Are you looking for a way to help your students recognize their names in print and write for a purpose? Look no further because sign in sheets are just the thing you need!
Your kids will love signing in as part of their morning routine in your classroom! Keep reading to grab your editable sign in template freebie below!
Preschool Sign In Template
In the beginning of the year, adding your student’s pictures to your sign in sheets really helps them understand that print has meaning. The pictures also help them grasp the concept that the little squiggly lines next to their picture represent the letters in their names. This is a huge part of the emergent literacy process!
When using blank lines during sign-in, I invite students to use their name cards from the writing center.
The editable PowerPoint template allows you to quickly and easily pop your student’s pictures in and get started establishing a rock-solid morning routine!
Another great feature of this freebie is that you can add your own text in PowerPoint to meet the individual needs of your students.
In the beginning of the year, if you would prefer to focus on just the first letter of each child’s name, you can do that too!
Why Use Sign In Sheets?
Signing in is something young children see their parents do often in public places like the doctor’s office and some preschool programs. Children love to imitate what they see the adults in their lives do.
When you offer young children the opportunity to sign in daily in your classroom, you’re sending the message that writing is important. Writing is something you value as well as something you believe they can do themselves. And when they make marks on paper, whether it’s random squiggles, letter-like forms, or clearly recognizable names, they’re beginning to understand that those marks hold meaning. This is the very beginning of the writing process.
You can start by using a solid gray font, then move to a bubble font, a dotted font, and eventually to blank lines. Just change out the fonts as your kids start to develop their fine motor skills. This is perfect for differentiation, you can use the lines that your students are ready for.
Here’s the progression in case you need it:
1 Light Gray Solid Font
2 Open Bubble Font
3 Dotted Font
4 Blank Lines (with name model)
You may have some kids that don’t need to go through all three fonts before moving on to blank lines, and that’s totally fine. The most important thing is to follow their lead and differentiate to meet their individual needs.
Oh, and if your program encourages the use of all capital letters, then you can totally do that too! You’re the boss of this sign-in sheet!
Another thing you can do is to comment occasionally on what you notice as your students sign in. For example, “You made an E, just like the E in Ethan!” or “I noticed that Ashley and Andrew both start with the same letter, A!”
Center Waiting Lists
Do you have kids who fight over certain centers or toys? Just delete the pictures from your template and add numbers, then put one of the sheets on a clipboard with a pencil. Now you have even more authentic writing opportunities in your classroom- you’re welcome!
Invite your kids to “sign-up” for a turn with a toy or in a center by writing their name on the sheet.
You can hang the clipboards on a sticky hook in the center for easy access, and they can also serve as a visual reminder of who’s next.
Having a template like this is great, but what if it could be even easier? That’s where my Daily Sign In Sheet packet comes in. This packet includes so many cool features to make your teacher life easier. It will save you oodles of time – it’s like a teacher dream come true!
In this super time-saver sign in packet all fonts are embedded for you.
Just type in your class list ONCE and your student’s names will automatically fill in on all of the other pages throughout the document –just print and go!
One click of a button adds seasonal borders to your sign-in sheets, there are 14 different border styles to choose from!
Add the date once on the main page and it will instantly appear on all pages within the document with one click of a button! Keeping track of student progress has never been so easy.
There’s even a version that is individual to each child and includes days of the week with picture cues. Get the Daily Sign In Packet HERE
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