Weekly Plans - Week 14 (Dec. 4-8)

I can't wait for Friday of this week to get here because we planned an entire morning dedicated to making Christmas crafts! We have parents joining us too! Our students will be making 5 Christmas crafts (rotating at each of the 5 table top centres) and our last centre will be snack - complete with a Christmas cookie, chocolate milk and a special story!

In our classroom this week, you can definitely feel the Christmas magic!

Last week we overheard a lot of our students discuss the Christmas scents we had left out. Some liked the smells, others did not. Many students were talking about their own (real) Christmas trees at home and how they had a distinct smell! So my DECE brought in some real Christmas greenery to add to the Science and Discovery Centre to explore using our senses.

Here's what we planned at our centres for this week:

Can you decorate the Christmas tree using loose parts?

Draw and paint a poinsettia!

Use the geoboards to create a picture!

Can you build a trap for the elf?

At our Writing Centre, we added these letters to Santa templates.

You can download these Santa letters for FREE from a previous blog post by clicking here:

We also added a vocabulary poster with Christmas words!

You can find that in my Writing Center Posters pack in my TpT store:

You could hear squeals of excitement when the children saw us setting up this Holiday Cookie Shop at our Dramatic Centre!

Did you know that the first Sunday of Advent is on Sun. Dec. 3?

Over the years we have posted a large Advent calendar in our classroom!

You can find this (as well as individual student ones and LOTS more ideas!) in my December Religion pack in my TpT store:

In our small group mini lessons, we will be focusing on:

Fine Motor -> Lacing the felt Christmas trees (these were donated by a parent)!

Sight Words/Word Work -> Roll and Read game I made (roll the die, read one word in that column). These are all letters/sounds we have been introduced to so far.

In our math groups, we will be playing "What's in My Bag?"

Also, we will be using these Shape Task Cards to explore using pattern blocks to make other shapes!

If you're looking for lessons, hands-on activities and follow up ideas, check out my 2D Shapes in Kindergarten Pack in my TpT store.

All of our math lessons and small group activities this week (and last week too!) are from here!

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.

Enjoy the week!

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Weekly Plans - Week 13 (Nov. 27-Dec. 1)

Can you believe it's already December 1st at the end of this coming week?

The Christmas buzz is certainly in the air in our classroom!

We thought about adding a lot of provocations and invitations focusing on Christmas!

Here's what we planned at our centres for this week:

A simple alphabet puzzle set out for children to explore.

Can you create a pattern?

Create a 2D shapes picture!

Choose a sight word card. Trace it in the sand tray.

Our math lessons this week focus on 2D shapes.

With our Math: Problem Solving small group we will be using materials to make shapes (focusing on sides and corners).

Our Math: Intervention group will be working on identifying shapes by playing this Roll and Cover 2D shapes game. Roll the shape die and cover the shape on your game board.

One of my math lessons this week was to go on a shape hunt around our classroom! We used these shape pointers to search the classroom for 2D shapes!

Can you make a square turn into a triangle? We explored how shapes have other hidden shapes inside of them!

Is it a triangle? Let's count the sides and sort the shapes!

If you're looking for lessons, hands-on activities and follow up ideas, check out my 2D Shapes in Kindergarten Pack in my TpT store.

All of our math lessons and small group activities this week (and next) will come from here!

In our journal this week, we will be using our knowledge of shapes to draw things we see at Christmas time! We brainstormed together as a class first.

At the play dough centre, we added Christmas cookie cutters.

In our Fine Motor small group mini lesson, we will be using these large push pins (from Staples) along with these tree pictures on cork boards to push through! Great activity that focuses on students using those small muscles in their fingers and hands to strengthen them.

You can find more pictures to use for poking in my Fine Motor Skills - Poke It! pack.

This is one of my favourite invitations to set out at the Science and Discovery Centre each year. Each small jar has different spices in it (cinnamon, cloves, etc.). We have students smell and discuss if they recognize them or like them.

We will be adding a recording sheet the following week to this.

To see how we have done this in the past (and get your own FREE recording sheet!) click HERE.

In our sensory bin, we added green and red pasta and filled it with Christmas trinkets. We left the various measuring spoons/cups on the shelf for students to explore.

Our Christmas present for our families is nearly done (I'll share more about that soon!) but this coming week we will be making our own wrapping paper!

I like to use large foam stencils (I've had these for years but they still sell them at Michaels and sometimes you can even find them at Dollarama!). We will be stamping these large papers as our wrapping paper!

Since our lesson last week was on labelling stickers, I added a bunch of small picture cut outs as the labelling recording sheet to the Writing Centre.

You can find this activity in my I Can Write #1 pack in my TpT store.

At our light table we set out the very fun "Roll-a-Santa" game!

You can find this game, and a bunch that are very similar, in my Fun With Dice pack in my TpT store.

We will be learning all about Advent because on Sunday, December 3, it is the first day of Advent! During out religion block this week, our students will be making these individual Advent wreaths to take home and colour the flame of one candle each week until Christmas comes!

You can find lots of activities for Advent, Christmas and so much more in my December Religion pack in my TpT store.

I made this Christmas Memory Game for our Games Centre.

