Nutrition

February was heart healthy month, so we have been learning about Nutrition.  We have been discussing this topic since the beginning of the year in relation to our food choices (our snacks), but it was nice to go in-depth into the topic with our class activities.

We started out by sorting healthy and unhealthy foods.  We then learned about the different food groups and sorted by food group.

We went 'shopping' and put foods from the four food groups, that had been cut out of grocery flyers, into our carts.  The foods were mixed up and the kids had to sort by food group.  

At our pocket chart we identified various fruits and counted out sets to 10.

At the felt board the kids were also sorting food into different categories.  Here they sorted by healthy versus unhealthy foods.  Some foods were up for debate such as ice cream or pizza.  The kids knew that if these foods had too much sugar or oil, then they actually weren't that great for you. 

We also did the following activity from my Sight Word Read Along pack.

I hope you have a happy and healthy week!

Trace, Stamp, Color, Cut and Paste it, BUNDLE

I have had some requests to bundle my thematic stamping packs, so here they are...

Okay, so first I had to learn how to bundle (yes, you probably already know how to do this and are laughing right now because it really is SO simple) but everything here in blog-land is a new experience for me.  I am SO not tech-savy and have always had my brother to rely on in the computer department at home, and Mr. P who trouble-shoots all our tech issues at school, but I can honestly say that it feels good to be able to learn new things on the computer and do them all on my own! 

So the great thing about the Stamping bundle is that I am in the process of making so many more thematic stamping packs.  Once the bundle is purchased, all new stamping packs will be available to you as I continue to update the product.  So...not only will you get the 10 stamping packs noted in the product description, but you will get all future thematic stamping packs (some that are on their way soon!) 

The kids in my class just LOVE stamping!  I hope your kids have as much fun stamping away, spelling and learning new vocabulary words, as mine do!  

Valentine's Day

It really has been a smorgasbord kind of week.  We've done a little bit of everything since this week had so much going on!  This week we celebrated Shrove (pancake) Tuesday, which is the last day before Lent. We talked about why we eat pancakes on this day.  During Lent we focus our hearts on Jesus.  Traditionally, Shrove Tuesday was a day to use up all the sweets in the house before Lent (a time of giving-up sweets and treats).  Instead of giving something up, we are focusing on how we can be more giving and loving with others.  We did this chart as a choral reading.

We celebrated Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  The kids wrote about their experiences, receiving a cross of ashes, in their journals.

"We get ashes on our head."

We celebrated Valentine's Day.  Here are our literacy centers.

Writing CVC words.  I don't know why my horizontal picture turns vertical!  

Unscrambling our sight words and writing them.

Color by Sight Word.

Finding pairs of rhyming words and recording them.  

Here are our math centers.

We've been counting orally by 10's, so here the kiddos are ordering the numbers by 10, and writing the numbers on their mats.  The kids then checked their work to make sure it was correct, with the self-check page.

Adding with sums to 10.  This was a new skill for us, and while many of the kids could 'count up' from the larger number, I also had counters/manipulatives at the table for the tactile learners.

Practising our number sequencing before and after with numbers to 20.

This was by far their favorite math center.  They loved measuring their body parts with the hearts!  

We made a class graph about our favorite Valentine's Treats and interpreted the results (more, less, same, middle values, etc.)

I hope your Valentine's week was as much fun as ours was!  Have a great Valentine's Weekend!

Friendship and Syllable Clapping **FREEBIE**

This week we talked about Friendship in anticipation of Valentine's Day.  

We sang and acted out this little song (from my retired teacher mom).

Friend, oh, friend how do you do?

Both my hands I give to you.

Round we go, round again,

Then I find another friend!

When they stopped at their new friend they had to tell them why they were a special friend.  I heard things like...You are my friend because you always share with me.  I like you because you tell me funny things.  I have fun with you when we run around at recess!

We wrote about our friends in our Journals.  Some of the students sounded out the names of their friends, but so many of them used the print around them (name cards, word wall...).  An updated template of this February page is in my Kindergarten Memory Book.

My friend is _____.  We play with word work.

My friend is _______.  We play at the writing centre.

My friend is _______.  We play with house centre.

