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!

0

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!

0

Christmas Fun and a Penguin freebie!

Merry Christmas everyone! (Yes, I know I am a few days late, but keep reading and you will see why!)

We *FINALLY* finished for the holidays this past Friday and then before I knew it, Christmas was here!  I thought I would like finishing so late because it would give me a nice break in January.....well, ask me in January!  All I can say right now is I.AM.EXHAUSTED!

Sorry that I am posting this WAY after we did this (which was mid-December) but our Christmas crafts came out so cute!

This is the Rudolph bag.  We put all of our crafts inside of it to carry home.

This is our popsicle stick ornament.  Thank goodness that I had some Grade 8 helpers - we needed the glue gun to hold it all together!

 

This is our Christmas card.  It was so easy to make and looked beautiful!

This picture is hard to see - sorry!  It is our 5 Little Snowmen ornament we made using our hand!
So cute!

This is the poem and the saying (on the back) that we attached to each snowman ornament.  My teaching partner, Ms. Angelucci, found this craft and I LOVED it!  So did the parents!

Thank goodness it`s the winter break!
I think we all need (and deserve) a little time with our family and ourselves!
But before we know it (`cause this happens every year!) January will be here and that means...snowmen and penguins and mittens...oh, my!
So I`m getting ready for our penguin unit and thought I would share this little freebie that I made.

Click on the picture to download.

Please leave me a comment if you do download it...it`s nice to hear what you all have to say!

One more (* very important*) thing...
I have been awarded the Sunshine Award 2011 by my sweet (*Canadian*) blogger friend, Anita, at
Mrs. Bremer`s Kindergarten. 
Thank you Anita!  Be sure to stop by and visit her blog for some fabulous ideas!

Thanks for following my blog...happy holidays!



23