Back to School!

We are now back to school and enjoying our first 3-day weekend!  The start of school is always crazy, but so much fun!  This year I decided to change up my go-to Gingerbread Hunt around our school.  We still made it around to all of the special helpers at our school, but this time we were chasing Pete the Cat from Eric Litwin's book Pete the Cat:  Rocking in My School Shoes.  Since each page leads to the next with the question, "Where's Pete?" I made rhyming clues using the same format. The Kindergarteners LOVED it!  They were so excited and some of them are still looking for Pete!  Unfortunately, Pete had to run before we caught up with him in the office, but we enjoyed a Meow Mix of cereal and Goldfish crackers that he left for us.

So that we could remember and review our experience, I turned the clues into a book featuring photos of the teachers and helpers we met.  I also created a matching game matching the teachers and the class they teach.  One copy of the game went in my letters center and another in the Leader Bag to go home.  The Leader Bag also got copies of Pete the Cat - both Eric Litwin's version and our class version so that parents could put a face with the teachers' names and continue the conversation at home.

As much as I loved the Gingerbread Hunt of yesteryear,  I enjoyed Pete's hunt even more.  If you're looking for a first day update, I highly recommend using Pete!  I put my version up on Teacher Pay Teachers and Teachers Notebook if you'd like an already-ready version for only 4 bucks!

Happy Back-To-School!
Amanda