Ten ideas for student participation during Open House

Hey Y'all! It's Erin from The Elementary Darling! Summer has been flying and I go back to work tomorrow! so today I am going to chat about what your new students can do during Open House.

I have enjoyed my summer full of Target trips, dollar store hunts, and family time but as the school year rolls around, I get equal parts excited and anxious. Back to school time is fun but also stressful and this year I am moving to a new school and a new grade level.  Many of you are doing the same or even just one of those things, and while it is an exciting time, it is also a stressful time.

To help with the stress of coming back to school and having Open House (or meet the teacher, or sneak a peek) I also started doing stations in my classroom. Yesterday, Theresa shared her station idea with you all. If you didn't read it, head here.  I did something similar and you can read about those stations here on my blog.

The only difference is that I found that my parents were doing the stations, and my students weren't always participating. OR one parent was taking the student to do the stations (LOVE) and the other was filling out the paperwork. {This is the ideal situation for my classroom.} My school was a Title One school and we had a ton of information and surveys for the parents to fill out.

***Insert big idea here*** I decided that I needed some things that students could do while the parents filled out all of the paperwork! You can make these a station OR you can just have them set out in the room and let the students do them. {Side note: if you teach Kinder babies you may want to make it a station, so their parents can help them.}

Here are 10 ideas for student participation during Open House!

1.) Organize Supplies
I love Theresa from True Life I'm a Teacher's idea of having the students take a scrapbook page to create a scrapbook. The students pick the color of their paper and they take it home to work on. I also love that she organizes her materials THAT NIGHT. This is a great activity for the kids to do! Everything is labeled and even if they can't read the words, you can put one of each item in the box and the students will know where to put the item.

2.) Selfie Wall
Almost every kid knows how to take a selfie. This selfie wall or photo booth is a great and easy way for the students to snap a picture with a saying. I just put second grade on mine, but you can do anything! I also had to use a selfie stick because no one was at school to take my picture so excuse the terrible pose :)

3.) Photo Booth
Another version of this is Chandra, from Teaching with Crayons and Curls, photo booth where she took a sparkly table cloth and the students used signs and got a picture. She did a  Party theme and it was precious!

4.) Meet the Teacher Chart
Kristin from School in the City created this cute chart to learn about the teacher. This would be cute for the kids to look at during open house. It is also easy to make for all grade levels!


5.) Estimation Station
The students grab a post it note and write how many skittles they think are in the jar with their name. I check them all when Open House is over and I put all of the post its on an anchor chart for our math focus board. The student who gets the closest answer wins the jar on the first day of school! It makes an awesome first math lesson and gets the students excited.

6.) Post it Note Anchor Chart
This is an easy and fun way for students to answer a question. They love choosing their post it note, and most grade levels can answer the question on their own. K-1 babies will need some help on this one, but even pictures are cute.  My first graders did pretty well with this, the year that I did it!

7.) Choose your back to school gift!
Sometimes I have my students' gifts on each desk as they walk in, but I think this year I am going to let them choose their own gift. They are either going to pick based on marker color or based on paper color, but who doesn't love a choice?!?! You can find these editable marker papers here in my TPT shop for FREE!

8.) Scavenger Hunt
I have seen so many different scavenger hunts for students. I love the ones with the pictures, especially for the K-1 babies. There are too many to choose from, so my suggestion is to get on TPT or Pinterest and find the perfect one for you and your classroom!

9.) Find your seat or choose your seat.
This may seem like an easy one, but many students, like us, are anxious. They may want to sit closer to the teacher, or the board and choosing his/her desk is an easy way for them to get excited for the year. My suggestion is to write the names on the name tags, have the students choose their name, and then place it on the desk they choose. If you need a more controlled environment, I understand! The students could just find their desk. Make sure to leave them something fun like ready confetti,  jitter glitter, or a present to make them feel comfortable.

10.) Meet the Teacher
Wait, they need to actually talk to you? YES! And this is the cheapest and easiest suggestion of them all! It is so important to take the time to talk to the student. Many times, the parents take over, and the kids just sit there. Have some "go to" questions to ask the students that are easy to answer.
*What did you love about First Grade? (their previous grade)
* What are you excited to learn about?
* Do you love science? We are going to do some fun science experiments!
*Did you get anything special to start the year off with?
*or my Favorite- Do you think your mom and dad are ready for you to Second Grade?

Just remember, these are suggestions. I don't think all of this is possible during one open house. It's like Target, just pick the one or two you need. {Who am I kidding, I need everything at Target.}

Good Luck!



Open House Made Easy

Hey Y'all!

I can't even believe we're talking back-to-school! Didn't summer JUST start???

Back to school means lots of things...school supplies, squeaky clean teacher planners, new clothes (maybe that's just wishful thinking), #targetruns, setting up classrooms and decorating, and open house. Or meet the teacher. Or Sneak-a-Peek. #couldwepleasejustallchooseonenameandstickwithit (for the purposes of this post, I'm going to call it Open House)

Open House is absolutely wonderful! I get to meet the sweet families that I will from that point forward forever call my own...I expand the number of children that I affectionately refer to as mine!

