Heyy!!!... So, I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving because tomorrow we get back to it!! We aren't just getting back 'to it' either... We are getting back 'to it' holiday style!
This week it is going to be all about the Gingerbread Man in my classroom! I created a first full unit for the week and I am Oh so excited! I am using ALL of it! Here is a peek into out week. At the end of the week I am post about this unit with lots of pictures! :)
Check out more plans at Mrs. Will's Kindergarten!
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Now, onto some Turrkeyific fun from last week!
We did a mishmash of stuff last week to get ready for Thanksgiving!
First, we spent an entire day dedicated to nothing but Thanksgiving!
We read a book from Deanna Jump's Thanksgiving Unit and then students wrote about how they would catch a turkey!
My favorite story went a little like this...
First, I would get a trap and set it up.
Next, I would dress up like a turkey and dance behind the trap.
Last, I would catch the turkey and eat it.
-This cracked me up!! All I could imagine was this little guy dancing like a turkey!!-
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In math that day we worked on some data collection and writing about our data!
Students walked around the room and had to ask 9 different people if they liked to eat turkey. They had to color in their data and track it with tally marks! = So fun!
This was our final product! I randomly came up with this turkey craft because it was quick, cute and easy! We don't have much time in our day for crafts so they've got to be quick!
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I snapped a few pictures of students working on their stations last week too!
I am loving how we are finally getting into the nitty, gritty of first grade!! I just see their little wheels turning!
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LAST BUT NOT LEAST==== MY FAVORITE!!
We finally finished up our Native American Unit and I managed to snap a few pictures!
Each year I love teaching my students about how Native American's used buffalo! It is such a high interest topic and it really hits that social studies standard of now vs. then!
To begin the unit I always pass out this paper to students and give them a little excerpt on what we will be working on to get their minds going. Students infer what they think Native Americans did with buffalo in order to survive.
After students complete this I show them this powerpoint. I love their reactions when I read the information to them! I get a lot of, WHAAAT, EWWWW, I GUESSED THAT!!!!"
Then, students complete the, "They Did What" portion of the unit to recall what the Native Americans used the buffalo for in order to survive. We compare and contract our guesses with the real information.
Students completed a writing after this but I forgot to take a picture of these! Basically, they made an outline of things that surprised them and they provided reasons why. Then, students combined their thoughts into a paragraph and illustrated what they were surprised by the most!
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On this day we spent the entire day just Native Americanizing ourselves!
We read, "Knots in a Counting Rope" and then discussed questions with a partner in order to help us come up with Native American names. I instructed students that Native American names sometimes describe the person.
Students then wrote their Native American name and provided a reason as to why that was their name.
(Can you tell which writing skill was hit hard this week) ;) reasons, reasons, reasons!
After students completed their discussions and Native American name paper they created their head band! This was a freebie from Mel D.!
Then, students worked on the Native American vests! I pulled up some symbols, we discussed them and then I let them go! They always have so much fun! Here is a picture of one of my little girl's vest!
We then learned a Native American song... went and performed it for the music teacher and invited our principle in and sang the song to him! Then, the students shared all the cool stuff they learned with him as well!
I'd say we had a successful week with lots of fun learning!! I can't wait for this upcoming week with my kids!
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I don't know about you but I have really noticed my kids just 'taking off' lately... everyone can read, everyone can write, our spelling is getting better, we're becoming closer in the classroom and we are just motivated and eager to learn each day! I just love my kiddos! :) Had to share that with you! I swear, I could never imagine myself doing anything else other than teaching my little sweeties! :)
Have a great week with yours!
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