It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Between my Pandora Christmas channel playing in the morning when the kids come in and our schedule being thrown off due to the older kids being in testing, we have been SO in the holiday spirit and can't get enough of holiday {Christmas!!} projects.

{math integration}

As much of a necessity as Elmer's glue is in elementary school, using it gives me hives.  The lid is clogged or they twist the whole lid and a pile of it soaks their paper...I would kiss the inventor of the gluestick.  But, sometimes you just need a little more stickiness.  So I used paintbrushes and my math sorting trays for art and {ta da!} had a liquid glue success story. 

We used sequins {ooh sparkly!} to make pattern ornaments!

I found the ornament outline on the Family Fun website and added the lines myself to help guide the students' patterns.  Go {here} for 40 other holiday craft ideas.

Then we used surrounding patterns to create a different type of pattern ornament!  {These will be gifts for mom & dad.  Sshhhh...don't tell!}

One of my coworkers found an adorable spin on 10 apples up on top for the holiday season.  {If this is your idea, please let me know so I can give you credit!}  The kids make {or color} presents to balance on pictures of themselves just as the characters balanced apples on their heads in the book.  They're SO cute.  The kids worked so quietly that I had to reward them by turning our Pandora Christmas music back on!

If you have them {or enough time to print some out} I've also done this in the past with actual photos of the children instead of having them draw themselves.  Even better if you can get them to make a "balancing" pose.  ;)

{literacy integration}
A few of my kids came in last week talking about Rudolph after they watched the special on TV the night before.  And when your kids have an interest, what do you do??  Build on it!  :)  We started by looking up the song on YouTube and singing along. {Ok, ok...so we're listening to Christmas music basically non-stop. But you should see how productive they are!!!}

We made these reindeer with one footprint and two handprints.  I made it clear from the beginning that they were making reindeer {not necessarily Rudolph} knowing I could turn it into a writing project.  I let them choose their own nose color and then they wrote about their character.  Some told their reindeer's name, some told how it helped Santa...I left it pretty much wide open as long as it was on topic.

My across-the-hall buddy is a first grade teacher {and so much fun to "live across the street" from} and we are constantly sharing ideas of things that my kids aren't quite ready for or that her kids have already mastered.  Luckily she's also a fan of blog stalking and cutesy ideas so we help each other out a lot!

When I realized that first grade was writing a list to Santa about things the kids were asking for, I took that as my cue to think of something more kindergarteny.  As much as I keep saying that I'm "beefing" things up or "extending" activities I also think at times we're asking too much of these kids too soon.  {But that is a totally different conversation for a different day!}  And that's when it hit me...Santa Circle Maps.  :)

Instead of requiring that they know how to write full sentences and sound out the items they were asking for {having been in school for an astounding 60-something days} they drew pictures of their lists and added labels.  Still sounding out, still practicing literacy skills...academic check.  They they used scraps from the construction paper bin to make his arms and legs.  The face is just a coloring sheet I found on Google and shrunk down.

When we spend time talking about what the kids want and being self-focused, I always have to combat that with a discussion on giving.  So to complete our bulletin board, we did some argumentative writing practice.  I will give a ___ to ____ because...  Then I glued their writing in wrapping paper scraps to make adorable lift-the-flap pieces.

Some students chose to give to someone in their family while others chose friends or classmates.  What I loved was seeing all unique gift ideas and specific reasons for why they were chosen.  {ie "I will give my dad new jeans because it is getting cold."}

A very logical answer below.  ;)

We also completed a Christmas tree glyph to tell how we feel about all of the celebrations and displays of the season!  I adapted questions from KidsCount to create our directions.  The ornaments are little foam shapes that you can find at most craft or dollar stores...or Target.  :)

And Mistletoe is still in full swing!  Kids who clipped up the highest throughout the week were able to whisper him a secret before they left for the weekend on Friday...which was an added incentive!  ;)

I'll be teaching Hanukkah and Kwanzaa this week to go along with learning the Christmas story last week.  Candy canes, menorahs and kinaras coming up next!

gobble gobble.

Does anyone have all of next week off for Thanksgiving?  Or are you all with me in a super short week?  We're in session on Monday and Tuesday so I'll be posting later about our upcoming {theme days!}  For now, here are some of my favorite turkey ideas to help you count down to holiday break!