You can download your copy for FREE by clicking the picture below.

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.

Enjoy the week!

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November 2021

I can't believe that November is just about here!  We focus a lot on seasonal changes, peace and kindness throughout the month.  Take a closer look at my weekly plans!

Nov. 1-5, 2021

We will be starting the new month learning about the virtue of justice.  This is always a hard one so we've prepared a couple of great books and a fun game where students can act out different scenarios.

All of the activities we will be using for religion this month (including the one above) are from my November Religion pack.

My students LOVE games so I actually tweaked my weekly schedule to include a block nearly every day (at the end of the day) to play some whole group games.  We did this last year and they also enjoyed it!

Our focus is on learning simple sight words.  We learn a handful each month through our weekly poems, literacy games and more. 

I just made this game, Find Those Acorns!  Cut out sight word acorns and place in basket.  Students reach in and choose acorn.  Read the sight word and keep the card.  But....if you get a squirrel, place all of your cards back!

This week, during Writer's Workshop, we will be doing one of my favourite lessons - labelling!

I hand students a variety of stickers (which is always a hit) and they can label any pictures they like.  Most are able to write the beginning sound they hear and some Year 2 students can try and write the whole word!

You can find this lesson (and so much more!) in my "I Can Write #1" pack.

In math we are continuing to learn about patterning.

You can read all about how I teach patterning HERE.

This week we will be learning more about what a pattern core is by exploring AB, ABC, AAB, ABB and more complex patterns.  Students will be identifying, extending and creating their own patterns.

I set up a variety of provocations for students to try on their own.

This will be set up at our light table using loose parts.

Our culminating task will be to create a variety of patterns on our own using bingo dabbers.

We used these Google Slides interactive patterning templates to review patterns this week!  I put them up on our interactive whiteboard and had the students come up and make a whole bunch of them!

They were such a hit!

You can download these straight to your Google Drive for FREE by clicking the picture below.

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

Nov. 8-12, 2021

This week we will be focusing on Remembrance Day (which falls on November 11).  Students will learn about the significance of the poppy and how to be peacemakers.

Here's our fun poem for this week!  This is a pocket chart activity you can set up where you have your students re-build the poem, word by word.

A few years ago we had "Peace Week" in our class.  We read the book Peace Week in Miss Fox's Class.  Each time we showed an act of kindness, we wrote/drew it on a strip of paper to create a chain.  It was amazing how long our chain was at the end of the week!

You can read more about it HERE.

We will be making these Peace Doves!

You can find this activity in my November Religion pack.

We also created some beautiful pieces of art!

Click HERE to see other ideas we did for Remembrance Day!

This is always a hit - Write the Room Remembrance Day! 

In our weekly Writer's Workshop lesson, we are learning to label our picture using beginning sounds and more!  I put this picture on our interactive whiteboard to model for the students before they tried it on their own:

You can find this in my I Can Write #1 pack in my TpT store.

Here's a fun and easy provocation we set up this week:

How many black beads can you pick up using the tweezers in one minute?

(One student even set up a chart to record answers!)

We will also be learning about seasonal changes.  Students have been enjoying time outside and have been noticing the leaves changing colours and falling down, the weather becoming much colder, and days getting longer.  I put together some fun, FREE activities you can download if you're interested!

We will be sorting trees, clothing and things that happen in each season.

There are wonderful books all about seasons available as a free download on Hoopla Digital.  

You need to sign up with your library card to access these amazing books.

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

Nov. 15-19, 2021

This is a short week for me as we have parent-teacher interviews coming up Thursday evening and Friday morning.  We are also switching up our math units - for the next 2 weeks we will be teaching 2-dimensional shapes and moving our measurement (length & height) unit to December.  

We are going on a shape hunt!  Grab an iPad or clipboard and document all of the shapes you find!  You can do this activity either in your classroom/school or even outside!

We are going to be using these fun pointers to help us.

We will also be playing a few fun games including Roll & Cover and (my personal favourite...) What's In My Bag?

You can find these fun activities (and so much more!) in my 2-D Shapes in Kindergarten unit.

We are learning all about writing lists!  We brought in a grocery store flyer and brainstormed things we like to eat.  Then we learned to write them on a list!

You can find this in my I Can Write #1 pack in my TpT store.

In religion one of my favourite (and probably most useful!) lessons is on tattling versus telling.  Our health/drama teacher, Mrs. Benjamin, always does a few lessons on this as well, and I think it's so important for these little ones to know!

You can find more on this lesson from my November Religion pack on TpT.

We also set up this provocation - can you build a marble run?  I love this wooden set.  It's so durable and the children can create all kinds of different paths for the marble to travel.

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

Nov. 22-26, 2021

This coming week we are starting to discuss Advent (which actually begins on November 28).

We will be creating these beautiful Advent wreaths!  

You can find this activity in my December Religion Pack.

We are also continuing with our 2D Shapes unit in math!

If you own this pack, please be sure to re-download it as I added in a few more fun activities, including these Bingo games!  One is matching shapes and the other is connecting real-life objects to each shape.

One of our fun provocations we set out this week (which goes so well with our shapes unit) is creating pictures using attribute blocks.  The story Mouse Shapes is one of my favs!

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

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