Better Late Than Never Christmas/ Winter Activity

I created these two activity sheets for the kindergarten/ grade 1 age group.  One is titled Christmas Makes Me Think Of... and the other is called Winter Makes Me Think Of ...

It's a really easy activity that can be used one of 3 ways.

1. On its own as a single page that students can write down what Christmas/ winter makes them think of, draw a picture and cut out the shape (angel or snowman)

2. Complete 1. and then compile all the students' work into a class book.

3. Give each student several pages (3-5 I recommend) and have them complete their own book.  It could even be complete with a title page where the student can write "By insert name here" on the line.

Any way you choose to use it will be wonderful I'm sure and it's a great way to get students thinking about Christmas/ winter.  The Christmas sheet really allows students to share about what Christmas means to them and perhaps some of their traditions.  And the winter sheet has students think about the features of winter that are different from spring, summer, and fall.

 

I've put both sheets up on our TpT store for FREE!
Christmas Makes Me Think Of...
Winter Makes Me Think Of...

Enjoy!

Calendar Time - SMART Board Style

I created this calendar routine for the SMART board after one of the teachers I was volunteering with mentioned that she would like to start using the SMART board more in her daily classroom routines.  I suggested that it would be quite easy to set up something for the calendar.  She agreed that it would be easy to implement, but didn't know how to go about actually creating it using the notebook software.  That's when I got the crazy idea to create a calendar routine for her.  After many hours of staring at the computer, I can now say it's complete and she is using it daily in her classroom and the kids just LOVE it!

This calendar routine reflects the things that we collaboratively agreed were important to include in calendar time.

They are:
1. Monthly calendars where students input the numbers which creates a pattern.  This page also has a section for Today is, Yesterday was, Tomorrow will be.

2. Days in school two ways.  The first way is using place value and hundreds blocks and the second way is using tens frames.  These two pages lead up to the students writing the number of days in numerals.

3. The weather.  There are two pages for the weather.  The first is a weather wheel where you select the type of weather and then write it in a sentence.  And the 2nd page is a monthly weather graph.

At the end of all the calendar pages I have also included some instructions how to use each page and tips to help out teachers who are new to the SMART Board.

This is my first attempt at selling something on TpT.  I'm hoping it goes well and that I can continue to share my creations with others.  Previously, the husband and I had each put one freebie online and were pleasantly surprised with how many downloads we each got.  Now it's time to see if anyone is will to pay for the things we make.... fingers crossed!

Click here to download this from TpT: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/SMART-Board-Calendar-Routine-1006459

30 Points of Spelling

This is a fun spelling assignment that can be used every week. This assignment consists of getting to 30 points by the end of each week. Students can obtain points by completing activities on the menu. These activities range from 5 (easier) to 15 (harder) points. As there are several options on the menu, students are able to choose which activities they would like to complete. I found this spelling assignment to be very helpful as students were able to learn their spelling words through various ways. Here is the link for this activity: Spelling Activity

Writing Numbers Rubric

Today while I was volunteering in a grade one class I did a quick math assessment to see if the students knew their numbers to 20 and if they could write their numbers above 20.

I asked each student to write the numbers 1-20 in order on a piece of paper.  I was looking to see if their numbers were facing the right way and if they were placing the numbers in the right place (for example, eighteen is 18 not 81).

When I was finished I wanted to assess them in a way that would allow the teacher to group them easily for math centres later.  So I didn't want to just give them a mark out of 25 since that wouldn't tell me where the student was struggling.  After a little more thought, I came up with this quick rubric.  It's available for free on TpT!

Mapping Unit

Here is a grade 4 socials mapping project. In this project the students will become familiar with using directions, grid coordinates, scale, and legend to create a map. In part 1 the students will be given instructions on where to place items on a map. In part 2 the students will do the opposite and be given a completed map. Their job is to provide detailed instructions on where these items are placed. This project also includes two assessment rubrics that will be used for marks.

Here is a link to our project:

Grade 4/5 Socials Mapping Project

Father's Day - If You Give a Dad a Marshmallow

In honor of Father's Day, today I'm sharing the activity I did this week with my kindergarten classes.

Following the model of the book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie", this Father's Day activity involves students making their own books titled, "If You Give a Dad a Cookie".  The template can be found on TpT and has 2 versions, one which has the word 'dad' filled in on each page, and one that allows students to fill it in.  We wrote out the word 'dad' in our books so that students without a dad could write their book to another family member or friend.

The story goes if you give a dad a cookie he'll need a campfire, a stick, graham crackers, and chocolate to make s'mores.  So we also made bags with all the ingredients for students to make a s'more at home with their dads.  My EA even found this tag that she was able to customize for dads, grandpas, and uncles that tied everything together.

Here's a link to the TpT template: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fathers-Day-If-you-give-a-Dad-a-marshmallow-714213

What did your class do for Father's Day this year?

Ladybugs

After learning the butterfly life cycle we moved on to the ladybug life cycle.  We compared the two and found them to be quite similar.  Then we created this awesome ladybug life cycle craft.  It was messy, but oh so fun!

We started with 2 paper plates and painted one red and one black.  Then we used tracers and black construction paper to trace and then cut out the head and spots.  Once we were done that we used the life cycle from this bug science pack from TpT http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Bugs-Science-Centers-643070 and coloured and cut the life cycle.

Once we had all the parts, we could assemble them.  The life cycle was glued to the black paper plate, the spots were glued to the red paper plate, then the red plate was cut in half, eyes were glued to the head, and it was all fastened together using a brass fastener.