Here's the thing though, on the inside, I'm crawling with nerves, and feelings of awkwardness. For real, y'all.

Parents and their kids come to the door, we say hello, and then everyone awkwardly wonders what in the world is supposed to happen for the next few minutes. There's a billion things to make sure parents know about, forms to fill out, and on and on.

I needed something for parents to do, so that I wasn't trying to tell the same thing to 25 different families who all arrive at different times. #chaos

Several years ago, I decided to try something different. For purely selfish reasons, of course. I can't handle awkwardness.

So instead of having all the papers set up for each student on individual desks, I set up STATIONS. #cuethehallelujahchorus

Y'all, this is the single most brilliant thing I've ever done. Seriously.

So what are stations, you ask? What do the parents do? What do the KIDS do? What does the teacher do?

What are stations?
Stations are numbered areas throughout the room. Parents start by signing in, and then continue through the rest of the stations. Once they get to the last one, they know they've gotten and done everything they need to do, and are free to leave.

How do parents know what to do?
When parents first walk up to my classroom door, I introduce myself, we shake hands, and I do the same with their child/children. I greet every.single.person that comes in the family. Oh, and smile! After introductions, I give parents an "agenda" of sorts, and it pretty much does the rest. (You can find the checklist pictured below HERE.)

Why stations?
Prior to using stations, I felt like I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I felt like parents were waiting to talk with me, while I was talking with a different family. I felt like parents didn't know what they were supposed to do, and everything just felt so awkward.

Stations, on the other hand:

• Provide clear, concise directions
• Provide a space for parents to fill out papers (and turn them in!)
• Speed things along...parents spend less time wondering what to do, and get them in and out (this makes it sound like I don't want them to stick around, but the truth is that parents have just as much to try to get ready for the first day of school as I do. Plus, there's often families who have more than one classroom to visit - stations get parents in and out in about 15-20 minutes)
• Allow me to mingle with families and students, and most importantly, allow me to greet families at the door

What do I have at each station?

I typically use 10 stations. You could use more or less...that's the great thing about stations, you get to make them fit YOUR needs.

Station 1 - Welcome and Sign in

• This is the only station (unless someone looks lost) that I point parents to...I hand them their agenda, and tell them to start here.

Station 2 - Transportation

• This is pretty much the most important station I have. I need to know how my students are getting home each day, and especially on the first day of school.
• While I also asked parents to turn in the student info sheet before they leave, this is the ONE thing I've got to have turned in!Station 3 - Student Info

• Student info is pretty much the same no matter where you go. Does the office have this info? Yes. But I like to have it on my form, all in one "student info" binder that I keep in my classroom.
  

Station 4 - Volunteer/Room Parent

• Sometimes parents want to know when they can help, and I always direct them here. Some years I have lots of parent volunteers, some years I have zero.
  

Station 5 - Supplies

• This is my favorite station (like, duh)! If parents brought supplies with them, I have them sort (this is a great job for the kids) the supplies into the containers. 
• If parents didn't bring supplies, I have supply lists specific to my classroom ready for parents to grab.
• ***Tip: Put one of what you want in each container to everyone knows exactly what goes where***
  
  

Station 6 - Instagram/Text Notifications

• Last year, I did a class Instagram, and gave parents information with how to follow the class, as well as had them sign a permission slip.
• In years prior, I used text notifications through Remind (formerly Remind 101), but now there are a lot of different apps you can use, like Bloomz that The Elementary Darling wrote about. 

Station 7 - Getting to Know Your Child

• I like to have parents describe their child to me. It's let me get to know the child from their perspective.

Station 8 - Meet the Teacher

• Parents pick up a sheet that tells them, and their child all about me. This is one station that I always hear a lot of comments from. 
  

Station 9 - Wish List

• I included a half sheet with items that are wish list items. Parents take one if they want, and send in supplies if they want. No pressure with a wish list. 

Station 10 - Scrapbook Page

• The scrapbook page station is where my students get their very first assignment for the new school year! I ask students to create a scrapbook page that tells all about them! I usually have it due the end of the first week of school, and students present them to the class.
• The scrapbook page doubles as our first class book that lives in the classroom library!
• I provide the scrapbook paper and allow students to choose their favorite color.
• I also have examples from previous years that are always pretty popular!
  
  
  
  

What do students do?

I tend to switch this up each year. Some years I have some sort of "All About Me" page for students to complete. Sometimes, I ask students to sort their school supplies at station 5. Other times, I just let them go with their parents.

Tomorrow, Erin from The Elementary Darling will be sharing 10 ideas for STUDENT participation during open house, and I can't wait to read all about it! Read about it HERE.

Are others using stations?

In a word...YES!

A few years ago, I got smart, and made stations that I could use year after year instead of having to retype them from scratch each year. Here's what other teachers are saying about them:

Wanting to try Open House Stations this year? I'd love to hear from you!