My friend is _______.  We play sandbox.  

We made our Valentine's Cards for our families.  The little love bugs open up to reveal a cute little poem:

It begins with a grin,

It turns into a giggle

You start to laugh

Your legs start to wiggle

You look around for someone to hug

HOORAY!  You've caught the love bug!

AHH-CHOO

Happy Valentine's Day!

(the students had to make the sides symmetrical)

We read Sam McBratney's Guess How Much I Love You and made this cute craft, explained in my Valentine's Day Math and Literacy Activities pack.

A few of my littles still require help with stringing letters together to form words, so I came up with this little Valentine's Day Syllable activity **freebie**.  Students will clap the word to segment how many syllables in the word, then use 'kid-writing' or phonetic spellings to write the word.  Clapping the syllables in the word first, will help them break down the word into smaller parts before writing it.  Click on the picture to get your free copy from my TPT store.

Well, I am getting ready for Spring, but I fear, Mr. Groundhog that you have made a terrible mistake in your prediction!  Are you sure Spring is coming?  I have never seen such a snowfall as I did yesterday!  It snowed ALL DAY!  I took a snow day since upon looking out my window there were already 2 cars stuck on the street, and it looked like a blizzard outside!

If you are also trying to get ready for Spring check out my Spring stamping pack (click the image!)  I'm working on a few more sets and then, since I have had some requests, I will bundle all the sets!

Blessings!

Valentine's Day Unit Winner

Thank you for entering my Valentine's Day Unit Give-away.  The winner is:

#3 - Yvonne!

Check your inbox for the file!  I hope you can use this in your classroom!   

Wishing everyone a good start to the new month!  

Ground hog day, a Sale and a Giveaway

This week was a short week for us since today (Friday) was a P.A. Day.  Today we dived into the topic of Proportional Reasoning, but this week with the kiddos we talked about Ground hog day.  I usually don't do a whole lot with Ground hog day because there is so much other stuff going on at this time in the year, but my teaching partner came up with the cutest activites in her Ground hog Day Pack!  In my School Board, team teaching is essential.  Teachers who work together teaching the same grade should be teaching the same topics with the same activities. 

Parents appreciate that their children are provided with the same educational activites and that they are learning the same things regardless of whose class they are in.  As a teacher it's great because we share our ideas and resources and learn so much from one another in the process of planning.  There are individual differences in teaching styles, but the activities are the same.  With that being said, here is our Ground hog day graph (the same as Alessia Albanese's!).

We predicted whether or not our local ground hog (Wiarton Willy) would see his shadow.  When I asked the kids why they predicted yes or no, they said it was because they wanted spring to come, or they wanted winter to stay.  I wish it were that easy!  Personally, I can't wait for Spring.

We then read Substitute Ground hog by Pat Miller and graphed who we thought would make a good substitute.  Their reasoning for choosing rabbit as a substitute was that the rabbit was used to small spaces in the ground, would pop up and stay up (unlike the squirrel in the book) and would be able to see his shadow.

We sang a little song and acted it out (tune:  I'm a Little Teapot):

Here's a little ground furry and brown

He's popping up to look around

If he sees his shadow, down he'll go

Then six more weeks of winter, oh no!

I've known this song for the longest time.  I'm not sure where it originates from.  If it is yours, please let me know so that I can give you credit.

I'm not a big football fan, but I am a huge fan of sales!  Who doesn't love getting a good deal?  So, I'm having a sale in my TPT store this February 3-4 to celebrate the Superbowl.  All my items will be 20% off and TPT will give an additional savings of 8% for a total of 28% off.  Stock up!  Thanks to Ashley Hughes for this great graphic.

I've finished my Valentine's Unit just in time for the big sale.  It has tons of Literacy and Math activites including rhyming, sight-words, pocket chart activites, CVC words, numeration before and after, counting by 5's and 10's, crafts and more.  Click on the picture to check it out.

I am going to be having a random draw to give away my Valentine's Unit.  One lucky winner will get this literacy and math pack.  Leave a comment below (and your email address!) if you would like a chance to win.  The winner will be announced Sunday (Superbowl) morning.

Enjoy the weekend everyone!