Every time that I start thinking about Christmas time, I start to worry. I worry that I'll have some babies that won't get exactly what they want for Christmas. I worry that I'll have some friends who get too much for Christmas and become ungrateful. I worry that I'll get so full of holiday cheer that I forget to feed my dog. I worry a lot and about everything. One big thing that I have learned that I am not worried about is spreading the cheer, whether it is through Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. I love every second of all of it.
I wanted to share some of the things that I am doing during the month of December.
Each day, I let my kids have some fun and practice all of their skills through centers. In these centers, there is a mix of literacy and math related games. This month, I purchased a December Math and Literacy Packet from the Printable Princess and I am LOVING it! There are so many great games that you can simply print and laminate. Each game offers a recording sheet and answer key, but I like the kids to work together and to answer the questions as a group. I have used some of the answer sheets, but have found that these games are great practice with or without them.
In Reader's Workshop, we use a variety of easy readers and just right books to practice our reading strategies. Each week, we get one new book to practice and take home. I generally like to use paper books so that they can circle sight words, color in the pictures and sometimes even add their own sentences. This month, I've created an easy reader that the kids LOVED! We have been reading and retelling the polar express and they wanted so badly to be able to read the entire story. It got my mind turning and out popped this easy reader that includes many of our sight words!
In Math, we have been playing a game that my kids can not get enough of! Snowball toss is a great way for my kids to practice combinations of 10 as well as adding fluently. This is one of my whole group lessons as well as a center for the month. It is free in my store!!
I'm loving the learning going on in my classroom and I'd love to hear what is going on in yours!
