Getting Ready for Back to School

It is hard to believe it is already July 8th!  I try not to focus too much on school during June, but start gearing up in July in hopes of a less hectic August.  (Of course this has not worked in the past, but I still hold out hope that maybe this year it will?)

We are using a new reading series next year, Wonders.  So far it all looks pretty good.  One of the biggest challenges at the beginning of the year is to figure out where your students are and what they know.  I normally do multiple activities and individual assessments the first week of school to figure this all out.  Well I think I have come up with an activity that will let me easily see where my students stand help me group them for differentiation.  It will also let me know where to start with the class as a whole.  I just completed this activity and you can get it in my TpT store.

This is a great activity to review alphabet knowledge and word work skills.  After reviewing the directions, I have the students complete the project independently.  Basically it is an alphabet book the students make sorting pictures by beginning sounds.  Then they label (or attempt to label) the pictures using phonetic spelling.  I can gather so much information about my firsties from this one fun project.  I learn about their ability to work independently, fine motor skills, handwriting, coloring, cutting & gluing ability, name writing, alphabet knowledge, following directions, and various phonics skills.  I complete the informal checklist regarding the observations while they work on this fun project, they don't even know they are being assessed.

The packet even includes the checklist you need.

I am also "filing" on my computer and ran across some cute class rules posters I made last year.  I thought I would share them with you on this Manic Monday!  Click here to download them.