Weekly Wrap-Up -> Apr. 22-26

This was such a short week - we were off on Monday (Easter Monday) and on Friday we were on a field trip for more than half the day!  
We did manage to squeeze in some fun learning activities and provocations.

EARTH DAY
To celebrate Earth Day we set out this provocation.  Students looked closely at the globe and created their own.  Lots of discussions around how much water in on our planet!
You can download the Earth Day poster you see in this picture for FREE here (I posted all about it last year).

SIGHT WORD BUILDING
We laid out letter tiles and had students build sight words.

NUMBER STORIES
Can you build a number story?  This was a great provocation because it was so open ended!  The students even brought over some small plastic animals from the Blocks Centre to add to their creations.

SENSORY BIN - WASHING
I usually put out a "washing" centre out at the end of the year, but we were gifted new Lego and the students were eager to wash them and use them!  
Soap, sponges and water go a long way!

ROCK PATHWAYS
The RECE I work with, Mrs. Petrone, made these rocks years ago.  I wish I had a close up picture but there are different lines drawn all over them.  Students could connect them to build pathways.

Lots of fun things coming up this week....Mother's Day sneak peek, STREAM (Science Technology Religion Engineering Arts Math) Expo fast approaching and more!  Stay tuned!

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 -> Apr. 15-19.....Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!
We celebrated Easter in our classroom this week with lots of activities, centres and crafts...

EASTER STORY
We left out a variety of Easter objects (many are from the Dollar Store) for students to create an Easter story.


POKING
Every few weeks I like to leave out a poking activity.  Using large push pins (I found these at Staples) and cork boards, students poke around the picture.  It's a great activity to strengthen fine motor muscles!
I just updated my Poking - Fine Motor Fun! pack on TpT to include more Easter items so re-download if you already own it!

EASTER PAINTING
We used painter's tape to create a cross and had students use watercolour paints on top.  Then we peeled the tape and revealed a beautiful painting!  Thank you to Mrs. Lamacchia (RECE in the class next door) for thinking of this great idea!

EASTER CARD
Mrs. Caruso (RECE in the other K class) found these jewels at the Dollar Store and thought of having the students create a card with them.

EASTER POCKET CHART
At our Pocket Chart Centre, students were invited to add the coloured egg at the end of the sentence, count the dots and add the number.
You can find this in my All Year Long - Pocket Chart Fun! pack on TpT.

THE LAST SUPPER
We re-enacted The Last Supper before leaving for the weekend.  Working in a Catholic school, this is one of my most favourite things to do!  Students sat together at a long table and we served pita bread and grape juice while we listened to the story about Easter from the Children's Bible.

CAN YOU MAKE AN INVENTION?
Last week students spent much time taking apart an old laptop and keyboard.  We kept all the loose parts that we collected (and added a few more things from our classroom) and had students think of inventions.  This book, The Most Magnificent Thing, is one of my favourites to read for inspiration!


LA PIZZERIA - Dramatic Play
At our Dramatic Play Centre, students opened a Pizzeria!  You can read all about setting up a Pizzeria in your classroom here.


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 -> Apr. 8-12

We set out lots of STEM activities (we call them STREAM at our school - Science Technology Religion Engineering Art Math) as we are getting ready to host a STREAM Expo at our school in just a few short weeks!  Stay tuned for more about that soon!

MAKE-DO CENTRE
This is a MakeDo kit from Wintergreen Learning we got last year.  It's amazing and so easy for little hands to use independently!
It came with plastic screws and hooks, as well as a kid-friendly saw and screwdriver, which only work on cardboard.
Students took cardboard and used the screws to put them together and build!  It was a little challenging at first, but we learned to work together to cut the pieces.


STEM WATER CHALLENGE
Another kit from Wintergreen Learning is this water play STEM kit.  Students tried to create rafts for the people to float on.  They also used pipes to explore different ways water flows.

TAKE APART CENTRE - KEYBOARDS
If you read my blog from last week, you will know that we set up a "Take Apart" Centre with an old laptop.  They children loved it so much, we found a few keyboards to take apart this week!


We introduced the word "STREAM" to the class and discussed how many of our provocations and centres are STREAM!  My good friend and Gr. 1 colleague Mrs. Linigari made these signs to us to use.