If you're interested in what I've shared (which is editable) you can find them HERE!

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Organizing Student Supplies

Hey, Everyone! It's Deanna from A Primary Owl. Are you still in summer mode or busy getting ready to go back to school? Well, I only have one more week then we have preplanning! I am soooooo sad, summer goes by so fast! It was a great summer though.

So today I thought I would share one of my tips for organizing student supplies. I am lucky in that the parents of my students buy all their school supplies. (even more than we ask for!) So at "Meet the Teacher" they come in with a ton of supplies and I am in this huge predicament of where to put it all. My students cannot possibly store all their extra stuff in their desks....but I want to save their extra glue sticks, pencils etc. for them and not put them out as community supplies. I feel parents really appreciate the fact that the supplies they purchase are being used for their own child.

I purchased these plastic shoe boxes from the Dollar Store and put one on each student's desk at Meet the Teacher. Then any extra supplies that can't fit in their pencil boxes can be stored in there. I have a cabinet I keep all the shoe boxes in. As the year goes on, when a student needs pencils, crayons or glue sticks, I hand them out. It helps ration out things and usually we even end up having supplies last until the end of the year!! Occasionally I have friends who run out of glue sticks (of course...) but I always have someone willing to donate one from their box. This system has worked wonders for me!

And a bonus for you....you can get my chalkboard labels by clicking on the picture:

 

Back to School Deals at Five Below!

Do you guys have a Five Below in your area?

It is like Dollar General, but a bit nicer, I think. It has several items- TONS of stock in the store.  Everything is $5 or less...hence the Five Below name.

In my experience, some of the items are REALLY good deals, just okay deals, or not a good deal at all.  Just because it is $5 or under doesn't make it a steal.

It is like a Toys R Us for my five year old.  It is seriously her favorite store, which makes me laugh.  We had a garage sale a few weeks ago and she made $3.  It was burning a hole in her pocket, so I told her I would take her to Five Below to spend it. While I was there, I decided to take photos of items that would be perfect in the classroom and then compare prices on Amazon to see if it was a steal, deal, or a miss.

I thought these would be fantastic headphones for a computer or listening to reading center!  Five dollars is a pretty good deal because they look MUCH more sturdy that the Dollar Tree ones!

I actually bought these for my girls!  The quality is great and the puzzles have large pieces!  They are a GREAT deal for only $5!!!

These were beautiful cards!  They could be used in a writing centers because of the photos on the cards.

There were several different categories!  These would be great to hole punch and put on a ring for students to look at!

I love pens.  I horde them.  I need to control myself!  These Ink Joy mini pens were adorable.  

They would be perfect to attach to a lanyard with your badge so you always had a pen! Or attach one to a clipboard!

They would also make a cute (and cheap) gift for teammates.  Put a ribbon around  two or three with a cute phrase like, "Thanks for making our team colorful!" Sweet, thoughtful, and simple!

Mr Sketch is my favorite.  I have a hard time sharing them. Apparently I don't play well with others sometimes.  This was a pretty good deal.  It is hard to find the 8 count packs because most are 12 packs.  There IS a better deal on Amazon right now- a 12 pack for $5.99, but I am not sure how long the price will last.

These little resource books are adorable.  They have academic ones as well as mazes.  I picked up the maze book for my daughter for road trips.  They would be great for inside recess!

I found the same product, with different packing, for the same price.  I am labeling these as a miss, but I still went ahead and bought them because I needed some.  It saved me from using my credit card, so that was worth it to me! LOL!

I love flair pens and LOVED these colors, but the exact same pack was cheaper on Amazon.

This is debatable because I couldn't find the same product.  However, I did find a HUGE pack of round brushes, PERFECT for classroom use for under $12.  I think I would rather avoid the fights and have 30 of the same brushes! LOL!

I have no idea if there are steals, deals, or missed, because I couldn't find anything just like it on Amazon!!

I liked the storage baskets.  They seemed like good quality!! These were a nice size and I loved the colors!

Same as above.   Great colors, nice size!

This may be random.  Okay, it IS random. I thought this laundry basketball game would be so cute for review.  You could hang it on a door or cabinet.  Put students into two teams.  Ask students review questions.  If they got the question correct, they got a point and a chance to shoot a basket for an additional point.  Can't you see your kids loving that for only $5?!?!?

These were workbooks that would be great for summer review or even home school.  Two dollars seemed like a good deal.  This publisher wasn't really available on Amazon.

I actually ran into another teacher by these!  We were both drooling!  These are large dry erase dots.  She was a high school teacher and was going to put it outside her door for notes to students.  My first thought was to put a dot at each seat at your small group table.  Kids could write directly on the dry erase dot to show their thinking! So fun and bright!  I didn't really see anything comparable on Amazon, but $2 each seemed reasonable to me!

Did I get it all?  Did I miss anything?  Do you have any favorites at Five Below?

 If you would like more ideas from The Primary Peach, be sure to follow us on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook to catch all the freebies and ideas and more!

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