{pattern turkeys}

I found this turkey online somewhere {not my creation!} and made it into a double page for the kids to show 2 different types of patterns.  They still don't understand that they only have to write the rule once, but as long as the letters are right, I don't really put up a fuss about it.  :)

The cut-out turkeys are also a coloring sheet that I had the kids use in a pattern center to create another type of turkey pattern to decorate our cubbies.

We also created Surrounding Patterns {from the inside out} by putting feathers on a turkey body.  We glued down diecut pattern blocks but you could also used colored pasta or just draw the shapes.  P.S. If you really want to give your kids a giggle, tell them they have to help the turkeys so they're not naked!  Click for your very own {naked turkey}.  Disclaimer: not my creation, just a coloring page with erased feathers!

{turkey recipe}

I attempted writing a recipe for turkeys but have to honestly say that this activity is a little complex for most kindergarteners even when given the choice to write about any Thanksgiving food...since mashed potatoes, stuffing or pumpkin pie would require a larger choice of ingredients and cooking steps.  I realized that a few years ago when I first tried it but after seeing Erica Bohrer's cute turkey recipe card I thought I'd try it again.  {Note to self: use only as a challenge activity for a few kids next year!!}  Oh well.  Here it is if you're brave enough.  ;)

{turkey crowns}

Our cafeteria manager puts on a fabulous Thanksgiving luncheon every year for parents and the community to come attend and I figure if the school's all turkey'd out, we should be too!  My favorite turkey headbands:

{cut out 4-6 feathers of your color choice.  glue to the back of a sentence strip.}

 {flip the sentence strip over so the feathers stick out the back.}

 {glue a brown circle for the head}

 {fold over the tab of each wing and only glue down that section}

 {add a beak, eyes & snood}

 I didn't get a picture without faces in it so here's one of me from a few years ago.

{display turkeys with a touch of teaching}

I've always made these turkeys just to display and be festive but I'm really trying to focus on everything having an educational purpose so this year they received a make-over!

My highest kids created rhyming turkeys.  I was hoping they'd be able to come up with 6 real words but that was difficult for some of their words {their choice} so if we exhausted our minds and no one in the group {including me!} could come up with another real word I let them finish with nonsense.  The funniest part about that was seeing what pictures they came up with!

My middle groups created initial sound turkeys with 6 different words on the feathers.  I only accepted real words {and classmate names} for these because this is a skill we're really working on in both reading and writing.  They had to give me at least 3 examples before I wrote their letter.  If they couldn't, they had to think of a different letter before they began.

My lower group also created initial sound turkeys but only had to think of one or two words for each instead of trying to come up with 6 examples.  They were encouraged to use the pictorial alphabet on the word wall and I also had letter posters available for reference if they got stuck.

These are the letter posters our awesome EC teacher {Sara} made that the kids used for reference.  At first I was afraid that would make it too difficult but they had to tell me the word before adding it so that made them think and listen for the right sound.  {ex: on the Ss poster there was a smile and one of my girls had to work through and tell me why it had to be called smile and not mouth before she could add it.}

You could also make math turkeys with a number in the body and different ways to show the number on each feather...picture, number word, addition or subtraction equation, etc!

{cornucopia writing}

Okay, so I know this isn't a turkey but it is an awesome way to update a coloring page...so I'm pretty sure you won't mind!  Instead of listing things we're thankful for, color fruits or vegetables to be put in a cornucopia.  Cut them out and fold back the top of each fruit {I help with this} then glue down only that part to create a lift-the-flap type of picture.

 After they're glued down, the children write one thing they're thankful for under each fruit.

 Hang to display for an interactive bulletin board!  :)

Pilgrim & Native American activities will be posted tomorrow!!

pattern parade.

A little fun on a Friday.

Our current ImagineIt {literacy} unit is on, you guessed it, patterns!  Or, as every year old I've ever met likes to say it...pat-er-ins.  So we decided that today we would all wear patterns to school and have a pattern parade!  Yes, we did march through every other kindergarten class showing off our patterns and doing our cheer.  But we had so much fun we just had to do it again {and again and again} back in our own classroom!  It was the end of the day on a Friday and they were having a blast so, hey...why not?!  :)

My apologies in advance for the volume & awesome quality of my voice!!