Search results matching tag 'holidays'

Recipe for Mom

Anonymous — Sat, 11 May 2013 18:47:00 GMT

My students celebrated their moms by making this flower pot recipe holder craft.

They attached a "Recipe for Mom" card.

The craft came from Oriental Trading, but the exact craft is no longer available on their site.

I had leftovers from years ago when I purchased it. I hope they'll bring it back because I've done this same project every year. Happy Mother's Day!

Taking Care of Earth

Anonymous — Wed, 01 May 2013 01:29:00 GMT

Get your kids thinking about trash and being responsible with how they throw it away.

My annual Earth Day unit would not be complete without using the cute and creative Wartville Wizard story. The characters in the story literally get trash "stick ons" for being slobs, until the town wizard teaches them the valuable lesson of caring for our resources.

This Power over Trash writing activity ends my read aloud.

Students think of a consequence for littering and illustrate it...complete with a "stick on"
trash object.

Love it...a not very happy slob's consequence is for trash to stick to their feet so they can't move.

A little pestering to help slobs throw away trash might help here.

Yuck, a trash shower ought to teach everyone a lesson!

You can get this lesson at my TPT store

my funny little valentines

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 20:44:00 GMT

We have had lots of fun this month.

We had a very happy Valentine's Day...

we made a Valentine Zoo...

wrote about things we love...

and did some valentine math...

Hope everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day!Thank you to all our parents that helped with our celebration!

Topping Off the Day

Anonymous — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 00:27:00 GMT

I topped off today by combining Valentine's Day with Lincoln history.

I read this book that gives background on how Lincoln used to keep important notes inside is top hat.

We then made our Valentine holders Lincoln top hat style

I also wanted to give a shout out to a wonderful resource I won in The Science Penguin's recent giveaway. I can't wait to try out her Ultimate Science Weekly Five.

The first unit I'm going to focus on will be the Solar System.

The stations include reading comprehension skills, vocabulary building, exploring/hands on and more.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 22:37:46 GMT

I know, I know, some folks don’t love Valentine’s Day. For me, in kindergarten anyway, Valentine’s isn’t about romantic love, but all about being a kind and caring friend. That’s how I present it and they really do love each other and want to show it. We had a hectic, but fun filled day. I [...]

100th Day!

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 23:24:42 GMT

Well, it really doesn’t get much better than the 100th day in kindergarten. It’s kind of like Christmas, Valentine’s Day (coming Thursday!), and the Fourth of July wrapped into one. Well, it is in my class anyway. I used an entire bottle of glitter to make this for the doorway: We sang our hearts [...]

Celebrating Diversity With Chinese New Year Activities

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 10:00:00 GMT

Hello again and Gung Hay Fat Choy, or Happy Chinese New Year! It's Ayn from little illuminations!

If you know me or read my blog, little illuminations, you know that we celebrate diversity in my pre-k classroom. I try to include a variety of cultural celebrations throughout the year, especially those celebrated by my students. Sometimes it seems hard to present information on holidays that you personally don't celebrate, but even a few small activities can help every student feel included, special and important.

I usually touch on Chinese New Year in my class, but since we have a couple of Asian students in our Pre-K group this year, I'm giving it a little more attention. I had planned on several activities, but the children have really been interested in learning more so we keep finding fun ways to learn about this holiday!

Chinese New Year begins on February 10th this year and lasts for 15 days. Each year is named for one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. 2013 is the Year of the Snake.

Today I'm sharing some of the fun things we've done so far. There is still so much more fun ahead! On Friday, one of our class moms will bring the traditional costumes for both boys and girls for us to see, share some of the traditional holiday customs and also make Chinese dumplings for us to taste! We are very excited!

These Chinese lanterns are fun to make, great practice for cutting skills and make lovely decorations!

We are using kabob skewers as improvised chopsticks and practicing our chopstick skills by picking up pom poms. I thought the children would tire of this quickly, but even after a few days, it remains a popular free choice activity!

I was making one or two of these firecrackers to decorate a bulletin board and the kids jumped right in and started making tons of these! We just used small rectangles of red paper and made designs with markers and added a little white pipe cleaner for a fuse.

I made this little snake as a prop for one of our class discussions.

Later, some of the kids made some of their own snakes in art center.

They have also made a few dragons.

We've also been reading some great books about celebrating Chinese New Year. Here are a few of our favorites:

Be sure to stop by little illuminations next week for more of our Chinese New Year Activities! We will be making dragon puppets, paper fortune cookies (and writing our own fortunes!) and having a dragon parade! See you there!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!!!

Stop by and visit me anytime at littleilluminations.blogspot.com or visit the little illuminations fanpage on facebook! And be sure to check out PreK+K Sharing EEE!

Learning from History Lincoln and Washington

Anonymous — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 03:39:00 GMT

I'm using this virtual tour of the Lincoln Memorial to bring history to life.

For Washington this interactive timeline is a treasure.

And combine both presidents in this catchy song

On another note, I shared a neat resource for a thesaurus study over at All Things Upper Grade.

Valentine's Day....Again

Anonymous — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 02:50:00 GMT

With February fast approaching, that means Valentine's Day is just around the corner. I know that many people are gearing up for parties and celebrations but, eh, that just isn't me. I shared with you last year that I really don't make too big a deal out of this day of love, but I do like to do two little things that the kids really enjoy. These are the same activities I shared with you last year, but I know that there are many more people joining me along on this journey and I wanted to share them again :)

Of course, the students will pass out valentines to their classmates. I am not into spending a ton, so I made these Valentine's Day Homework passes. I know my kids will love them, and they didn't cost me a dime :) Win-win! Feel free to print out a copy for yourself. The download includes a "Love, Your Teacher" AND a blank one for you to sign, or just keep as is!

