Week 30 of kindergarten is the beginning of our last two months in kindergarten. This week is all about the upcoming eclipse with lots of eclipse activities, phonics, 3D shapes, learning about the continents and more!
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Phonics: TKS BOOTCAMP
We follow a required foundational skills curriculum and supplement it with our TKS BOOTCAMP resource, especially for extra practice and small group work! Our curriculum has switched to blends, digraphs, and double consonants, so we are using Blends Bootcamp. Our TKS BOOTCAMP curriculum works with ALL curriculums or as a stand-alone resource! This week, we are using Blends Bootcamp and Word Family Bootcamp to focus on words with beginning and ending digraphs, blending and decoding words, writing words, reading decodables, and lots of word chaining!
Blends Bootcamp is about using the sounds we learned in ABC BOOTCAMP to read words. We do two blends a week for five weeks, focusing on using all the sounds to decode, spell, write, and read words.
Our focus is on digraphs and CVC words. We’re practicing blending, segmenting, spelling, and writing words. We’re also playing soring and other games to focus on hearing the digraphs.
One of our go-to activities is sorting pictures to differentiate the sounds!
Blends Bootcamp is an all-inclusive resource aligned with the science of reading! It includes whole-group lessons, small-group lessons, decodable readers, and centers!
Phonics: Word Mapping
We will also use our Word Mapping mats during this time to work on our segmenting, spelling, and reading words! These have been a true game changer for my kids, especially those struggling with segmenting sounds and spelling words!
We’re also using our Digital Word Building Resource to do word chaining to work on blending CVC words!
We also used our glitter letters clipart to make glitter letter cards, and we’ve been using these cards in whole groups and small groups. The kids LOVE them! (This is CLIPART. You must insert the letter clipart into a document to make letter cards!)
We will also be doing our carrot words lesson! My class LOVED this activity so we’re going to do it more and more!
We are also going to feed the unicorn. We will decode the word, write it, read it, and then feed it to the unicorn!
Sight Word 60
This week’s words: so, some, the, to
Reading: The Continents
Our district has a required curriculum, and this week, we will start learning about the continents. True story. Not maps, not where we live, etc. The seven continents. But we are going to make it fun, and we’re going to tie it into maps, where we live, and more importantly, where we came from. So many of our students are from other countries, and many still travel back to those countries each year, so we will incorporate that into our lessons. (Note: we have two EXPLORE IT UP! resources coming soon: Maps and Continents! STAY STUNED!)
This week is about Europe and Asia. For each country, we will read a book and do a notice and wonder chart. For Asia, we’re also doing an evidence organizer of things to see, food to eat, and animals we might see.
This week, we’re also reading Ferdinand The Bull and completing a story map.
This week, we’re also reading Tops and Bottoms! I just love this book and the message about hard work which is important for kids to hear at this point in the year!
Math: 3D Shapes
Our district has adopted a new math curriculum (AGAIN!), so we’re trying to figure it out because it’s a lot, and it’s not aligned with our state standards, so there’s that. We’re using the curriculum and supplementing it with our MATH IT UP! and TKS BOOTCAMP curriculums.
This week, we’re learning about 3D shapes. The curriculum has the kids sorting shapes all week. That’s great. Sorting is so essential, but we’re going to do a few other things with our sorts! We will be using our newly updated Shapes Bootcamp!
We’re also still working on numbers and counting in small groups, so we’re using our Game It Up! Numbers And Counting To 20! The kids love these games, and they’re perfect for small groups!
On Monday, we will do a whole group sort of 3D shapes, and then the students will complete an individual sort. We will also use 3D shape blocks to introduce each shape and its attributes.
Each day of the week we will create an anchor chart for each 3D shape: we will name the shape, identify real objects, identify the faces, how many edges and if the shape can stack or roll.
Thursday, we’re going on a shape hunt in the classroom. Students will find 3D shapes in the classroom. They will identify the shape, and I’ll take a picture of it. We will sort the pictures onto our shape posters on Friday and create our shape anchor chart.
Eclipse Activities
April 8th is the solar eclipse, and we will fill this week with eclipse activities to learn about it so we’re ready to experience it!
To learn the science content and learn about eclipses, we will do a schema map, can/will/is chart, labeling an eclipse, and sequencing an eclipse. The idea is to get the kids to understand eclipses so when we experience the eclipse on Monday not only will it be an amazing experience, but we know the science!
We also have some additional eclipse activities on Monday, April 8th. We will make hats, create an eclipse memory page, and share our favorite part of the eclipse. Students will also receive a certificate.
Eclipse Activities: Art
We are doing two torn paper art projects this week as part of our eclipse activities!
First, we’re doing a torn paper sun! Second, we will do a torn paper moon. I draw the shape for the sun, and the kids use blues, yellows, and oranges to create it. Our torn paper moon is a new project, so we will use a paper plate for the moon. Kids will tear black and gray paper to make the moon!
Eclipse Activities: Foodie Fun Friday
This week, our Foodie Fun Friday snack is an eclipse snack. We will use Oreos and vanilla wafers to show the eclipse! I actually practiced this one with Adelynn, and she did a great job with it. she totally loved eating the cookies!
Eclipse Activities: Morning Meeting
This week we’re going to TRY a new greeting to go along with all of our eclipse activities. We will do the inner/outer circle greeting. The inner circle will stay still and the outer circle will move around. As we move around we will greet our friends. Stay tuned…
For our activity, we’re going to find the clothespin. I hide a clothespin on a kid, and we have to find it. When we see the clothespin, we sit down!
Eclipse Activities Freebies:
WEEKLY RESOURCES
Click below for the resources we are using in our classroom this week.
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