Kindergarten Creations

How To Build a Snowman

Now that winter is officially here and Christmas is over, we will focus on winter topics including snow, snowmen, polar animals, and more. Each year we complete a "How To" unit, and this year we will write a "How to Build a Snowman" book. I created this set of materials to use while we focus on our "How to Build a Snowman" writing. It includes emergent readers, a pocket chart, graphic organizers, a snowman craft and more. Students will complete all of these activities, and then write their "How to Build a Snowman" craft using what they learned.

We will read this "How to Build a Snowman" emergent reader. We will focus on sequencing and using context clues as we read.

We will practice sequencing, using this "How to Build a Snowman" sequencing mat. The students will cut out the pictures, and glue them in order.

We will practice snowman related words as we complete this snowman "write the room." This will help us identify snowman related words to use in the book we write later.

We will complete this class pocket chart which sequences, "How to Build a Snowman."

My kids love to sing, so we will sing this "I Can Build a Snowman" song.

Before we create our "How to Build a Snowman" writing book, we will make a list of things needed to build a snowman. We will use this list as we write our book.

We will use this book template to write our books. We will work on these a few days during our writing block. We will also illustrate our books, and share!

I try to squeeze in a quick craft on Fridays. We will use this snowman template to build a snowman. This is a perfect activity to end our unit with.

I would love for you to use this unit in your classroom if you choose.

Click here to get my "How to Build a Snowman" unit!

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Crystal McGinnis

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Paper Bag Penguin FREEBIE

By Crystal McGinnis 8:38 AM

Winter is quickly approaching, and that means most classrooms will be learning about winter animals at some point. Each year, we create these paper bag penguins to go with our polar unit. They are very easy to create, and they make an adorable 3-D classroom display! I have included directions to create these paper bag penguins below, and a link to get the template for free in my TPT store. Enjoy!

GET MY PAPER BAG PENGUIN FREE TEMPLATE HERE

Crystal McGinnis

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16 Literacy and Math Activities for the story,The Mitten, by Jan Brett

By Crystal McGinnis 8:30 AM

One of my favorite stories to read during the winter months is The Mitten,

by Jan Brett. It is perfect for teaching sequencing, story features including title, author, setting, characters, and so much more! The kids love to try to recreate the story, and I love that the kids are learning while having fun! During our story unit, we complete many literacy and math activities. I usually stretch this unit over a few days. Here are some of the activities that we complete.

After reading the story to the class, we complete this story features chart. We add the title, author, setting, and characters to our chart. I use a pocket chart, so that it is interactive and the kids can participate. You can also create a poster with the story features.

One of our favorite Mitten activities is sequencing the story. I created this interactive mitten that allows the students to place the characters in order, while placing them in the mitten.

I also created this in a black and white version so that the kids could color it, and then take it home to sequence the story for their parents.

I also made this additional sequencing activity to supplement the book. Students read the emergent reader (which is very predictable). After reading the emergent reader, students sequence the emergent reader (which mimics the book) on this sequencing mat. We then place our emergent reader in our book boxes for an additional familiar read.

Young students love to sing! I wrote this song that goes along with the book, The Mitten. It is sang to the tune of I'm a Little Teapot. It is also perfect for a shared reading lesson.

I love to incorporate writing into our story units also. I designed non-fiction slides for all of the animals in the story. We use these slides, along with other non-fiction materials, to research each of the animals. We then write a non-fiction piece about the animal. The students love to share these with the class, and then put them on display.

I add this little art activity into my lesson plans. Students choose an animal from the story to place in their mitten. They illustrate their animal on the outside.

I try to teach across the curriculum, and include math in our story units. After reading The Mitten, we create a class graph of our favorite animal from the story. We then transfer our data onto this bar graph. It is interesting to see what animal is the class favorite, because many of the animals from the story are not common animals. (badger, hedgehog etc.)

My kiddos love add & color in any form. I created this mitten version to keep them engaged.

I also have several other mitten themed activities that we complete throughout our story study. We practice color words, cvc words, story features, and more!

If you like these Mitten activities, you are welcome to use them in your own classroom.

You can get my Mitten unit in my teacherspayteachers store.

CLICK HERE TO SEE IT!

Crystal McGinnis

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Christmas December Math Notebook (Math Time, Morning Work, or Homework)

By Crystal McGinnis 5:48 PM

December is officially here, and most classrooms are in holiday teaching/SURVIVING mode. The kids know that Christmas is coming, and keeping their attention is going to be a real challenge. If you are looking for a low prep, stress free way to make it to Christmas break, my math notebook may be just what you need. I started creating these math notebooks when I discovered how unappealing the math series was that our school had adopted. It covered all of the correct skills, but it was very difficult to keep the kids engaged. My math notebooks align with the kindergarten math skills needing taught, but they also provide the kids with holiday themed activities that are engaging and fun.

Many teachers use my math notebooks as homework or morning work. They print them, staple them, and done!

Each of my math notebooks are 20 pages long. I attach a cover to the front, and staple all of the pages together so that I only have to prep math one time during the month. Yes!!! The kids keep these in their desks, unless they are super messy, and we pull them out when we are ready for them. No passing out papers, no collecting papers, just pull them out and complete!