part of it. ;)

I am going to have these "You are one smart cookie!" cookies at each seat for our Kindergarten Picnic . (The cookies are Little Debbie chocolate chip cream cookies, so they are already individually wrapped, then wrapped again in the bag. )

I found the wonderful free printables from The Teacher Wife TPT Store.

We have the picnic a week before school starts. Our Principal cooks hotdogs outside, and the families can see the rooms. This is also when I am handing out the name packets.

If everyone comes in that first day writing his/her name beautifully, I will be sure to ~~faint~~ let you know that these packets worked like a charm. Don't hold your breath. But even if a couple of them TRY... I will be happy!

Last year, I started back to school with a STAR theme. I decided to go the cookie route because... YUM. And we do lots of activities with cookies those first few days.

We always play "Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar" to learn names.
Cookie Monster sits on my lap and eats the cookie at the end, of course.

We write our first classroom book to go along with this game. The children write their names and draw a picture of them stealing the cookies! I quickly laminate it and have it out, because the children LOVE to look at it.

These cupcakes would be precious- but the "nailed it" look would be mine, so they aren't happening.

We also do lots of activities with these:

On a workmat with a line down the middle (sorry I don't have a picture- it is in school- but I bet you can just picture that all by yourself. Paper with a line down the middle. Yep. You got it!) , we turn it horizontal for over, under, above, below ( "Put 3 cookies above the line. Put 2 cookies under the line.") I have a cookie jar workmat, and I will have them put 5 cookies in the jar and one cookie out of the jar... We do more and less, and I even try a little adding and subtracting to size them up a bit. Every so often their job is to eat a cookie. Nobody ever has trouble with that job.

Cookie Monster is always nearby watching and seeing who are SMART COOKIES!

Here are the books I love to use with a cookie theme- and LOTS of great ideas (and freebies!) to go with the books.

(Great introduction to Days of the Week- and retelling!)

A Child's Place offers this sequencing activity free to go along with Cookie's Week.

This Listening and Language Book Unit by K. Ratliff has LOTS of activities to go with Cookie's Week.

Doodle Bugs Teaching also has a great packet on TPT!

Here are some favorite activities for this book:

Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas always has so many awesome ideas. I always go to Bern and I am always amazed. Thank you, Bern! I love her ideas, too, because a lot of them are easy to make yourself!