Five for Friday - MLK Edition

Although, it was a short week, I was able to fit in many lessons that celebrated our diversity while learning about Martin Luther King, Jr.

This theme has a particular soft spot in my heart.  I always share with my students how my mother was a victim of segregation.  As a migrant worker, she often faced many challenges in the fields and in the classroom.

We began our learning with a simple investigation of eggs.  I used this freebie as my guide.

I asked my kids their opinion about the brown eggs and it was amazing how they thought it would be different.  None had eaten a brown egg before.  So, we scrambled some up for a snack.  

This was a great starting point to learning that we are all different on the outside but the same on the inside.

We made these MLK portraits inspired by TLC Lessons.   I have used her art lessons for many years and highly recommend them.

Our language arts program had recipe writing as our writing this week.  So, I choose to do Friendship Salad.  I like to do this recipe later in the year rather than the first week of school for many reasons.  By now, we really know each other and this is just a good time to reinforce teamwork and working together.  In kindergarten, they understand it better now.

I love how this spot in our classroom turned out.  It is a collection of all our learning this week.  I used portions of this unit as part of my teaching and learning.  

Here is an up close look at a piece of the writing.  I love kid art!  

Lastly, here is the quick sign I made to remind students not to yell my name as I was testing students on their weekly fluency test. 

No, Mrs. Parker.  

Happy Teaching and Learning!

Be sure to follow me on Instagram. I usually post there first.

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Washi Book Binding

Sometimes, I am not able to bind my books using a book binder.  Here is an alternative.

Step 1:

 
Insert book pages into sheet protectors.  Staple.


Step 2

Use washi tape to cover the staples.  Make sure that it is secure.  You may want to washi tape the inside as well for durability.

Find this amazing book here.  

Ta-da! You're finished!

Happy Teaching!

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A New Beginning

I just love that as teachers we have many opportunities for new beginnings; or clean slates.  It always seems that after Winter Break something magical seems to happen to kindergarteners.  They have a better understanding of school and are ready for the next phase in learning.

Months ago, I purchased this craftivity from All Students Can Shine knowing that I would use it to help us set our learning goals.

To begin, we read Squirrel's New Year's Resolution.  We learned about resolutions and come up with a definition for this word based on the book.

Then, we looked at our ESGI data.  I showed the class our data for language arts and math.  But they wanted to know more. They asked if they could see their own data. So, I showed them each their data. As I did, we talked about the areas which we all excelled and those which were important for our overall learning success.  As we had this discussion, I could tell that some students were beginning to understand the impact learning has.

I met with each student individually to talk about their resolutions.  Each child was honest and did an excellent job of selecting a resolution that reflected what they needed the most to be successful in the classroom.  We talked about how we could each support one another to help make their resolution a success.

I love this bulletin board and plan to keep it up for the remainder of the year. Why? Because it will serve as a reminder of our learning goals.

What does your class do to reflect upon their learning?

Happy Teaching!

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Learning is Snow Much Fun

While most of the United States experienced severe weather this week, here in southern California we had a rather pleasant and mild week.  So, how do you prepare for winter fun when there is no snow?

Well, you have to make it!

I found this wonderful resource to make a snow.  Not only did it take two ingredients, it also felt cold to the touch.  Above is my six year old having a little sensory snow fun, too.

We made this at school today and my class was super excited to conduct this experiment.  We made a science connection using this resource.  We were all so engaged that I don't have any pictures to show you.

Afterwards, our snow was included into a Word Work center.

Students worked in pairs to match the mitten rhymes.  

Learning can be snow much fun even when you have to make do without having snow right outside to play in.  

Happy Teaching!

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