Weekly Plans - Week 20 (Jan. 29-Feb. 2) | Mrs. Albanese's Kindergarten Class

When we started to plan for this week, Mrs. Petrone (the DECE who works with me) and I couldn't believe that it's already Groundhog Day this coming Friday! Not to mention Lunar New Year, Valentine's Day, Carnival/Carnevale and Shrove Tuesday are all coming up within the next couple of weeks! Oh my, is it ever a busy time of year!

Our poem this week focuses on Groundhog Day.

We will also be reading a few different books/watching videos about Wiarton Willie and making this fun craft.

You can read all about how to make this and download it for FREE by clicking on my blog post HERE.

Here's a look at our centres this week:

We set out a variety of materials for students to create their own math game or explore numbers.

This is a perfect activity to complement our focus in math, composing and decomposing numbers.

Can you make a heart using loose parts?

We will be filling our Tuff Tray with ice in varying sizes and inviting students to paint it!

Roll the die. Count and circle that many!

Since our Arctic Inquiry is still going very strong, and students are continuing to research various animals, we decided to set up an Arctic small world play!

Our Dramatic Play Centre is a Breakfast Café!

This is one of my favourite dramatic centres to set out. It goes well with Shrove/Pancake Tuesday right around the corner!

You can find this by clicking the picture below.

Can you create a snowflake (or any picture!) using the pattern blocks at the Light Table?

I set up this vocabulary chart of Polar Animals for students to refer to as they write.

This is from my Writing Center Vocabulary Posters pack.

At our sensory bin, we added pipe pieces for students to connect and use the wood pellets to pour.

I just made this fun pocket chart activity, perfect for Groundhog Day!

Students can match the uppercase and lowercase letters (groundhog to its shadow).

Find this by clicking below.

In our fine motor small group we will be focusing on poking. Students will use these large pushpins (I found these at Staples) to poke a heart. The round cork trivets are from Dollarama.

At our Game Centre we set out a smaller, table-top version of Race to the Top.

We played this earlier this month as part of our Graphing unit and the students loved it!

You can find this in my Graphing in Kindergarten pack:

Our focus in math has now shifted to Decomposing Numbers.

Here are a few activities we will be working on this week:

I love using dominoes to explain these math concepts in a more hands-on way.

I photocopied a variety of dominoes and cut them for students to place them on their mat.

Look at all the ways we can make a number!

Grab a bunch of manipulatives (I use Unifix cubes) - usually I have students count 5.

Drop them into a tray and see which side they land on! Record your findings.

Number bonds are introduced formally in grade 1 but I since it ties in so well with our unit, I made this simple coat hanger prop to demonstrate the concept! Write a number on top and clip that many clothespins to the hanger. Move them to either side to show how that number can be decomposed!

Here are a few other ways to show the same thing!

You can find these activities, as well as a complete week of lesson plans, in my

Decomposing Numbers in Kindergarten pack.

In religion, we are going to be focusing on friendship for the next couple of weeks, before Lent begins.

Since it was recently "Bell Let's Talk Day" we will be continuing our conversations about positive affirmations and recording ways we are a good friend! We are going to also discuss ways we can make new friends!

You can find all of my lessons and activities here:

During our Writer's Workshop lesson, we will be learning how to make different cards!

This is one of my favourite lessons (and it's also the most popular with the students!). Many students already enjoy making their own cards but this week we will discuss when we give cards to others and offer a variety of materials to make our own.