We are "pivoting" to remote learning here in most parts of Ontario, Canada.
As this was quite sudden (and truthfully we don't know how long this will be for), I wanted to put something simple together for teachers to use.
We are not starting anything new in our remote class. We do have a couple of inquiries going on - leaves and human body - which our students have been very interested in! So I have planned a few read alouds and simple activities for the week with the intention that when we return to the classroom we can pick up from where we left off. We will be reviewing number sense in math (through games that can easily be played with little to no materials at home). We will be continuing with our Writer's Workshop lesson on labelling our work with beginning sounds. It's also Remembrance Day next Friday - we started talking about it in class so I have planned a simple activity to do remotely.
One of my "go-to" things for remote learning is a choice board. You can click HERE to see more.
I have these ready to go on Google Slides if you are looking for something to post (and they are editable!). These are perfect to assign for asynchronous learning time.
Here are my plans for this week (Monday is definitely remote learning and I planned the rest of the week to stay organized should this go longer).
I wanted to share this poster I made last year when we were remote for weeks on end. It is editable. Happy to share if you need!
I hope this helps! I didn't want to spend too much time on this over the weekend (especially on this beautiful day!).
Keep it simple. Don't stress (that's hard to do, believe me!). Breathe.
Although school just started for us here in Ontario (Canada) last week, our minds are already thinking about Open House/Curriculum Night (some of you may call it Meet the Teacher night).
Ours will be in a week and a half but preparations are underway.
We have 2 sessions that last about 30 minutes each. Families visit the classroom and we start with a presentation on our Bright Links board that usually lasts 15 minutes. We go over the FDK program, what a day/week looks like in our class, routines, school policies (uniform/food, etc.) and more!
You can click the picture below if you'd like to see more of our presentation!
The last 15 minutes we dedicate to touring the room.
This year I wanted to provide a simple activity for families to complete (sometimes students come with their parents and instead of playing at all of the centres, they can do this together!). It's a simple scavenger hunt to visit areas around the room. We will encourage children to talk to their parents about each spot on the list and what they do there.
Click the picture below to download your own FREE copy of the scavenger hunt. I've included a blank copy as well if you'd like to highlight some centres in your room.
More pictures of table top activities coming soon! Check back later!
It's just about that time of year again...school starts next week!
Not sure where summer went - is it just me or did it FLY by?!?! LOL
I've been in a couple of times this week to set up my classroom.
Here's a tour!
We set up our 1st day crowns activity for students to make and wear home.
Our iPads/computers will be on this table.
This is our MakerSpace area which is right beside the Writing Centre. I will be covering it with a table cloth for the first few weeks as it won't be open just yet.
Here's another pic of our Math Centre. Just waiting to hear back if we are allowed carpets (I have a beautiful Learning Carpet that belongs here).
This will be our Playdough Centre. We also switch things up and leave out loose parts.
I hooked a small pocket chart behind the math shelf. My students really enjoyed playing these games with one another.
You may also be interested in other pocket chart activities from my Pocket Chart BUNDLE.
This is our Science and Discovery Centre. I just left some shells from the beach with magnifying glasses and paper. I forgot to add a book about shells here but will place next week.
This is our Small World Play area. It's by far my favourite!
The tree house is from Wintergreen Learning Materials, the tree stump is from Scholastic and the wooden pieces are from Rebecca Moore from Moore to Love in Kindergarten.
This is our Writing Centre area.
I've had these STOP and GO signs for years! A friend of mine asked me to make them for her so I thought I would share below if you'd like to try these out on your washroom door.
I've received so many messages asking if I will be posting my weekly plans again this year. While I can't promise anything just yet (I have a large class and don't know what lies ahead!) I did make one for the first week of school. I keep things pretty simple as I spend a lot of time explaining centres around the room, engaging with the students and getting to know them.
September 5-9, 2022
You can download my weekly plans for FREE by clicking the picture below.
It's the last month of the school year. It's also THE cRaZieST time of year, as there are so many things to do and students sense summer is coming and would much rather be outside playing all day (wouldn't we all?!?!)
May 30-June 3, 2022
This week is a shorter week, as we have a PA Day on Thursday (there is an election here in Ontario on that day and most schools will be used as polling stations).
We have a busy week planned though!
In our Writer's Workshop lesson this week, we are playing "The Mystery Bag".
I put something in the bag (such as a maraca) and give 3 clues as to what it can be. Sometimes the students don't know what it is but this lesson is a great way to expand their vocabulary!
It's, by far, one of our favourite lessons because after I show the students how to play, I have them each take turns and bring something in for the next few weeks to quiz their peers.
This lesson is a great way to introduce new vocabulary as well as focus on question words (W5H - who, what, where, when, why, how).
