Can’t Wait to Try
Posted by Debra Liverman on 07 Aug 2008 | Posted in: Grade 1, Grades 2-3, Holiday and Seasonal, Intermediate, Kindergarten, Preschool, Student Activities, The Mailbox
I got an email from my son’s school this week with his list of needed school supplies for first grade. When I suggested we head out that evening to go shopping he said, “Mommy, can you go get them for me? I’ll just stay here.” I was shocked! How can anyone not get excited about picking out brand new school supplies? And then I realized, maybe it’s a teacher thing! Every teacher I know gets giddy over gathering new “stuff” for her classroom. And it’s not just the supplies, it’s the new ideas you can’t wait to try. Whether it’s a new bulletin board to display, a new homework system to implement, or a great game for getting acquainted during the first days of school, as teachers we just can’t wait to give them a try.
As you have been preparing for back to school, what ideas have you found in the August/September issues of The MAILBOX, TEACHER’S HELPER, or BOOKBAG that you are eager to implement in YOUR classroom? Some of my favorites are the back-to-school journal prompts (p. 57) in Grade 1 Teacher’s Helper, the activity cards (p. 16-17) in The Mailbox Intermediate, the Dinosaurs Before Dark book unit (p. 16-17) in Bookbag, and this idea from The Mailbox Grades 2-3 (p. 58).
Awesome Apples
On Back-to-School Night, have each parent or guardian write a note to his child on an apple cutout and then tape it to a tree display. The next morning, students pick their apples from the tree and read the words of praise and encouragement. –Rosemarie, Harrington Park Elementary
I’ll be looking forward to reading about which ideas you just can’t wait to try!
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32 Responses to “Can’t Wait to Try”
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More Comments Pages: « 1 [2] 3 » Show All Comments
I also like the apple idea, but I think I will leave it for open house. I love the monkey reproducible online, “swinging into 2nd grade”. I usually have the kids do an intro. writing/ coloring activity on the first day. Sometimes they’re so nervous they get “stuck”.
I’m going to send the monkey hand out in the mail with my welcome letter, and ask each child to color/design it, and add a few sentences about what they want to learn in second grade on the belly.
Hopefully, all will come in on the first day, ready to display.
I really loved “Fall is here” Writing idea in the grades 2-3 issue. I think that having the students write a simple piece for each season is a fantastic and easy way to document their growth over the course of the year. I can’t wait to see how far my students grow this year in writing workshop, and I’m planning to use the “Seasons” writing pieces to really document their growing skills! Thanks for a great idea!!
I love the apple note idea. I teach Kindergarten and our “1st day of school” consists of parents coming in with their children for about an hour. While I’m doing our whole group on the floor with the kids and playing an intro game, I’ll have parents write a note to their child and then save them for the kids real first day of school. It’s great for the kids to look forward to that special note from mom or dad and it helps to ease the 1st day jitters.
Oh, Vicky, I could not agree with you more! How wonderful would it be if we could retrieve ideas from any of the great back issues!! I would also love to be able to save text that I have added on the planning pages.
I too love all of the fantastic ideas that I get from the Mailbox magazine and use the Mailbox companion at least 3 days each week. I have to agree with Debbie Grimaldi. PLEASE HELP US SPECIAL ED TEACHERS! I also span 4-5 grade levels in my class each year and it is just impossible to subscribe to all of the magazines across the grade levels we service. I am excited to use several of the new ideas presented in the back to school issue!
I love The Mailbox PreK…in fact, if anything gives me back-to-school anxiety it comes from the fact I don’t have enough time to implement EVERYTHING I see!
Between the current issue of the magazine, my library of The Mailbox books, and all the interactive “stuff,” I’m overloaded with too many great ideas!!
I just find myself thanking Mailbox everyday for its amazing ideas and activities. I really have loved the new issues coming out recently. They are just spectacular and definitely get me excited about going back in the fall.
I plan on using the Apple idea from above, writing prompts list, and language arts brain boosters. I LOVE the booster pages the most. I used to use the free-time calendars from Mailbox Companion, but they did not always relate to my subject area (reading). I am going to use the brain boosters this year instead. The kids will receive colored copies and keep them in the front of their binders for free time work.
Thank you Mailbox!!!!
When you are in the bonus/extender pages–look in the upper left corner. There is a pull down menu under Magazine Extenders. All of the reproducibles are there from the past year.
As Debbie mentioned, I also teach various grades: K-3. I cannot afford to buy all the levels. It would be great if I could access them online.
I am new to Mailbox and LOVE my first issues and all of the xtras. I even made a special file box to save the ideas that I am going to use. I have had one dissappoinment…thought there would be something for the olympics…:@(
I agree that it would be nice if the extras were left on longer. One of my favorite parts of the magazine is Storytime. I teach a Kindergarten Prep Class and it is nice to have suggestions for extending a book throughout the morning. My class this year loved the ideas that I got from “Chanting with Books” (August September 07). Thanks for such a great magazine.
I can’t tell you how many wonderful ideas I get from The Mailbox Magazine. It seems like whenever I get a complement about an activity or bulletin board, it is something I found in the magazine. What a valuable resource!