Special Days - March

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A Little Competition Helps Stimulate the Brain

Sometimes I like to break up the old routine, and pit the kids against each other (partners or teams, it doesn't matter). Depending on the subject we're on, I can give them numbers, shapes, letter sounds, words, etc., and the first person to write it correctly (and raise their hand to show they're finished) gets a sticker (or a hand stamp, etc.) It really gets interesting if I pit boys against girls!

1 Master, 2 Subjects, 4 Game Boards, Same Rules

A fellow teacher made me a copy of a blank game board she found to use, and I was trying to figure out what to use it for, when I got an idea (always a dangerous thing, right?)

I made copies of the board, and glued them to old file folders. 

Next, I put tally marks on one and shapes on the other for my math.

For my language arts, I put the number words on one board, and color words on the other. 

(Remember, since a die is six-sided, you're restricted to only six possible answers.)

The HOW TO PLAY rules are simple. Each child gets a marker. They roll the die. They must roll the exact answer in order to move their marker to the next space. Example: If they are on the III (3), they must roll a 4 to move to the next space. First to reach the Three Bears' House wins.

With the math folder, they can do the tally mark set one week, and the shapes the next. Ditto for the language arts folder - number words one week, and color words the next. This gives each folder a two- or four-week lifespan.

Also, I can change up my dice. For the tally marks, I can use a regular dotted die, or one with the actual numbers. Same for the number words game board. Below, you can see the color word die I made.

So, with 1 blank master, I was able to cover 2 subject areas with 4 game boards, yet the rules on How To Play remain the same, so there's no confusion on what to do. And these can go in both my language arts and math stations.

Our Math Stations for the Weeks of 2/17 and 2/24

These are my Math stations for the weeks of 2/17 and 2/24.

Station 1 - Yahztee

I found this freebie here. This week we're using the number version. Next week we'll use the number WORD version. I bought a die-in-a-die for them to use, and they're loving it!

Station 2 - They have to put together a giant floor puzzle.

Station 3 - Calendar Math

They have to copy the February calendar onto their blank template.

Station 4 - Blast Off!
I've had this game for some time. It's a lot like the "Gingerbread Man" game. I took a rocket and divided it into 6 sections. My students are using a tally mark die to roll and determine which rocket part to put on their template.

Station 5 - Race to 50
You can get this freebie game here. I'm using a number WORD die (with cheat sheet this week) for them to determine how many squares to color in.

Our Language Arts Stations for the Weeks of 2/17 and 2/24

These are our Language Arts stations for the weeks of 2/17 and 2/24.

Station 1 - Guided Reading with me (we read from our readers). Afterwards, they pair up and work on their sight words.

Station 2 - Write the room. This time we're looking for the "purple" words. In addition, I took a few words out into the hallway for them to find. They loved getting to go out of the room to search for them.

Station 3 - Computers and Listening Center

This round we're listening to the story of The Very Greedy Bee. (Click here for info.)

Station 4 - Color Sight Word Dominoes

I made this set using blank templates. There is a "cheat sheet" for them to use to help them learn the color sight words.

Station 5 - Valentine Heart Sentences

I got this Freebie Valentine Sentence Scramble here.

My Kindergarten Dictionary - February, 2014 Edition

  

           


            mumfs

(n. - There are 12 mumfs in a year.)

                                  


                stowed
 (v. - He stowed a cookie.)





                  



                                 toof  
          (n. - He lost a toof.)
         



Happy Valentine's Day! (With a Freebie!)

I made this little worksheet, gave one to each student, and placed a bowl of Sweetheart heart candies in the middle of them. The object was to copy the saying on the little candies onto the heart forms. Once all the forms are filled, they could eat the candies. 

Click the picture below to get the full-size version you can save and print.

And the Rest of Our 100th Day of School Activities

Some of my students did an excellent job on their 100th Day posters.

One of my students even celebrated his birthday that day!

Of course, we decorated our doors. This is mine. There are 20 cards, each with the word WOOF! written on them 5 times.

 And then there are those teachers who went all-out to celebrate the day. 

More 100th Day Activities

Wanted to pass along more stuff we did for the 100th Day of School. At each table, I had the students draw/color 10 objects on ten cards.

Each table had different colored index cards.

Then they glued the cards on sentence strips for a neat math display.

Our 100th Day Activities

We celebrated the 100th Day of school today, and below are some of the activities we did to commemorate the day.

#1 - Stack 100 cups, to see which team could build the tallest tower.

#2 - 100s Chart Puzzles
To see who could put all the puzzles together the fastest.
(I originally posted about this here.)

#3 - Put together a 100-piece puzzle.

#4 - We covered 10 ten frames.

#5 - We placed popsicle sticks in tally mark formations so that they added up to 100.

Our Math Stations for the Weeks of 2/3 and 2/10 - with a Freebie

Station One: Snowball Fight!
Got this freebie here. In short, they roll the die and cover that many spaces. First to cover all their spaces wins. (Note the die has the number word on it. I gave them a little cheat sheet this week, but the card disappears next week.)

Station Two: Valentine Measurement
Got this freebie here. As a team, they measure the size of each Valentine item, and mark their answers on the answer sheet.

Station Three: Candy Hearts Game
Got this freebie here. Again, I'm using the tally marks die.

Station Four: Domino Parking Lot
Freebie can be found here. They draw a domino, add the dots, and put the piece on the correct "parking area". If they draw a domino whose total is already covered, they lose that turn. First person to fill up their parking lot wins.

Station Five: Count and Match
I made these mats, which you can right click, save, and print out for yourself.
The game is played either with a die, or in this case, just to be different, a spinner.
The students can count with anything - blocks, unifix cubes, stones, pompoms...whatever. Mix it up!
To play, they spin for a number, then start covering a space with that many. The object is to have only the right number of objects on that space to match the number. For example, if they roll a six, they can cover a 5 and a 1. Or they can put all six on the 6. Or all six on the 8, knowing they'll have to put two more on that 8 later to fill up the square.
First person to get all their squares correctly filled wins.

Our Language Arts Stations for the Weeks of 2/3 and 2/10

Station One: Guided Reading with me

Station Two: Sight Word Search
I took a dozen sight words and printed them on purple cardstock. Filling an empty water bottle 3/4 of the way with unpopped popcorn, I then added the sight words. Each child gets a sheet of paper they number from 1 to 10. Then, as a group, they have to find at least ten sight words and write them down on their papers.

Station Three:  Highlight a Letter
These two weeks we'll be working on letters L and M.

Station Four: Computers and Listening Center
These two weeks we'll be listening to the story Snowden.
Info here.

Station Five: Penguin Sight Word Game
I got this from Pinterest, but I can't find the link. But there are six sight words on it, and I made a die with those same six words. In short, each child rolls the die and covers the word on the gameboard. When all the words are covered, the person with the most covered wins.