Month: April 2012

Phonics mini-lessons

Here are some fun whole group activities that we did for “Ending Sounds.” This is a tricky Kindergarten skill, but vital for reading!

Word Family Writing missing letter -ug -ig

Word Family Writing -ug -ig

Word family sort ug ig

Jack and the beanstalk

Every day is Earth Day!

Pete the Cat Activities

This is such a cute story. Pete the cat has some white shoes and every time he steps in something, they change colors! It is a great predictable story to help reinforce reading color words.

Spring has Sprung in Kindergarten!!

Yeah! Spring is here! Now that it is time to begin planting, I am started to gather my inspirations. Here is what I have found on Pinterest. Now…what will I do the same or differently. Stay posted to see!

Sunflowers Art – I decorated the walls of my classroom with these bright sunflowers. The students cut out the petals and added a long stem and leaves.

Sunflower Whole group Lesson – I drew this concept web and inserted the sight word sentence in the middle. The students then took turns thinking about how a sunflower looks and what it is. Then, they used these words to write about the flowers that they made.

Sunflower Writing – After the students made their sunflowers, I had them write about them. The rules were: Use a capital letter to begin the sentence, use sight words, add the correct ending mark. The focus sight word that we were working on was “are.”

Paint sample Flowers-I think this would be great to use for sight words. On each strip, students could write a sight word that has the same beginning sound. The pink could be for sight words that begin with letter “Aa”, green for sight words that begin with letter “Bb” etc….

Grass planters– These are so fun to watch grow. I have used recycled milk cartons, from the school cafeteria and it worked very well. All you do is get just simple grass seeds and plant in soil, water each day, give sunlight and then watch grow!

Tissue Paper Flower Art – Just trace the child’s hand, cut out, add stems then crunch tissue paper to look like flowers. Now you have a boquet for mom (possibly Mother’s day gift?!)

CD case planter– how smart!

Toilet Paper Tube planters and Recycled Green House! Just cut tubes in half, add soil, seeds and water, then close up the tupperware. Being that it is a greenhouse, the evaporation and condensation self waters the seeds. Be sure to keep it near the sun.

Date chart printables, as show above: Plant Growth Outside

Extra fun Easter Ideas!

Easter is coming! Bunnies, eggs, candy, butterflies and new life are on their way! Below are pictures of my inspirations for this fun filled week of learning. Thank you Pinterest for saving my online search time. I can’t wait to see how I bring these ideas to life, in my Kindergarten classroom. Stay tuned to see! I will post them along the way!

Masking Tape Resist Watercolor Eggs – Use masking tape or painters tape to place onto egg drawings (white tag paper works better for the tape to peel off, but I used white construction paper and it worked fine, but the tape did not come off as smoothly). Then, have the students paint the egg with watercolors. Let it dry then peel off the tape and this is what you have!

Rabbit Art – I just drew out the bunny pieces and had the kids trace them and glue them together. I love how they all look different. Then, I gave them orange and green construction paper and had them draw out their own carrots and carrot stems. See how some are huge and others are so tiny. These rabbits are so sweet!

Rabbit Ears-Whose the real Easter bunny?

Easter Egg hunt (that is not in a yard!)

This is a very cool Easter Egg Hunt for your kids at home! What an inspiration. Hmmm….how can I bring this idea into the classroom? I might hide plastic eggs in my Lakeshore Sand & Water table. I guess we will have to wait and see! I always like to use the Internet to inspire me. Great ideas come from one another! Thanks to those who posted such inspiring ideas. (Just click on the pictures to take you to the original website.)

Egg-shaped Chick

Easter Egg Art– This is inspired from the beautiful Jan Brett book, “The Easter Egg,” which is about an egg decorating contest. Each little bunny in the book decorate a special egg to give to the Easter bunny, so that he can pass out the eggs on Easter. How sweet to have your children make thier own unique egg!

Easter Bunny Word Problems (This was my inspiration for the bunnies above.)

Paper Plate Bunny Craft– This was made with 2 little cheap paper plates. This is a great way to teach fractions-whole and half, as well as symmetry.

Recycled Egg Planters!

Mini-Bunny baskets!

Egg-filled lunch…Mmmmm!

Toilet Paper Roll Bunnies– This would be a great measurement activity. Which bunny is taller? shorter? the same height? Which bunny has the longest ears? What makes each bunny alike and different?