Valentine Thematic Unit

Check out our new thematic unit:
Valentines Red, Valentines Blue: Sweet Thematic Curriculum Essentials

Table of Contents:

Scripted Literacy Lessons With Independent Options:

Speedy Heart: Naming Alphabet Letter Sounds Fluently

Valentine YOYO: Reading Sight Words

Postal Race: Reading and Alphabetizing Names

Valentine Sounds: Blending Sounds Together

Capital Clash: Building Alphabet Letter and Sound Fluency

Independent Activities: 

Vanishing Hearts: Reading Alphabet Letter Sounds Fluently

Conversation Hearts: Reading and Writing High-Frequency Words

Sorting Mail: Reading and Writing Various Fonts

Scripted Math Lessons With Independent Options:

Find a Heart: Identifying Numbers

Valentine Count: Making Numbers Equal to 10

Cupcake Wars: Adding and Subtracting on a Number Line Using the Signs + and -.

Independent Activities: 

Draw a Shape: Drawing Shapes

Symmetry: Making a Heart

Candy Heart Graph: Gathering and Interpreting Data

Art Projects

Valentine Animals

Valentine Mouse

Valentine Puzzle

Kitchen Science

Sweetheart Pudding

Decorate a Valentine Cookie

Songs

My Friend

Love Dust

Writing Prompts/Word Wall

Valentine Word Wall Words

My Friends

Things I Love

Guided Reading Books

My Valentine

Wind and Water Science Center

Here is my latest science center. It took some work and some brainstorming to figure out what to put in it, but the kids are having a great time with it. Here is some of what is available at our science shelf:

A wind vane to show wind direction. To make a wind vane, poke a thumbtack through a straw and into a pencil. Push the pencil through a paper cup to make the wind vane stand up. Glue arrows to the straw to show wind direction. Children can blow on the wind vane to watch how air creates movement. What direction is the wind blowing. For more information on how to make a wind vane, go here.

An anemometer to show wind speed. To make an anemometer cut out two equal strips of cardboard. Glue a paper cup to the bottom of each end of the cardboard strips. Push a thumbtack through the cardboard strips and into a pencil eraser. Push the other end of the pencil into a lump of modeling clay to make it stand up. Who can make the cups turn the fastest? The slowest? For more information on how to make an anemometer, go here or here.

Create lightning. Rub balloons on a woolen mitten. This will create static electricity. Can you make the balloons stick to anything? Now charge two balloons with static and bring them together in the dark. You will see a spark. This is lightning!

Watch air currents. Set out a lamp and turn it on. Be careful! It will get hot! Sprinkle a little bit of baby powder over the lamp and watch the air currents. Baby powder above the bulb will float because warm air rises.

There are tons of ideas for weather experiments out there so happy discovering!

Chinese New Year Thematic Unit

Teaching thematically certainly makes practicing the same early math and reading skills over and over and over and over again more enjoyable. And, it provides opportunity to cross the reading, math, science, and social studies curricula's into one enjoyable learning experience.

Yesterday we learned where China is and enjoyed some of their customs.

Today was all about dragons. And the excitement of turning into one!

Snowmen Come to School

I sent home 3 sheets of construction paper with each student and a challenge to use creativity and things around the home to bring a snowman to school. You can see the results are great and the artists are proud!

Chinese New Year: Gung Hay Fat Choy

Get ready to celebrate the Chinese New Year with our
"Chinese New Year" thematic unit. 

As with all of our units, the  math and reading lessons are scripted
 and linked to the 

common core math and reading standards.

Enjoy

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Let It Snow!

Who would think that I would be opening all of the classroom windows because it is so hot in January! Here in Idaho it has been very warm and dry. So, it is time to bring winter into the classroom and what better way to begin? Making Snowflakes!

Out of my 45 students, only 1 had ever before made a snowflake! So after careful modeling (even with snowflakes that end up as duds), we went to the tables with our scissors and began to cut.

It was so much fun to watch the kids open their very first snowflake! They smiled a wide (sometimes toothless) smile and quickly said, "Can I make another one?" So the next 15 minutes was spent with scissors furiously cutting.

At center time some of our activities included painting a snowman and constructing a snow kid!

So, let winter begin, snow or not!
Check back for some more winter fun!

Winter Unit: Pre-K, K, and 1

Reach common core standards the fun and active way by using this complete cross curricular thematic unit “White Wonderful Winter.”

Available at both of our on-line stores: 

Teachers Pay Teachers or Teachers Notebook

This 165 page unit contains scripted lessons with clearly stated objectives, common core standards, rationales, and materials. These activities are clearly written, easy to use, and need limited amounts of preparation. This professional style curriculum is just what you need to teach important concepts. The lessons can also be readily handed off to a parent volunteer or a classroom aide with complete confidence that objectives of the lesson will be reached.

