Weekly Wrap-Up -> Dec. 10-14 ... Get Ready for Christmas!

Most of our centres and activities this week focus on Christmas.  As many of you know, I teach in a Catholic school and Christmas is my absolute FAVOURITE time of year!

Gingerbread Man Felt Board
I made this felt board set for the Gingerbread Man years ago (it was actually very easy!).  The students loved this book so much that we even found a short movie online one afternoon and watched it!  Next week we will be comparing various versions of the Gingerbread Man story.

Candy Cane Experiment
At our Science and Discovery Centre, Mrs. Petrone set up a candy cane experiment.  Students predicted and observed a candy cane dissolve in various liquids and recorded their results.

Beading a Pattern
We encouraged students to create a pattern with the beads.

Sight Word Christmas Tress
We found this activity on Pinterest and modified it - students could clip the lights (letters) onto the Christmas trees to spell sight words and record them on the paper.

Christmas Trace-a-Letter
We often put out salt trays for students to practice tracing their name, letters, sight words or numbers.  We printed letters on Christmas tree clip art for students to choose and practice tracing.

Alphabet Boxes - Fish
I got this alphabet matching boxed set from Wintergreen years ago.  Students choose a fish and match it to their mat.  We invited our students working on letter i.d./sounds to this activity.

Fine Motor Activity - Lacing Candy Pieces
My own children had a Candyland birthday party a few years back and I ordered these foam candy pieces from Oriental Express.  I had so many extra and they are just perfect for Christmas!  I intentionally prepared this for the students working on fine motor skills (small group) but so many others wanted to do it that we are prepping more for next week!

Sight Word Swat
It's a little hard to tell what this game is from the blurry picture (the kids were in an action shot!) but I laid out several sight words we are working on and gave each child a fly swatter.  I call out a word and have them swat it.

Colourful Presents - Pocket Chart
At our Pocket Chart centre this week, I left out this predictable text poem all about presents!  It focuses on the sight word "saw" and colour words.  Students match the colourful present with the sentence and can fill in the missing sight word on the recording sheet (clipped behind the pocket chart on the closet doors).

You can find this activity (and more like it for the whole year!) in my best-selling All Year Long Pocket Chart Fun pack on TpT.  Click on the picture below to learn more if you are interested.

Writing Cards
This is part of our Santa's Workshop (at the Dramatic Play Centre).  Students were eager to write cards to each other (and our classroom elf).  I also had parents donate blank Christmas cards for students to write to each other or their family.
You can click on the picture below if you would like to see more of this pack on TpT.

Directed Drawing - Bethlehem
I have some amazing teaching partners - the RECE from the class down the hall, Mrs. Caruso, showed us an activity she did years ago.  The students did a directed drawing of Bethlehem (this is how I explained it to them on the Bright Links board).  We aren't done yet...we are still working on watercolour painting them so stay tuned for finished pictures!  I will definitely be posting them on my Instagram account.

Roll-a-Number - Gingerbread Man Version!
We set this up for students to play as a small group game.  I have various FREEBIE printables available but I chose to use this one where students roll the dot die and cover up the matching number on the mat.  First person to completely cover the gingerbread man wins!



Here are my weekly plans if you'd like to take a closer look:

You can download the Week-at-a-Glance PDF version{here}.  
If you would like the editable version to modify this for your own class click {here}.  
You will need Power Point to edit.

I used the following fonts if you wish to keep it the same (free to download):


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Weekly Wrap-Up -> Dec. 3-7

I think you can safely say that Christmas has officially arrived in our classroom!
We started the week by setting up Santa's Workshop at our Dramatic Centre:







Thank you to all the parents who donated items (cards, wrapping paper, bows, boxes, etc.) for our Santa's Workshop!

You can check out my Santa's Workshop pack on TpT by clicking the picture below if you are interested:

Retell the Christmas Story
I was gifted this beautiful Little People Nativity set a few years back from a former student and I use it each year to have students retell the story of Christmas.  We added some loose parts as well as logs for students to build with.

Christmas Tree Patterns
Students were invited to use buttons to decorate the Christmas tree by using patterns.

Geoboards - Make a Shape/Number/Letter
Since we are learning about 2D shapes these geoboards are the perfect tool for students to practice creating a shape using elastics.  I even saw students making letters and numbers!

Christmas Gift.....SHHHHH!!!
I was going to hold off posting our Christmas gift this year but we are actually making a couple of things.  This is our big one - which we started at the end of September and worked on each week.  You might have seen these before....handprint calendars.

They are adorable and make a perfect gift!  We tend to make these every few years at Christmas time.
I downloaded the templates from Things to Share and Remember.  Click {here} to visit her site and download them for free if you are still looking for something to make.

Christmas Wrapping Paper
We made our own Christmas wrapping paper using foam stampers and paint.  So easy and adorable!

Reindeer Directed Drawing
With our Gr. 3 Reading/Tech. buddies, we decided to do an art activity this week (it was such a treat!).  Yes, I'll admit it was a little difficult having 45 children create these reindeer, but the children were wonderful about waiting their turn to use the materials and share.
I drew it step by step on the Bright Links board and students followed along.  Then they outlined in brown pastel if they wanted and used watercolour paints.
I got this idea from the ARTventurous blog.
How cute are these reindeer?





Christmas Sensory Bin
Our sensory bin was filled with coloured rice (red, green and white) and we added Christmas trinkets from the dollar store for students to sort, scoop and explore.

Christmas Scents
I have done this activity before using a variety of other herbs and spices but wanted to make it more festive.  My colleague brought in a variety of scented oils and I used a few to fill up these small glass jars.  Students were encouraged to smell each jar and record their findings.
(The jars were filled with peppermint (oil), orange (oil), lavender (oil), cinnamon, and cocoa.


You can download this recording sheet for FREE by clicking the picture below.  Just add your own scents!

In our math small group this week, we worked on building shapes using pattern blocks and these cards.

With the math intervention group, students identified basic 2D shapes and glued pictures into this booklet.

Both of these activities can be found in my All About 2D Shapes unit on TpT.  Once we wrap up 2D Shapes in the next week or so I will do a large post all about it!

In the letter i.d./sounds group, students use this Beginning Sounds Train set to match sounds to the letter.  I got this years ago from Wintergreen Learning Materials.

Pocket Chart - Christmas Lights
I decided to put out our poem for the week, Christmas Lights, at the pocket chart station.  Students had to rebuild the poem one word at a time.  I love how the Year 2 students (SK) worked with Year 1 (JK) students to complete this.
You can find this here (or click the picture below) if you are interested:

Here are my weekly plans if you'd like to take a closer look:

You can download the Week-at-a-Glance PDF version{here}.  
If you would like the editable version to modify this for your own class click {here}.  
You will need Power Point to edit.

I used the following fonts if you wish to keep it the same (free to download):



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