Having a 'Rawr'ing good time with Dinosaurs and a Giveaway

Dinosaurs has to be one of the most fun units to teach!  The kids (and myself!!!) just love it!  It is so interesting to learn facts about these mysterious creatures that lived so very long ago.  I like to begin units by showing the kids thematic pictures, seeing if they can identify what the picture is and talk a little bit about it.  I then put these pictures (with the words beneath) at the writing center with thematic paper for them to use for creative writing.  I made these thematic vocabulary cards years ago with a simple dinosaur template and thematic words.

  
I've uploaded it as a FREEBIE to TPT, with newer, cuter clipart.  Click the picture below to grab your free copy!

 
We then looked at vocabulary cards from my Dinosaur unit and matched the definitions to the cards.  Their little mouths did a really good job pronouncing some really BIG words - om-ni-vore, pal-e-on-tol-o-gist, car-ni-vore!  

These were our math activities for the week:

We reviewed all different kinds of patterns and the kiddos chose their own stegosaurus plate pattern.  Look at the detail on this one!  This kiddo was loving this activity!  This idea is from the internet.  If it is your original idea, please let me know so I can give you credit!

The rest of the ideas are from my Dinosaur's Math and Literacy Activities.

We have mastered numbers 1 to 10, so we are now working on numbers 11 to 20.  We pointed out places in our classroom where students could look if they needed a visual to help them order the numbers (calendar, number chart, number line).  They did a great job with this!

Addition is a new skill.  We have worked with making and breaking sets, but this was one of the first introductions to the addition (plus) and equals symbols.  I was so impressed with my littles, and loved hearing their self-talk.  "I know! Six plus six equals 12!"

This was a fun little activity where students had to 'deliver' the bones to the museum.  Isn't this time of year wonderful in Kindergarten!  The kids have grown so much and show such patience and maturity.  This is the time when we get asked if we'd like to teach Kindergarten again next year and we all say "YES! YES! YES!" while the go to bed at 7:00 p.m. days of September are all but a flicker of memory!  All joking aside, teaching kindergarten really is the best job in the world!  With this activity, I was so proud of how all the kids took turns so well!

When there are no bulletin boards left, I use the walls, windows and curtain shades for displays of student work and for thematic posters.

 These are four (out of eight) dinosaur posters from my Dinosaur unit.

We are having a 'rawr'ing good time with all of our Dinosaur activities, and I'd like to share these activities with you.  I will be giving away my Dinosaurs Math and Literacy Activities Pack to one lucky winner through Random.org.  If you would like a chance to win, simply leave a comment below.  

The winner will be announced Sunday, April 7th at 8 a.m.

Good luck!