It's already February! It's Black History Month - a friend of mine has recommended some fabulous children's books and art activities to do so stay tuned! We will be talking about Groundhog Day and, of course Valentine's Day, coming up this month also.
January 31-February 4, 2022
With Groundhog Day just around the corner, we will be reading several books and discussing shadows. I have small flash lights for students to try shadow play and we also took an old overhead projector to use.
It's winter and we have sooooo much snow on the ground so how perfect is this provocation...
how tall can you stack the snowmen? We made these using cork!
In religion, we will be making a Trinity Snowman. We are going to learn how to properly make the Sign of the Cross and discuss who God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are.
You can find this activity (and lots more!) in my January Religion pack on TpT.
Usually, at the end of the day, we gather back on the carpet to play games.
Here are a few of the games we will be playing this week:
Our focus at our school is coding (the Teacher-Librarian also works with the students once a week on coding) so this game is perfect to practise!
Place the snowflake on START, follow the code to get a new letter and solve the mystery word!
Match the picture to the alphabet code on the bottom to spell out a winter word!
In math we will be focusing on Decomposing Numbers. I'll be doing a post just on this soon and I'll add the FREE weekly lesson plan so stay tuned!
This game is simple and fun - grab 5 or 10 rings (there are a bunch of heart rings out at the Dollar store now!). Place some on your fingers. How many rings are there? This is an easy way to show how we can decompose 5.
We made these number bracelets for students to slide the beads and show the number in different ways. There are various recording sheets to show their thinking.
Let's go bowling! Roll and record your findings.
These mats are a great introduction to number bonds which is a huge focus in grades 1-2.
I like to choose a number and use loose parts to show how it can be decomposed.
Dominoes are one of my favourite teaching tools in math! They are so versatile!
We will be choosing a domino, counting the dots on both sides and placing it accordingly on the mat.
I included extra large dominoes in this pack and project this on my interactive whiteboard to demonstrate during whole group learning time.
Decomposing Numbers in Kindergarten pack in TpT.
You can download my weekly plans for FREE by clicking the picture below.
February 7-11, 2022
This week we will be working on a few things to get ready for Valentine's Day - we are calling next week "Friendship Week!" and prepping for lots of fun!
My students love games so I spent some evenings this week getting new ones ready perfect for Valentine's Day!
This one is great to get the students up and moving..
- hand out 1 card per student
- start music or timer
- students exchange cards until the music stops
- project a slide on your interactive whiteboard
- ask, "Do you have...?" the matching card (this one is rhyming pictures)
So I made this game for winter and we have been playing it over the past few weeks (it's also great to play if you are virtual, the educator just wears the headband and students say clues) and it has been such a hit! I decided to make one for Valentine's Day also!
Clip a card to the headband, ask students to give you clues or have students wear the headband and have their peers give them clues!
Project one slide up on your interactive whiteboard. Read the clues and have students guess what it could be! Slide to reveal answer.
Since we are gearing up for Valentine's Day, here are a few play-based provocations and centres we will be setting up!
Make "arrows" for students to launch at numbered plates. There are so many ways to use this! Students can read the number, count out that many, show the number using tally marks, and for a challenge - keep track of points when playing with a friend!
You can find these activities (and so much more!) in my "Let's Play! Valentine's Day" pack.
In math, we will be reviewing patterning.
Students will be making friendship bracelets (choose a name in the jar and make that friend a bracelet!). We will be exchanging them on Valentine's Day.
I have a huge Patterning in Kindergarten pack on TpT if you are looking for more ideas!
Our new inquiry is on the solar system. There are a few students discussing the moon they see in the morning so we decided to see if there is more interest in learning about space! I'll post more pics here this week!
In religion we will be discussing Saint Valentine and learning why saints are so important.
Students will be thinking about how they act like saints!
You can download my weekly plans for FREE by clicking the picture below.
February 14-18, 2022
Happy Valentine's Day!
To celebrate, we are planning a fun-filled morning of activities both in the classroom and outside.
We are also going to enjoy a hot chocolate treat together before exchanging cards.
We made these beautiful hearts with shaving cream and food colouring.
We also set up our Tuff Tray with blocks of ice with loose parts inside. Students were eager to use eye droppers and coloured water to explore!
We have been working on writing letters to each other. Our focus is on the words "To" and "From".
This book is one of my favourites!
Looking for more ideas for writing? We follow my "I Can Write!" pack - you can find a year-long writing package perfect for Pre-K, K and grade 1.
You can download my weekly plans for FREE by clicking the picture below.
February 21-25, 2022
This coming week our school will be participating in Carnival activities! Students will be dressing up and making masks, dancing, watching movies and more!
We are also starting a new unit in math, Spatial Relationships, for the next 2 weeks (I think this one is my favourite!). I just made a new math pack full of lessons, games and hands-on activities.
We will be exploring tangrams to start the new unit. Can you put it back together? What other pictures can you build with the tangrams? Use the differentiated mats to build a picture!
After reading the story Grandpa's Quilt, we will be exploring puzzles!
Students will be bringing in the front of a cereal box to make their own puzzle to exchange and solve with a friend.
I love the story Block City because blocks are the best tool for exploring spatial relationships!
We will be playing a game together - Can You Make It?
When you think of spatial relationships, you also think of positional words. We will be introducing those important words (above, below, in between, beside, etc.) by playing a few games together.
You can find all of these activities (and SO MUCH MORE!) in my new Spatial Relationships in Kindergarten pack on TpT.
Our space inquiry is amazing! Students have shown a great deal of interest looking through books and writing down their wonders.
I'm excited to see where this takes up in the upcoming weeks!
We had so many cups left over from our hot chocolate day that we turned them into a provocation...how tall can you stack the cups?
In Religion, we will be learning Pope Francis's Five Finger Prayer.
We will also be focusing on praying for others.
This activity is from my February Religion pack on TpT.
You can download my weekly plans for FREE by clicking the picture below.
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