Saturday, October 13, 2012

Explorer of the Week

I've never had a star of the week or anything like that, but at my new school each class does it, so I had to figure out something to do.  :)

Since our room is a jungle theme, I came up with having an explorer of the week.  I'm LOVING this so far, and so are the kiddos!

Our explorer has a "job" for each day of the week.  I send home our giraffe bag (thanks to my friend Leigh Anne who gave me the bag!) on Friday and their activities begin the following week.  Here's our schedule:

Monday: Bring back Zeke the zebra with the Star Journal where they have recorded what they did with Zeke that weekend.  (This is probably my favorite part so far because the kids and parents are really getting into this.  Zeke has had his picture taken at a TCU football game, Dave and Busters, a wedding, and has even had his name spelled out with siblings and cousins!)

Tuesday: Bring in the All About Me sheet with photos.  (Most kiddos are bringing in posters)

Wednesday: There is an estimation jar (really more of a tube) that the students can fill with anything.  They record the actual number on a recoding sheet and on Wednesday the class makes estimations before finding out how many pieces are in the jar.  The explorer of the week is not allowed to use more than 100 things.  :)  So far we've had lego pieces (twice) and skittles.  It's awesome to see how the kids are already improving on their estimation skills!

Thursday: The explorer of the week's parents are encouraged to write a letter to the class telling them about their kiddo.  The parents are also encouraged to come eat lunch with their student.  This has been so heartwarming to me!  The letters are just precious and some of the parents have made the lunch a very special time - bringing balloons, favorite lunches, and special desserts.

Friday: The explorer of the week is allowed to bring two items from home for show and tell.  The kids LOVE this one.  :)