FINE MOTOR  - NUTS AND BOLTS
With the children working on fine motor, I asked them to use their fingers to take apart and then put back together these large nuts and bolts.  This is a fun way to practice strengthening those muscles!

HOW MANY WAYS CAN YOU MAKE A NUMBER?
We set up this provocation asking students to explore numbers and show all the different ways they can create a number.

ADDITION
We introduced addition this week.  My math unit are usually 2-weeks in length and so we will be continuing exploring these concepts in more depth next week.
We started the unit by playing "The Children on the Bus" game:  I placed 10 chairs on the carpet and called upon some people to get on the bus.  We discussed how many chairs were full and how many were empty.  
Students could "go fish" for 2 fish, record their numbers and add them!
 I love this book, If You Were a Plus Sign.  After reading it and introducing the "+" and "=" symbols, we took a closer look at 5- and 10-frames.  
If there are 2 red dots, how many yellow dots do you need to make 5?

 We also completed these cards.
 Using small plastic animals (these are from the Baby Animals TOOB set from Michaels), students rolled 2 dice and place that amount of animals in the cages.  Then they wrote the numbers below and added them!

You can find these addition activities, as well as a complete 10-day lesson plan layout, in my NEW Addition in Kindergarten pack on TpT.  
Click on the picture if you'd like to see more!

Many of you have been asking to see what my Long Range Plans look like.  My apologies for not posting them sooner!
Click on the download picture below if you would like a copy!

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 -> Apr. 1-5

We started the week by reading and discussing April Fool's Day...and boy, did the children come up with some tricks!
We read some great stories from the QR Read Aloud - April Listening Center Pack.
Click the picture below to try a few books from this pack for FREE!

ROLL~SAY~KEEP
The game Roll~Say~Keep has been played in my classroom for years in so many different ways!  This week we played it using these number cards (***FREE*** download from my TpT store).
Here's how to play:
- roll a dot die
- say the number that is in that box (i.e. I rolled 5 but need to say 4 because that's what the card reads)
- keep it!
Replace the card and continue playing.
This was a great way to review number identification as we are starting our unit on Addition next week.
(Note:  You can play this game with anything:  magnetic letters, numbers, sight words, etc.)

TAKE APART CENTRE
A few years back, we had a similar Take Apart Centre using an old stereo.  Last week the teacher-librarian was throwing away an old laptop so I quickly scooped it up and thought it would be great to take apart!  Stay tuned for what we are going to do with the pieces we collect!


QUICK AS A CRICKET - FELT BOARD
After reading this book last week, I left it out at our Felt Board for students to retell.  These felt board sets are so durable and have lasted us so many years.  They are from Wintergreen Learning if you are interested.


WHAT DO YOU WONDER ABOUT BIRDS?
In our Science and Discovery Table, we set out this provocation asking students what they wonder about birds.  We noticed that with the nicer weather around the corner, students have been talking more and more about birds they see at home and at outdoor time.

EASTER PROVOCATION
We set up this Easter provocation, where students could pick up and sort pom-poms, match pom-poms to coloured eggs and so much more!  They loved it!

PIPE BUILDERS
At our light table, we set out these pipe builders and one small marble for students to construct.

EASTER SENSORY BIN
In our Sensory Bin, we set out Easter grass, plastic eggs, jewels, small chicks, bunny tongs (all of this from Dollarama!) and students enjoyed playing with all of the materials.


RAMP BUILDING
Our students have really been into ramp building, using the large rubber ramp, blocks, floor planks and more, so we set out this STEM box filled with challenges for students to build.




FIND IT! EASTER
We introduced "Find It! Easter" using sight words on our pocket chart.  I hid an Easter egg card behind one sight word.  Students had to pick a word by reading it, lifting it up and revealing an egg card or not.  This was so much fun!
You can find this in my Find It! Easter pack on TpT.

WRITE THE ROOM - EASTER
With Easter coming soon, we set up our Easter Write the Room activity around the classroom.

5 LITTLE CHICKS
A parent of a former student gave me these adorable chicks and wooden egg cups at the beginning of the year and I couldn't wait to use them!  With Easter around the corner, we pulled them out this week and sang this song while taking away one chick.  This was great practice for those students still working on 1:1 correspondence.
You can download the song for FREE by clicking below.



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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