But, since you are a follower on my blog....if you leave a comment below (or email me at TeachinginRoom6@yahoo.com), I will customize the passes for you. Same deal as last year...You MUST be a follower of mine here on the blog. Just leave the name you would like me to write on there (Love, Mrs. Jones or whatnot) and your email address, and I will get them to you as soon as possible. :)

Another thing we will be doing is in math. You see, just like last year,
we are beginning our study of solid shapes, including surface area. I am going to have the students do an introduction concept lesson on this skill, using Valentine's Day as my hook. The students will have to figure out how much wrapping paper will be needed to cover their valentine box.

The basic idea of the concept lesson is to allow the students to explore this big concept of surface area without a formal lesson. It is to give them a chance to discover for themselves what the big idea of the skill is before I simply tell them. So for this lesson, the students will be given a box, and some construction paper (the wrapping paper), as well as a ruler, scissors, pencil and paper. The will be asked to figure out EXACTLY how much paper is needed to cover the box with no overlap.

If last year is any indication, this is a HARD lesson, but doable. The students will struggle, but there are some ways they can figure it all out. They will be frustrated, but if they use some of the problem solving skills they have, they should be able to tackle this. It is "backwards" from the normal teaching, but that is the idea. I want them to see what they can do before I simply tell them. It helps them to internalize the idea before I just give them an algorithm. This is what I did with the fraction concept lesson and the students are all the better for it.

Though, as a teacher, it is really, really tough to see the kids get frustrated. It makes me frustrated. However, the end result is worth it. I will report back and let you know how it goes!

And for more February Freebies, visit Laura Candler's awesome link up! There are lots and lots of ideas for you to use in your classroom during not just Valentine's Day, but all of the other February happenings.

Free Chinese New Year Celebration Dance Activity!

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 11:00:00 GMT

Hello EC Community,

The Chinese New Year in 2013 is February 10^th. We are saying good-bye to the Dragon, and entering the Year of the Snake! Here is a lively movement lesson for young children that is based on ideas and traditions of the Chinese New Year. It is designed for a large, unobstructed space, such as a gym.

CHINESE NEW YEAR

A Dance Celebration

MOVEMENT CONCEPTS COVERED IN THIS LESSON

Body Awareness, Spatial Awareness, Rhythmic Awareness, Movement Quality, Prop Design and Exploration

SUGGESTIONS FOR MUSIC FOR THIS LESSON 

Selections of Chinese music, preferably cuts that are upbeat and rhythmic

MATERIALS NEEDED FOR THIS LESSON

A large cloth (red color is preferable), small red (dessert-size) paper plates, black markers

Optional: Visual aids, such as pictures of a Chinese New Year parade, and pictures of the animals in the Chinese Zodiac

DESCRIPTION

I. Greeting Dance

Start out the class by asking the children: Do you know of a special holiday that many people celebrate this time of year? Explain that Chinese New Year is very similar to New Year in the United States, but it doesn’t happen at the same time, and many of the customs are different.

Introduce the greeting dance. This is inspired by the custom in which families go door-to-door and greet their families and friends, as a way to start off the New Year. Put on one of the selections of music, and ask the children to walk to the beat. Then, stop the music periodically. Each time you stop, ask them to greet the nearest person. First let them greet them with a “hello” and a wave, but then ask them to greet someone without words, and then ask them to wave with different body parts, such as a foot or an elbow.

II. Gross Motor Skills Practice:

Continue the activity by leading the children in a gross motor skill exercise based on the many animals that represent different years in the Chinese Calendar. (Show the pictures of the various animals if you have them):

Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar.

Line the children up on one side of the large space with plenty of room between each child. Tell them that they will go back and forth across the space, responding to your instructions. Use the prompts below as a framework and add your own ideas. Allow the children to develop each prompt before moving on to the next one.

It is the year of the Snake -- how does a snake move?
How would a Monkey move?
Now can you go across the floor like a Rooster?
Imagine you are a Dragon. What do you look like? How would you move? Would you fly? Or are you a water dragon?
Imagine you are a Rat on a dark night. Would you move quietly and swiftly?
Can you move slowly through the field like a Sheep?
Now can you gallop through the field like a Horse?
Imagine you are an Ox pulling a heavy load behind you. How does that change the way you move?
Can you move like a playful Dog, doing tricks as you go across the floor?
Can you dart and dodge in a zigzag pattern, imagining you are a Boar?
Can you run slowly and quietly, and then leap and imagine you are a Tiger?
Let’s all hop across the floor like a Rabbit!

III. Dragon Parade

For the remainder of this lesson, you will prepare for the class’s Chinese New Year celebration. First, ask the children to make their own dragon faces. (Bring out the small red paper plates and black markers). Suggest to them that they design the dragon face on the plate, and then set them aside. Red is the color of Chinese New Year which symbolizes good luck, so you might want to discuss that as they are drawing. You can also play one of the musical selections while the children are designing their faces.

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For a final celebration dance, ask the children hold the dragon face he or she has designed, and while the children move freely throughout the space, prompt them to dance about all of the ideas you have talked about: greetings, animals of the Chinese calendar, parades, dragons, etc.

When the dance is finished, ask each child to hold his or her dragon face high in the air while making a dragon shape in their body, holding the shape for a few counts, then melting to the floor.

MOVING IS LEARNING!

http://movingislearning.com/movingislearning.com

Happy 2013, and Keep On Dancin',

Connie