Here we go with an insanely busy week! And it’s state testing for our 3rd and 4th graders so we have to be locked down in our classroom and quiet. Please, when has it ever been quiet in the kindergarten smorgasboard!? But we’ll try. People, seriously, locked down. Doors closed. All hallway doors that lead upstairs closed. We’re going to be more isolated than usual!
Click here to download my common core aligned weekly lesson plans!
Monday
Our Earth Day kicks off with our annual zoo field trip! That’s right! It’s field trip day. And this year I am going it alone. No parents. No chaperones. Just me and my 16 monsters. At the zoo. With wild animals. What could possibly go wrong?! hehe
After we return from our zoo adventure (let’s pray we leave with 16 and return with 16!) we will celebrate Earth Day and kick off our plant week by planting our marigold seeds! We will also read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. The monsters will all sport their lorax mustaches and pose for pictures!
Tuesday
Plant week continues with Eric Carle’s The Tiny Seed. This is the book I always use to kick off plant week! I love the pictures and I love how it explains the plant life cycle in such a simple and fun way!
After reading the story, the monsters will complete a flow map to retell the story and practice sequencing.
This week we will be introducing OO words like book and hoop! Today we will do a whole group word sort to listen for the oo as in hoop and the oo as in book. We will also do some more practice with blending our CVCe words!
In math, we will be practicin decomposing numbers this week. We will be working on decomposing all numbers but there is a big push for decomposing 10! Today the monsters will do a simple dice sort to help them see the ways to make numbers. Click the picture to get your freebie!
Plant week kicks off in full swing today with the parts of a plant and the needs of plants! We will make a class anchor chart of the plant parts and needs and discuss each one.
And of course, we’re going to get artsy with our approach to learning this material! That’s right, it’s an art project!!!
This was another Pinterest inspired idea! This came from The Adventures Of A Kindergarten Teacher!
I love using art to teach skills so this is perfect. I made all of the pieces for my monsters to cut out and assemble (to make it easier and to save time!) so we didn’t run into any issues of not being able to cut something ….thus avoiding meltdowns and Mr. Greg losing hair!
Wednesday
Plant week grows up! (HAHA Get it?! plants…growing…) Today we will write the book (one of my favorites!) Tops and Bottoms! As we read we will discuss which plants grow above and below the ground. We will also discuss which foods are roots (the ones that grow under the ground) and do a sort of plants that are tops and bottoms!
Click for your free pictures to sort!
In math, we continue with our decomposing numbers adventure with some rainbow fun! We will be using a super cute rainbow activity from Mrs. Payton’s Precious Kindergarteners and her super awesome Decomposing Numbers pack! The students will color the rainbow and use the colors to connect the numbers that make 10 (0+10) and record their answers!
Our plant week sprouts on with a favorite experiment! It’s the tried and true and ever amazing celery and food coloring experiment! We will discuss how the roots and stem help the plant and flowers drink just like a straw! We will then draw a picture of our celery (and carnations!) and predict what might happen. We will set up our experiment and wait for the results!
We will have some foot stomping fun to end our day! We’re going to paint a carrot using our FOOT! It’s true. They take off their shoes and socks (hello Glade Plug In!) and we paint our foot to make a carrot (and yes, I have seen some very interesting feet in the past!) !
Thursday
We continue learning about plants and their parts and needs on this Thrilling Thursday! We will read the book Up Down Around and discuss all the ways that plants grow. After reading the book we will create a tree map of which plants grow up, which ones grow down and which ones grow all around!
In math we will be decomposing numbers using the red and yellow two sided counters that I have 67 billion of in my classroom. Each monster will get 10 counters and a cup. They will spill the counters, sort the counters and record their answer to make 10. It’s a simple activity but gives them great visual understanding of just how we make 10! And it’s fun. And the counters are….soft….which means. QUIET! (Remember…testing lock-down….SHHHH!)
We will study the life cycle of a plant and use Shuna’s awesome What’s Sprouting unit to help us create a flow map for the life cycle of a plant!
We will also get MESSY! Oh how I love a messy day in Kindergarten! I found this awesome idea on Deep Space Sparkle (um, best. art lesson website. ever.) so I just knew I had to use it during plant week!
We will glue on the flow pot and the monsters will have sponges cut into the shape of petals. They will stamp their petals onto their flowers!! How cute!?
Friday
Our week wraps up with some OO word fun. Warning: graphic content ahead. And I do mean potty humor! To celebrate our hard work with oo words I will be reading a great book that uses the oo sound. Are ya ready? (People, don’t hate. It’s a normal body function! And let’s be honest, it will engage the monsters and they will NEVER forget their oo lessons!)
After we read our book, we will make a list of OO words. The monsters will then use this list of oo words to make their Fruit Loop words! They will use markers to write a oo word but instead of writing the oo they will use fruit loops! Poop and fruit loops=powerful, engaging, and silly phonics lesson!
In math, we will continue our decomposing dance with ladybugs! The students will get an assessment page with 10 ladybugs. On each ladybug there will be a number and the monsters will draw that number of dots on their ladybug. They will then record their number sentence!
We wrap up plant week with a quick assessment of the plant life cycle (cut an paste in order) and our Foodie Fun Friday snack of vegetables! Perfect for plant week!
Of course, throughout the week we will be monitoring and caring for our plants. We will be reading our poem of the week (The Recyling Song) and reading our emergent reader!
We will be doing centers (full of QR code fun!) and our word study. And writing. And did I mention it’s SAT10 practice test week?! Yes, we will be taking the dreaded SAT 10 practice test this week and the real deal next week. Uhhuh!
Per a request on The Kindergarten Smorgasboard Facebook page (what?!?! you’re not my friend?! Well come on over and friend me!) here is a free Earth day hat!
Click to download your freebie!
And visit my friends to get some more great Earth Day freebies!
And speaking of Earth day, if you need some last minute activities (writing, sorting activities, and fun centers!) check our my Earth Day creation!
