5K Teacher: Tis' the Season

Tis' the Season for parties, ornament making, elf sightings and Starbucks :)

Christmas break is so close I can almost taste it....anyways, this week was awesome! I kid you not, my kids were on point and focused all week. We began our week by discussing trips that we have taken (across town, out of state, country etc). As a class we brainstormed about what we would need to take on a trip. Of course, once they decided what they would need for a long trip we had to get prepared for our week long "trip". You see this week was Christmas Around the World and boy did we see the World! Our first stamp on our passport was to Mexico where students learned about Las Posados. Using Goggle Earth we were able to see landmarks and other cool features of Mexico. If you are not using Goggle Earth in your classroom, start. I highly recommend it! It is a great tool for connecting what we are learning with a visual. Also, you can teach parallel/perpendicular lines etc. Anyway....We read the Legend of the Poinsettia and also made Poinsettias with our hand prints. So much fun. As a grade level we decided to switch classes that way students could learn about Kwanzaa and Hanukkah as well (it was a great way to collaborate without lots of planning!) Student passports were stamped when they returned to their homeroom. For homework they completed a travel log summarizing their travels for the day.

On Wednesday we read Polar Express and talked about gift giving. Students shared with their groups about special gifts they have been given. It was cool to hear things that were special to them. Most were not expensive (i.e., piggy bank). However, the reason they were special were so meaningful. Students wrote a short narrative about their gift. They had to tell me why the gift was special, who gave the gift and how they used it. To conclude our gift giving lesson and to go along with the Polar Express we made ornaments. We mixed together apple sauce, glue, and cinnamon for an amazingly spelling mixture. Students rolled out the mixture and used cookie cutters to create their ornament. The room was still smelling awesome on FRIDAY!

One highlight, well really two, this week was working with our buddy classes. My class on Thursday and then again on Friday worked with a 1st grade and a kindergarten class. We made our elves with them, see my previous post for the patterns. It was awesome to see my babies working patiently with these children. When they finished several took it upon themselves to read a book with their buddy. It was awesome! My kids are already begging to go back.

Here are some pics I took this week. Enjoy!