Week 23 of kindergarten should be a full week of five days. We hope! I’m excited because we’re doing something brand new this week by celebrating the 101st day of school! I love trying new things so I can’t wait to see how it goes! We’re also kicking off all things Valentine’s Day (even though I hate that holiday)!
Also…I had oral surgery Friday, so I’m on meds if you see anything in here that seems crazier than normal…you know why! You have been warned…
February Lesson Plans
You can download our weekly lesson plans by clicking on the image!
You can get our lesson plan templates here:
February Lesson Plans: Phonics And Phonemic Awareness
This week, we’re continuing Blends Bootcamp with digraphs. We did our circle charts last week and worked on decoding and writing words with digraphs. The kids did great, but I noticed in decodable text that they didn’t notice the digraphs, and we were still having some issues with the sounds. So this week, we’re going to be doing digraph sorts, lots of decodable texts, and continuing to read and spell words with digraphs.
For these activities, we’re using our digraph cards!
For phonemic awareness, we’re moving on to skill 6 of our Phonemic Awareness Bootcamp. Skill 6 is syllables. We will be stomping syllables, using sticky notes to count syllables and sorting words by the number of syllables!
Past And Present: Reading Comprehension And Social Studies
This week, we’re continuing our third module of our required reading curriculum. Last week, the kids were so into the books and learning. And in case you were wondering, I asked, “What are we learning about?” My buddy said, “Life now and long ago. You know. The 1980s!” So I’m going to write a book about growing up in the 1980s to add to this unit! I mean, they need a real reference, right?!
This week, we’re focusing on how home has changed, and we’re comparing the life in When I Was Young In The Mountains to today!
We start with the book Home Then And Now. The kids are fascinated by how different homes are today. As we read we create a list of questions we have about school then and now! But here’s the thing…this book is out of date for the today part. Definitely needs an update…so see, why I need to write a growing up in the 80’s book?!
We’re also comparing When I Was Young In The Mountains to life now.
February Lesson Plans: 2D Shapes Activities
This week we are continuing with Shapes Bootcamp and learning about 2D shapes!
We will go on another shape hunt! This time hunting for squares and rectangles! The kids love these shape hunts, and they’re a great way to get us moving and looking for real-life shapes!
We also focus on a shape day to create individual shape anchor charts! We identify the shape; students identify the attributes: 2D or 3D, sides, vertices, and real-life objects for that shape!
This week we are also making a shape mural! This is from our required curriculum and is a fun way to practice drawing shapes and following directions! Example: I say: “We’re going camping so we need a tent. What shape is a tent? Draw a tent.”
We’re also starting our shape/not a shape sorts to identify shapes and their attributes. Studnets have to identify the shape as a hexagon or not a hexagon and justify their answer using the attributes!
February Lesson Plans: 101st Day Of School
So what had happened was…as we planned for the 100th day of school we were kind of blah about it. Now, being at my new school for the last two years has re-energized my teaching, and I’m all in on all the things, so when I wasn’t super excited for the 100th day, I knew we needed something new. So this year we’re doing the 101st day of school. And I cannot wait! The kids are dressing up in black and white. I got a costume. Our numeracy coach is dressing as Cruella. It’s going to be epic!
Here’s what our day will look like:
101st day of school phonics-the students write 101 words!
101st day of school writing-smart puppy-what we have learned in 101 days
101st day of school math-do you have a dog graph
101st day of school science and social studies-lable the dog
And yes, we’re making hats and we get a certificate!
February Lesson Plans: A Crankenstein Valentine
Valentine’s Day. I am Crankenstein. I despise this holiday but we celebrate it in the classroom and this is our favorite read aloud for the big V!
We’re going to do a story map to work on story elements!
And then we do two of my favorite writing activities! What makes you cranky, and what makes you say YECH? I love hearing the kids respond to these because they crack me up. These are great for language building and great writing activities because kids can easily connect with these ideas.
February Lesson Plans: Valentine’s Day Art Projects
This year we’re doing two fun Valentine’s Day art projects: mosaic hearts and bubble wrap hearts! For the mosaic hearts, we have done torn paper ( great for fine motor skills), and we have done true mosaic, where I precut the paper into little squares. If you want less work…torn paper all the way! For bubble wrap hearts, we paint different colors onto bubble wrap and the kids press their paper into the bubble wrap. When the paint dries, they cut out their hearts!
Kindergarten Morning Meeting
This week, our greeting is heartbreakers! We use a PowerPoint slide and the heart breaks to reveal a picture! We greet the friend by saying good morning!
February Lesson Plans: Foodie Fun Friday
This week, our Foodie Fun Friday snack is a Valentine’s parfait! Vanilla pudding colored pink and smashed Oreos!
WEEKLY RESOURCES
Click below for the resources we are using in our classroom this week:
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