In math we will be learning about time. It's a 2-week unit that covers so much and is age appropriate. The first week we really focus on what time is, we take a look at our day and discuss morning/evening, and play games to learn how long a minute is (we are often saying to the students, "In one minute we will be...." and they might not understand how long that truly is).
In religion we will be focusing on our virtue for the month of June - INTEGRITY!
That's always a hard one - so we start by listening to a story I wrote about what integrity is.
I'll also be playing a game about being honest. We have stressed the importance of honesty all year round. Even if you do something that isn't right (hurt someone, break something, act silly, etc.) it's important to tell the truth. That's also hard for young children! This game helps them understand a little better.
On another note...we have butterflies! For the past month, at our Science and Discovery Centre, the students have had an interest in insects. We ordered caterpillars a few weeks back and they 2 of them have finally turned into butterflies!
(For those of you wondering, we made the mesh butterfly house from 2 outdoor food covers that are from Dollarama - I just clipped them together so we can easily open them).
Here are a few provocations we set out for this week:
Create a spring picture using loose parts!
How high can you stack? Use a variety of lids and popsicle sticks.
You can download my weekly plans for FREE by clicking the picture below.
June 6-10, 2022
With the end of the school year getting closer and closer, we have been spending more time outside as well as practising for our year end celebration.
It is Pentecost this weekend!
Pentecost is like the church's birthday (it's a big day!) and we celebrate the Holy Spirit descending upon the Apostles. It falls 50 days after Easter.
We will be making these crowns to celebrate and watching a video explaining what it's all about.
We will shift our focus to blends this month - starting with learning about the -cl blend.
I use these Google Slides activities on my screen for my lesson as well as these pocket chart cards for students to practise writing words and sorting them.
In Writer's Workshop we will be talking about text-to-text connections.
One of my favourite books to read is Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day.
We are continuing to learn about telling time.
I bring out this large clock I made to help students understand how a clock works.
I made it long ago using a shower curtain and it's still holding up quite well!
I wrote a book several years back called What Time Is It, Mr. Wolf?
You can follow along here:
Students will be using cards to match the time from the story!
We will also use the famous nursery rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock to show different times on the clock.
We play a lot of hands-on games to understand time. This is a Bingo game I will be setting up at a table-top for students to play together.
I love this game too! Roll the large die, read the tie and find it on the game board. Move your piece to that spot. First one to the end wins!
My favourite lesson to teach during this unit is having students match clocks!
They each get to wear a watch - some have digital and others have analog - and they must find their partner!
Place all the cards in a basket or tin (I used a large pail to get that summer feel!).
Have a student come up and choose a card. Read the word and keep the card!
But...if you choose "FREEZE", you place all of your cards back.
The students love it when we play as a whole class and we form 2 teams (girls/boys, Year 1/Year 2).
After I show them how to play, I like to leave this out for them to play on their own during Thinking and Learning Time.
You can download my weekly plans for FREE by clicking the picture below.
June 13-17, 2022
We have our Growing Celebration coming up this week! It's a small concert that our FDK students put on for the parents. We celebrate all the wonderful learning that took place this year, with a special focus on our Year 2 students who will be moving on to Grade 1. I'll share some pictures on Wednesday on my Instagram and Facebook account!
What's happening this week?
Our students have really been loving the BeeBot! If you don't have one of these coding robots I strongly suggest you ask to purchase it! They are super easy to program and we leave them out at the "imaginary carpet" with blocks for students to explore.
At our Science and Discovery Centre we set out an ocean scene for students to explore.
One of our STREAM challenges this week is to build a structure using loose parts.
I found these beautiful pictures on Pixabay (with permission) and printed them. Students choose a picture and use loose parts to create a structure on it.
Click below to download these landscape photos for FREE!
In math we will be starting our unit on probability.
We start by having rich discussion about which colour I will most likely get from this bowl and why they think that way.
We play lots of games throughout the week including flip a coin!
We introduce the words possible, impossible and certain.
I wrote a story to help students understand these concepts.
There is also a booklet for them to complete to show their understanding.
You can find all of these activities, including complete 1-week lesson plans, in my
You can download my weekly plans for FREE by clicking the picture below.
June 20-24, 2022
It's our last full week of school and that means we are starting to wind down. It's such a bitter-sweet time of year!
Our last unit in math is all about symmetry! I just created this huge pack full of hands-on activities and lessons.
We are going to be exploring symmetry using pattern blocks, loose parts and square tiles. There are a whole bunch of games I've included - you can set these up as provocations or pair children to play against one another!
I'll be bringing in various cookbooks to show the students. And, of course, we will be writing our own recipe for lemonade...which means we will be making it together!
