The countdown to Christmas has officially begun...there are only 5 more school days left! And what a week, I should mention! We have our Christmas concert both Wednesday and Thursday (not to mention rehearsals) as well as a farewell assembly for our school secretary who is retiring on Friday afternoon!
So we are trying our best to keep things simple for a smooth week!
Here's what we planned at our centres for this week:
The students have been busy making their own decorations over the past few weeks. The DECE I work with, Mrs. Petrone, thought they might enjoy working collaboratively and build a paper chain!
Let's see how long we can make it!
These Christmas pattern block templates are a free download from PreKinders!
Can you decorate a gingerbread person using loose parts?
Can you retell the story of the 1st Christmas? This Little People Nativity Set was gifted to me over 10 years ago from a student and I still use it every year!
At our Games Centre, I found this large felt Santa tic-tac-toe game (from Dollarama!).
It's the last week before Christmas...let's make it fun!
Last week we invited students to predict what would happen when our candy cane was placed in different liquids. They loved it! So we thought of extending this experiment by adding different powder substances (sugar, salt, paprika, cinnamon, etc.).
In our fine motor small group mini lesson, students will string beads onto pipe cleaners shaped like candy canes or snowflakes. I'm sure everyone will want to do this activity!
We also work with students to practice drawing skills each week. I created this poster years back and will use it to guide students and show them how to draw with simple shapes.
Did you catch that I mentioned it's the LAST WEEK of school before the Christmas break?!?! It's going to be super hectic so we are keeping things fairly simple all around. We will be playing CRASH! with our Sight Words/Word Work group - pick a card, read it then keep it. If you get CRASH you have to put all of your cards back!
We added our Domino Parking Lot game to our Math Centre.
Students can play "Fivezies" (which is exactly like Tenzies but using only 5 dice as they tend to get lost around the room LOL).
I'll also be introducing them to this fun game called "Don't Get the Red Dot!"
All of our math games are from my Number Sense in Kindergarten pack if you'd like to see more.
I use these games year round! Once we introduce them to our students, we leave them at the Math Centre for students to play alone or with a friend!
I love that my SK (Year 2) students often grab a math game and set it up, playing teacher, and showing the JK (Year 1) students how to play. This also makes for a great report card (Communication of Learning) comment!
We added this large Grinch puzzle to our blocks area (on the carpet).
Students can roll the colour die and dot die and dab that many lights onto this mural.
If you're looking for quick and easy Christmas games to play to get you through the week, you might like to check these out!
Have a student put on the headband and clip a card to it. Other students give clues as to what the picture may be.
Reach in and pick a cookie. Read the sight word and keep the card. If you get CRUNCH you have to put all of your cards back. I store this game in a cute Christmas tin which makes it that much more fun to play!
Project one slide at a time on your Interactive Whiteboard and read the clues. Students must guess what is hiding under the sign. Move the sign to reveal!
Project one slide at a time on your Interactive Whiteboard. Ask students to choose a co-ordinate (C5 for example). Slide the coloured tile over and reveal what is hiding underneath. Can you uncover all of the Christmas pictures? Once you start playing this game it becomes so addictive - students will want to find all of the pictures!!!
And finally if you're looking for a super simple, it runs itself lesson that can be used over and over this week, check out my Virtual Field Trip to the North Pole!
At our Writing Centre, we have been noticing that students were folding paper and making Christmas cards for their friends. We wanted to encourage more to join so we set up a simple invitation with blank cards that simply say "Merry Christmas". Students can design the front with a picture using the Vocabulary Chart and write "To" and "From" on the inside.
You can download this card (I made a variety if you don't celebrate Christmas!) for FREE!
Here are my weekly plans if you'd like to download!
If you would like the editable version to modify this for your own class click HERE.
The original blank PowerPoint file has been uploaded onto Google Slides but the formatting has changed.
Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday! Happy new year!
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