Table of Contents:

Literacy

Scripted Literacy Lessons With Independent Options:

Abominable Snow Monster: Fluent Reading Alphabet Letters or Sight Words

Snowball Sounds: Naming Alphabet Letter Sounds Fluently

Sound Blizzard: Connecting Sounds to Letters

Snowflake ABC: Putting Letters in Alphabetical Order

Snowflake Hunt: Writing Alphabet Letters

Cocoa Words: Writing CVC Words

Independent Activities: 

Letter Whirl: Matching and Writing Alphabet Letters 

Hat Colors: Tracing Color Words

Math

Scripted Math Lessons With Independent Options:

Bundle Up: Using a 10 Frame to Make Number Combinations

Blizzard: Identifying before, after, and between using a number line

Skating Lessons: Counting Objects for Two Numbers in Succession

Snowball Fights at School: Counting by 10’s

Independent Activities: 

Snowflake Numbers: Composing 10 + a Given Number.

Snowballs: Representing Quantity using a 10 Frame

Snowstorm 10-Frame Write the Room: Writing Numerals Representing a Set

Science

Scripted Science Lessons

Snow Dough:Combining Ingredients to Make a New Substance

Crystal Creations: Growing Crystals

Writing Prompts/Word Wall

Winter Word Wall

Prompts: 

Winter Sports 

What I like About Winter

Guided Reading Books

Winter (Level C)

Winter (Level E)

Kitchen Cafe

Make a Snowflake, Then Eat!

Art Projects

Snowflake: Following Directions to Make a Snowflake

Snowy Day Kid: Constructing a Snow Kid Using Geometric Shapes

Songs

Snowflakes Falling Down

Bundle Me Up

Winter Time

BURRR: A Game to Build Sight Word or Letter Naming (or sound) Automaticy

Download FREE at our TPT store!

Reach Common Core Early Reading Objectives (grades Pre-K through 2nd grade, special education, and/or ELL) the fun way by playing the game BURRRRR. As found in all of our available thematic units, this lesson is presented as a scripted lesson for easy delivery and confidence that objectives will be met. Ideas to use this game for independent practice are also included. Enjoy our new free product, we know your students will!

Please follow us here at our blog or at our TPT store and check out our available products. Enjoy!

Crazy For Snowmen: Curriculum Essentials for Math, Literacy and More!

This 125 page Snowman unit is divided into areas of literature, music, art, literacy, math, science, independent practice, creative writing, word wall, and guided reading. The activities are clearly written, easy to use, and need limited amounts of preparation. The lessons (games or activities) included are scripted. They are written in a format that can be easily taught by the teacher or readily handed off to a parent volunteer or a classroom aide with complete confidence that common core teaching objectives will be reached. Also included are many independent activities and  independent adaptions to the scripted activities to extend learning.

Table of Contents

Scripted Literacy Activities:

Snowman Spill: Automaticy of Lowercase Letter Sounds

Snowman Match-up: Matching Letters and Sounds

Build a Snowman: Blending and Segmenting Words

Snowman Melt: Reading High Frequency Words

Draw a Snowman: Reviewing Early Phonics and Phonological Skills

Independent Practice

 My Favorite Things: Identifying Medial Sounds

Beginning Sounds: Identifying and Writing Beginning Sounds

A-Z: Fluently Connecting Dots From a-z.

Writing the Alphabet A-Z and a-z: Practicing Alphabet Letter Formation

Scripted Math Activities:

Snowball Fight: Comparing Numbers

The Snowman’s Buttons: Decomposing Numbers

Snowman Sets: Joining Sets Using a 10 Frame Strategy

Snowman Sums: Making a Sum of 10 Using an Unknown and a KnowN Addend With Visual Representation.

Independent Practice

Symmetry Snowman: Symmetry Activity

Snowman Puzzles: Using Geometric Shapes to Construct a Snowman

The Tallest Snowman: Measurement

Snowman Number Hunt: Matching Quantity and Numerals

Math Journal Prompt: Joining Sets

Guided Reading Books

The Snowmen (Level B)

The Snowmen (Level C)

Writing Prompts/Word Wall

My Snowman

How To Build a Snowman

Snowman Word Wall

Science

The Melting Snowman: Observing States of Matter

Science Journal Page: Why does the sun melt the snowman?

Art Projects

Snowman Gallery Art Show

Marshmallow Snowman

Shape Snowman

Painted Snowman Portfolio Sample

Songs

Five Little Snowmen

I’m a Little Snowman

Drawing a Snowman