Back to School Traditions and Talstrasse 7

Most of us have a family/school tradition we do with our own children or our students on the first day of school. Whether it is taking a special picture, having a special breakfast or a special activity in the classroom, we make the first day of school a day to remember.

In Germany, we noticed the German children celebrated the first day of school as well! They make the first day of school special with a schultüte. A schultüte is a large cone that is usually colorful and shiny. Parents fill the cones with all kinds of goodies to commemorate the first day. 

This made us think about what other countries do to celebrate the first day of school and found out there are lots of different back to school traditions! Countries around the world commemorate the first day from exchanging presents, passing down back packs, flowers and more. (Click on the Thinglinks to find out more about back to school traditions.)

We hope you celebrated your first day back to school and make your own memorable traditions with your students.

Schule tute video by Kinder Cone:

KinderCone gives the gift that celebrates the 1st Day of School Make a School Cone | MetroParent.com DIY

 

Book of the Week: It's Back to School We Go! (found at Amazon) 

This week:

Brought me back to some old stomping grounds and memories!  As I drove to the villages for my home visits – I found myself in a village that I used to visit quite often!  P & P, if you’re lurking – this is for you! Love you both and miss y’all!

 

My Tradition:

The weekend before the start of our kinder, I get treated to a wonderful breakfast.  Check out that incredible homemade cream for the heisse shokolade!

 

Pinterest Board: Children of the World

 

Freebie:

  

My Puppet from Shadow Puppet:

To all the children of the world, who have started school, or will be starting the Day After Tomorrow, we wish you a wonderful school year!

 

Have a great week!

Smiles or Tears?

Okay, your classroom is set up and students will be starting soon. What can you do to help make a child’s first day of school a day of smiles rather than a day of tears?

  Home visits are an excellent way of meeting a child for the first time. When a child has the “home advantage” he/she tends to be more interactive. Playing, reading, and having the child share his/her interests establish a wonderful rapport with the child that he/she remembers when they see you on that first day of school.

        Send a welcome letter with your picture. If you can’t meet a child face to face, a picture of you is the next best thing. Let the child know how excited you are about his/her coming to your classroom. Add something personal about the child if you can.

  Have an informal open house in your classroom. Invite parents to bring their child to school before the first day of school so they can meet you and check out the classroom. Schedule parents to come a few at a time so you can spend some one-on-one time with each child.

 

   How can you keep their interest and focus on you the teacher?  What about creating a book about YOU the teacher? Or even a creating a quick Little Bird Tale.  This is a great app that you are going to want to learn and use in your classroom as well.  You can teach the child how to insert pictures from your camera roll, images and type text and record their voices reading the text.  Check out the one I made.

If the above suggestions are not possible, have everything ready before the first day so you are calm and prepared for anything that might happen. (We recommend a Plan B and a Plan C!) And smile!!

Little Bird Tales:  All About Me 

• Click to view my tale.
• 

Ready to Go!

 

 

 

 

 

Freebie!

 

Pinterest Board:

                    Follow TheBeezyTeacher's board Back to school tips on Pinterest.

Here’s hoping for a great school year!

It Was a Great Summer!

It was a great summer! 
(At least for most of us who don't fret about our hair! Sorry Miz Beezy!)

Time flies when you are having fun! Our two months off (Does anybody get three months off anymore?) were filled with fun, family and travel. Some of us were able to fly back to the states to visit family and enjoy eating and shopping in the great US of A. You have to LOVE the Dollar Stores. What a great place to stock up on classroom goodies! And the food, YUM! I think we ate our way through most of the states including Kentucky, Texas, Nevada and New York. (You can ask any DoDDS teacher for a review of any restaurant in the world!)

One of us visited Las Vegas to attend the TpT Convention. We can’t wait to hear about the great ideas discussed with the TpT gurus who attended.

Although we had a great summer, we are pumped and ready to begin another exciting school year filled with new ideas, new faces and new adventures!

Let the school year begin!

               Since we've been gone a long time let us leave you with some ideas for the start of school.  We usually like to start the beginning of the year with some favorite books about names. Listen to the Sock Puppets give their opinions about their favorite books!

Favorite Books about Names:

Books about Names Reviewed by the Sock Puppets:

                           http://safeshare.tv/w/iopdDXYYZl

My Name is Yoon by Helen Recorvits

http://safeshare.tv/w/bbeFstTTxl

The Name Jar by  Yangsook Choi 

                               http://safeshare.tv/w/TpQvwZkjAl

              Chrysanthemumby Kevin Henkes

                                http://safeshare.tv/w/lksTNqLhLe

                            Name Activities

                           PinterestBoard:

                               Freebie!

Heard Miz Beezy's Back!

Ms Beezy
                           

I’m sure the things I bought this summer are not new or exciting to teachers stateside but think about it:  When you work in a foreign country – and are not near a teacher store – well this is like Christmas in July for us!  So bear with me in my sharing what I bought!

Journal books

                Oil Pastel Crayons

               Water Color Pencils

                  Aqua Fill Marker

                                          

Labels? Yes, full size labels so I don’t have to glue everything and remember we use a different paper size here!

Window Markers

The Big Buy: Another Apple iPad! And of course my Pencil Stylus!  

Back to school Freebies:  Setting goals 

Back to School Buys: Bundled Products

Math Journal Bundle:

This Math Journal Bundle product is great for the entire school year for Kindergarten and First Graders who struggle. The prompts cover a variety of math skills based on most Common Core Standards. This product also covers challenging activities for the child that needs to be challenged using the seasonal and holiday themes. Themes include: Shapes, Back to School, Halloween, Bats, Thanksgiving, Native Americans, Penguins, Winter, MLK, Mittens, President’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Insects, Dinosaurs, Transportation, Plants and so much more! 

Now What Bundle?

After our kinders learn to identify letters, sounds, and have attacked these sounds to blend into simple c-v-c words, what next?  This product contains several word work activities that address the long /a,e,i, o, and u/ sounds for your students to work at home or school.  There is little prep work before implementing some of the activities.  Included in this unit of study: Sliding word pockets that can be used in a center, Word lists, Flash  cards to send home, recording sheets, other activities such as sorting, cut and paste, unscrambling sentences, and much more! It may be used in the classroom or simply sent home for additional reinforcement. 

 Insect Facts Booklets

This fact booklet on insects is a great resource to use for doing a research project on insects with your kindergarten class.  It is difficult to find age appropriate non-fiction books that the child can be independent in their research skills.

 Included in this product is a black and white informational book about insects that can be used for independent reading as well as for guided reading groups. All you have to do is print them back to back.  The pages are numbered to make the printing easier. The bundle includes booklets about insects  such as  ladybug, grasshopper, ant, firefly, and bee. 

Miss Beezy’s Best Summer Buy: Pencil by Fifty-Three Company

This stylus for touch-screen devices is exactly what I was looking for and found by accident this summer! The Pencil by Fifty three company is the most natural way to create on iPads.  Love that advanced technology doesn’t have to be plain looking but can be creative in design to keep you in the flow, without needing to switch tools. Pencil puts creative possibility in your hands. Love it, Love it!

Best Summer  Eating Place:  Trattoria Reggiano

My absolute all time favorite place to eat was Trattoria Reggiano at the Venetian Hotel in Vegas!  The Tortelloni Alfredo was to die for! So good!  It’s a Cheese filled tortelloni in a light cream sauce, tossed with Parmigiano Reggiano.