January 2022

I hope that everyone had a very happy new year!
Although school started last week (online), I was off because we had a family emergency.  I'm back this week and have my weekly plans prepped and ready to go!  Remote learning isn't easy but we are all trying to make it the best possible experience for our students!

January 10-14, 2022
Our schedule changed slightly due to the switch to remote.  We will still be focusing on literacy in the morning and math in the afternoon.
This week we will be diving into a winter inquiry focusing on snow and ice.  The weather here is cold!  More snow is on the way so why not get outside and explore what snow and ice are all about!

In religion we are going to watch this short video about how snowflakes are formed (it's amazing!) and then make our own cutting a square piece of paper.

There's a beautiful poem we will learn all about how God created each of us unique, just like snowflakes!
You can find this activity (and lots more!) in my January Religion pack on TpT.

We will also be reading The Snowy Day and discussing why the snowball melted in Peter's pocket.  There's a fabulous book I have called All About Matter.  We will be talking more about solids, liquids and gases and trying a few experiments with things we have at home.

We play a LOT of games online - it helps give students a break and they love it!
Some of my favourites we are going to play this week include...

Alphabet Scavenger Hunt
We learn a new letter each week and this game is great!  Students can find something around their house that begins with different letters!

Guess What? Winter
Who doesn't love a guessing game?  Listen to the clues and try and guess what the item hiding is!

I Spy...Colors
This game is a typical "I Spy" game but using colors!  How many items can you spot in that color?

I made this fun game to play with the students also...it's similar to the game Headbands - where you hold up a picture without looking and have others give you clues for you to guess what it is.

In math we are learning about graphing.  I love this unit and it can easily be modified for home!
Here are a few things we will be doing...

graphing a collection -> grab 2 different loose parts (i.e. buttons, pasta, shells, Lego - whatever you have at home!) and compare
You can even try using 3 different items!
creating surveys -> I'll be surveying students first to model how to complete a graph and then they will try at home
brainstorming questions -> what questions can we ask our family and friends?
You can find all of these activities and more in my Graphing in Kindergarten pack on TpT.

If you are looking for DIGITAL (Google Slides) activities to assign your students, you might want to check out this pack -> Graphing - An Interactive Math Mini Unit!
This pack has mini-lessons ready for you to teach online and assign!
 
You can download my weekly plans for FREE by clicking the picture below.

January 17-21, 2022
We are heading back into the classroom this week so lots of fun things planned around winter and snow!

When we were on remote learning last week we had great discussion around snow and ice and how snowflakes were made.  I wanted to continue that this week so I chose a few books to help us find out more.


Even our games are all about snow and winter!
These Find It! games are always a hit! We use our pocket chart to place the cards in and hide one snowman card behind.  I've included numbers and sight words but this pack is editable so you can change the cards to whatever you'd like!

Here's another fun game you can easily project on your whiteboard - secret words. Students have to use the Alphabet Code to crack the secret winter word!

I just made this game, Blizzard, yesterday actually because my students often visit the "imaginary carpet" and play teacher (so sweet!). This sight word game is a class fav!  I change it up every season so I had to make one for winter.
It's actually a great way to practise sight words and, best part is, this makes for a wonderful comment for the Communication of Learning (report cards in FDK).
Place all of the cards in a basket/box/tin (I got this cute snowman tin at Dollarama).  Students choose a card, read the word on the snowman, and keep it! BUT....if you get the BLIZZARD card you have to put all of the cards back!


A new game we have been playing recently is all about using a Cartesian Plane.  Kids love it!
Choose a letter and a number. Move your fingers together to find the coordinate and move the box out o the way.  Is the picture hiding underneath? Can you find all of the hidden pictures?

In math our focus is going to be on Composing Numbers this week.
We will be learning to use the words "and" and "make".

We will also be making our own booklets to show our thinking.
These mats and cards are great practise for students to try using loose parts. I'll be adding them to my Math Centre.
This game is always a hit!
Shake and spill double sided counters and record your answers.  Were any the same? How many different ways can you show the number 5? 
Grab a card, read it, build it!
To end the week we will be playing "What's in my hand?"
Count out that many counters. Hide some in your hand and show your other hand. How many are hiding?

You can find all of these activities (and SO MUCH MORE!) in my Composing Numbers in Kindergarten pack on TpT.

You can download my weekly plans for FREE by clicking the picture below.

January 24-28, 2022
This week our focus is on fair share (a basic introduction to fractions) in math. We don't teach fractions in kindergarten but before the winter break we have noticed, specifically at the Dramatic Centre, that students have been talking about sharing food equally so we thought it would be a great idea to introduce this concept formally.
We are going to start by having two students come up, choose a number and try to share the cookies equally.  Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't! Why? Any ideas on how to share equally?
We will also be introducing the word "equal".

I've included a variety of mats for students to explore sharing amounts in different ways.
We are going to learn the word "half" and use a Popsicle stick to show us what half looks like.
I included a few lessons on fractions (more for my grade 1 colleagues) for those students who would like a challenge in the class.  The students can build a pizza with different amounts, by looking at the fraction.
You can find these activities (and so much MORE!) in my new Fair Share (An Introduction to Fractions) in Kindergarten math unit in my TpT store.



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