Jan Brett, Sylvester and More

We sewed mittens and I had the kids use animals to re-tell the story of "The Mitten".

Self selected reading using various tools such as pointers and glasses.

Interactive writing. We made a graph of our favorite Jan Brett books then wrote about our graph.

One of my favorite read alouds.

Seasonal art project after reading "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble". It ties in nicely with our seasons/weather unit.

Dice Game. The kids roll a dice, write the number in the middle column then write what comes before and after that number.

Fun with shape art.

Groundhog Day art project taken from www.makinglearningfun.com

Writing Around the Room. I gave the kids clues in each box and had them do a scavenger hunt. I have a student observer so she was in charge of this center! 

More Winter

Between early dismissals, two hour delays and snow days I'm having a hard time finishing up my themes for the month. I've had to cut back on a lot. Next week's plans are Polar Bears and The Mitten.

Felt clothing and story retelling using the story "The Jacket
I Wear in the Snow".

Making shape penguins at center time.

TLC Snowman (Teaching Little Children). It is a
lesson I've used for years that teaches directional and
positional words. It is step by step and language based.
I don't think the company exists anymore but I have tons
of their lessons and art ideas.

Laminated snowman shape and the kids make
their own snowman details using play doh.

This day was one of our early dismissal days and I had 4 kids
absent so instead of reading groups we did watercolor
painting.

Next week's predictable pocket chart story.

Penguin felt finger puppets. Good for the story "Five Little
Penguins Slipping on the Ice" retelling or just language activities.

We read "The Snowy Day" just before being dismissed
early to go home because of the weather.

This is the view of the bus drop off/pick up area right outside
my classroom door.

First Week of January

Stenciling snowmen.

Tracing and coloring penguins.

Roll dice, write number on the penguin's tummy.

Snowman Writing Around the Room

Our finished snowmen. We added details after the paint dried.

After reading this story for the week, one of our
centers was Creation Station and we used
materials to make our own paper snowmen.

Symmetrical Lesson. The kids used various
cookie cutter shapes and cut the shape into
2 equal parts and discovered if the shape
was symmetrical or not symmetrical.

Snowman Creation Station.

January Literature