My kinderkids only have 7 school days left!! I have 2 weeks to complete all our end of the year items. Let's hope I manage to stay on task as my mind is slipping quickly into summer mode! I am linking up a couple days late with Doodle Bug's 5 for Friday. Here are my top 5:
1. My kinderkids really enjoyed hearing, Hey, Little Ant. They sat on the floor in groups with 3-4 children each. I used a Kagan Cooperative structure to have them interact with the story and make personal connections. Afterwards, I used a freebie to help my students think of 3 reasons to save or squish the ant. Not sure where I got the freebie. If you know or are the creator, please let me know so I can give credit- thanks!!
2. We had fun retelling the story of The Old Lady Who Swallowed the Fly. My kinderkids also wrote why they thought she swallowed the fly. Here is one example. This is included in my Investigating Insects unit.
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| The old lady swallowed a fly because she was chewing with her mouth open. |
3. We also used TLC's free graduation art project to make covers for our memory books. Just click on the picture to go to TPT to get it.
4. We are also learning about different parts of a plant and their life cycles. Through Scholastic Book Clubs, I ordered a set of plant books. Flowers, one of the books, will be in my district's newly adopted reading series, Reading Street. After reading one of these simple books, my kinderkids each took one index card to write one fact learned. On the other side, they each drew a picture to match their words. Then, I had them use Kagan's HandUp-StandUp-PairUp (click HERE to get my freebie to make your own cooperative learning poster) to share their facts with each other. Partner A would listen. Partner B would agree or ask for clarification. Afterwards, Partner B would tell Partner A something positive. Then they switched roles. When completed, they did a cheer with their partner, and looked for a new partner. Sharing this way allows my students to move around and talk more often. Perfect for little bodies and minds at work!
We planted bean seeds and sunflower seeds. My kinderkids took home their bean greenhouses on Friday. They will take their sunflowers home this upcoming week. We used our handprints and footprints to make a sunflower to label and measure. The flowers look a little weird to me, as they are missing the bottom petal... they still look cute to me though!
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| Fran from Kindergarten Crayons has a great freebie to keep track of a bean seed's growth. Click here to go there. |
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| These plastic roaches creep me out! |
I have a few sunflower books that I do enjoy reading with my kinderkids. I got them through the Scholastic Book clubs. These two can also be found on Amazon.
5. I am looking forward to the summer break. Besides having fun, visiting family and friends, going to the beach, taking workshops, and reading, I plan to start my first linky party for the summer. I would like to learn more ways to use cooperative learning strategies in my classroom. In a couple weeks, please come back to visit and link up your own cooperative learning strategy or tips on a Thursday!
I am linking up with both Collaboration Cuties and Doodle bugs Teaching Five for Friday linky parties. Click on their buttons to see what others are doing in their classrooms! Have a great week!
