Throwback Thursday with a FREEBIE!

Throwback Thursday Linky

   I am linking up with Cara Carroll at The First Grade Parade for her Throwback Thursday Linky.  The idea is to reflect back upon a pervious post.  This really made me go back and start looking at my old posts.  I have been blogging since 2011, but really didn't get fully into the groove until last fall.  See, even though I had a blog, I was mostly just blog stalking all the other amazing bloggers instead of actually writing my own posts!  

    Since so many of us are already thinking about how to do things next year, I figured I would share a little something that could be a beginning of the year activity for you!  

---------------------------------------------------------------

Originally posted on July 27, 2011

Click HERE to go to the actual post.  This was one of my first posts as a blogger!!  

    The school year is about to begin and while we anticipate the new crew of kiddos I wanted to share a little something that I do at the beginning of the year.    Kindergarten to First Grade is a huge transition for parents and kids.  The beginning of the year is difficult even for me!  A First Grader in August is VERY different than a First Grader in June!
    For many of our students the transition is overwhelming as expectations begin to increase.  The last thing we want to do is scare the students away from their love of learning.  A teddy bear can make most 6 year-olds comfy at home, so we use one at school too!
     Each year I buy a class Teddy bear.  AC Moore usually has them pretty cheap.  I tie a cute ribbon around his neck to dress him up a bit.  This year I added this cute flower...maybe our teddy is a she this year!  Each night a different child takes home Teddy and spends the evening playing with him.  The student writes 1-3 sentences about what he/she does with Teddy and then draws and colors a picture in the journal.  The next day the student bring Teddy and his journal back to share with the class.  The kids love taking Teddy home and we love hearing about Teddy's adventures!
     At the end of the year I pull a name of a student to take home Teddy to keep forever!  This years winner looked like he won the lottery!  We also share the stories that they wrote in the beginning of the year.  This is a highlight of the year for me.  The students can't believe that the page he/she wrote actually belonged to them!   This is a nice way to see how far they have grown by the spring!
   I hope your new "BIG" first graders get a chance to cuddle up with your new class Teddy!

          Click on Teddy's picture to download the letter I use inside his journal.     

---------------------------------------------------------------

      So...the picture above links to an old google doc of the letter I used to use.   Feel free to click on that one.  Or, you can click HERE and head over to my TpT store to download a free copy of a newer version!  The new version is a little cuter!  If you download it, I would love for you to leave some feedback.  Thanks! :)

Thanks for going back a few years with me!  Enjoy the freebie!  I hope you can use it in some way.

-Michelle