BACK TO SCHOOL

Teach Expectations, Routines, and Establish a Literacy-Centered Classroom

Favorite Books

With Your

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Hey yall!

Thanks for grabbing this sample freebie from my Back to School with Your Favorite Books Unit! Included is just ONE activity from the Meet the Teacher section. I hope you find the sneak peek activity from this unit to be enriching in your classroom. What better way is there to kick off the beginning of the school year, establish a classroom based on literacy, and teach classroom expectations and routines than through using your favorite books? I have taken a lot of time to prepare this unit so that it can be used as easily and successfully as possible. If you have any questions at all about anything in this packet, please contact me immediately (usagirl@comporium.net). My goal is to please you and ultimately serve your students best! Enjoy exploring and learning! Sincerely, The Sweetest Thing !

Table of Contents
What to do in the very first minutes of the very first day Kick off the day by introducing the class rules and then with a friendly trick to get students on their toes and ready to give their best Build community by introducing yourself as a person Set the bar high and set some goals Get to know your students and learn about what makes them special Start building your classroom sense of community by looking closely at several different situations Talk about daily routines Story time! Share about your summer

First Thing, First Day

Following Directions

Meet the Teacher

High Expectations Especially YOU

Our Class Community

Place of Learning Summer Recap

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Meet the Teacher

Recommended Mentor Texts:
*My Teacher Sleeps in School
by Leatie Weiss

The Teacher from the Black Lagoon

by Mike Thaler

My Teachers Secret Life

by Stephen Krensky

Miss Nelson is Missing

by James Marshall

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Teachers Guide To: Meet the Teacher

Before the Activity: Set Up and What to Expect

I think its important when Im trying to build classroom community for my students to feel like they know a little bit about my life outside of being a teacher even if I just share little details as simple as my favorite foods. There are two activities that can come out of this one. You can choose to use it just introduce yourself, or extend it and allow students to create one about their partner (Partner Style) after youve shared. It is a silly way to get them guessing and working collaboratively again, building that classroom community. It is called Mad Libs: Teacher Style. Decide if youd like for students to work independently, in partners, or in small groups of 3. Pass out 1 copy of the Mad Libs: Teacher Style to each student, partner set, or group. Depending on what grade level you teach, you might need to help them fill in the first couple of blanks to get the ball rolling. (3rd grade teachers might want to read aloud the parts of speech and allow students to follow along while filling theirs out. Note: Ive included two versions of the Mad Libs, one for females (first) and one for males for both the Teacher Style and Partner Style.

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NOTE: Only part of the Meet the Teacher section is included in this activity! This guide refers to more than what is included.

Name ____________________!

Mad Libs: Teacher Style Missing Words

Fill in the blanks for the listed words needed for the story.
1. Name of a person 2. Grade (ex. 4th) 3. Name of a place in the school building 4. Color 5. Article of clothing (ex. shoe) 6. Adverb (describes an action/verb) 7. Verb (action something you do) 8. Food 9. Sports team 10. Color 11. Noun (person, place, or thing) 12. Noun 13. Verb 14. Verb 15. Verb 16. Family member (ex. dad) 17. Number 18. Number 19. Number
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Name ____________________!

Mad Libs: Teacher Style Story Time

Use the words you came up with for Missing Words to fill in the story.
By the time I got home, my mom was dying to hear all about my new teacher, Mrs.

__________________ . So, I told her every detail about my new __________________ grade teacher,
1 2

just to make her happy. The day started when I happened to catch my teacher walking by the __________________ wearing a __________________ __________________ . Then, the first thing she did
3 4 5 6 7

when all the students walked into the classroom was __________________ __________________ . It sure got everyones attention! Next, she introduced herself to us by telling us her favorite food in the whole world is __________________ and her favorite sports team to pull for is __________________ . I also
8 10 9

learned that her favorite color is __________________ and she cant live without her __________________ . She is REALLY afraid of __________________ , too. For fun she likes to
11 13 17 14 18 15 12 16

__________________ , __________________ , and __________________ with her __________________ . She has __________________ pets and __________________ kids of her own. She stays pretty busy! After I told her all of that, of course my mom wanted to know about all __________________ students in my class. So I started at the beginning of the alphabet
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Name ____________________!

Mad Libs: Teacher Style Story Time

Use the words you came up with for Missing Words to fill in the story.
By the time I got home, my mom was dying to hear all about my new teacher, Mr.

__________________ . So, I told her every detail about my new __________________ grade teacher,
1 2

just to make her happy. The day started when I happened to catch my teacher walking by the __________________ wearing a __________________ __________________ . Then, the first thing he did
3 4 5 6 7

when all the students walked into the classroom was __________________ __________________ . It sure got everyones attention! Next, he introduced himself to us by telling us his favorite food in the whole world is __________________ and his favorite sports team to pull for is __________________ . I also learned
8 10 9 11 13 15 18 16 17

that his favorite color is __________________ and he cant live without his __________________ . He is REALLY afraid of __________________ , too. For fun he likes to __________________ ,
12 14

__________________ , and __________________ with his __________________ . He has __________________ pets and __________________ kids of his own. He stays pretty busy! After I told her all of that, of course my mom wanted to know about all __________________ students in my class. So I started at the beginning of the alphabet
19
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Teachers Guide To: Meet the Teacher

After the Activity: Class Discussion

You may choose to give your students a chance to share their Teacher Style Mad Lib responses in small community groups of 5-6, with partners, or randomly draw out names of only a select few share with the whole class. Once their giggles are out, share with them the REAL facts about the teacher. Be sure to ask if any students got any correct! You can use the same sharing strategies with the Partner Style Mad Libs, as well. Once youre finished with the Mad Libs, take an opportunity to refer back to Carousel Question #2: What will Mr./Mrs./Ms. ___________ need to do to help you this year? Discuss what your role as a teacher is in the classroom, as well as their expectations of you.

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Dont miss out! Grab your fully copy of 125+ pages of back-to-school goodness by coping and pasting the link below into your browser: http:/ /www.teacherspayteachers.com/ Product/Back-to-School-With-YourFavorite-Books-Routines-expectationscommunity-791666

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Thanks yall!
I hope you find this resource as enriching in your classrooms as I have. I have taken a lot of time to prepare this resource so that it can be used as easily and successfully as possible. If you have any questions at all about anything in this packet, please contact me immediately (mailto:usagirl@comporium.net). My goal is to please you and ultimately serve your students best! Credits: Teacher M Borders Kimberly Geswein creations http://www.kimberlygeswein.com/

Sincerely, The Sweetest Thing