My New Years resolution will be to stay on top of what we are doing in Kindergarten and keeping ya'll updated! A new grade has definitely brought new challenges but I think this year I will be more on top of my game!!
December was a fast month and with no snow!!
For us all in NEPA no delays or snow just didn't make the holidays feel real this year.
We started the month with our usual animal fact writing ....
To so many kids there are 8 reindeer ... plus Rudolph of course ...
they fly and pull Santa around the world on Christmas ... and they eat carrots.
In the mind of a 5 year old these are the facts and I love the opportunity to teach them more!
We read Reindeer by Katie Marsico
We used an Are, Can, Have chart to recap the information read and to get our brains ready for the next activity.
Students chose information from the chart to each write one fact about Reindeer.
Their writing was used with this Reindeer craft inspired by First Grade Parade.
Students did a great job!
I love allowing students to use their imagination when adding detail to projects.
These reindeer all came out so unique.
I couldn't ignore what students do know about Reindeer ....
We also completed projects where we put Reindeer names into alphabetical order.
This activity was completed whole group as we brainstormed Reindeer names.
Students then helped me put them into ABC order.
We wrote names together and students completed their Reindeer projects on their own.
These precious works of art were hung in the hall for all to see.
They came out adorable!
Santa Has a Wish by Rebecca Petrini
This book I mentioned last year with my firsties and I had to bring it back.
I love this book for so many reasons!
It't not only written by a local artist but also encourages students to think about others during the holiday season and challenges them to do good things for others.
A Santa sack can be purchased each year with activities and challenges for students to complete.
This year we worked on two really awesome projects!
Aside from spreading holiday joy through jokes, songs, and kind words and actions we traveled throughout our school passing out Candy Canes to adults we passed in the hallway.
Our names were no where on the notes which made the task that much more fun and rewarding.
Students loved acting like Santa's elves spreading holiday spirit.
We also spent some time crafting hand made Christmas cards for several facilities in our area.
These projects definitely taught students about how important it is to be kind, make others smile, and spreading holiday joy:)
Mooseltoe by Margie Palatini is a classroom favorite
This year we used the story to discuss problem and solution ....
My kiddos did a great job writing and drawing the problem and solution!
I was super proud of their ability to recognize both and depict it on their worksheets.
If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff
Can you tell these stories are growing into a quick must!
We used this story and the project above to show sequencing and improve our ability to retell a story. They knocked it outta the park!
Here is another amazing project by Primarypress that was used to identify and count shapes.
We used out shapes to decorate Christmas Trees.
What a great to practice our shapes during the holiday!
You may remember The Littlest Pilgrim read over Thanksgiving.
Well there is another story called The Littlest Elf by Brandi Dougherty
I love how we can discuss character traits with these stories.
We used another Anchor Chart to talk about the characteristics and students then used the chart to write about the character ....
They did a great job putting the information together and the projects turned out absolutely adorable!
For the past few years I have worked on Christmas plates with students to send home for their parents.
I felt the design we have been using was a bit difficult for my kinder kids but was able to find another design that worked just great!
I brought in the usual reinforcements and man did they do a great job ....
I just love how these plates turned out and hope that everyone loved them as much as I did!
The last day of school before break of course was a bit crazy but to keep my kinder kids active we made these adorable snowmen.
We read Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner
and of course talked about all of the crazy things our snowmen may do when we go to bed.
It was fun to think about what snowmen might do if they came alive at night!
I hope the snow is not too far behind and that students can enjoy the winter and snow very soon.
This year I have one lil kiddo who moved here from Florida ... she is so excited to enjoy the season and I can't wait to hear her experiences.
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