Monthly Archives: November 2021

Friendsgiving

We have been celebrating Friendsgiving all week in Kindergarten. I first introduced the idea of showing gratitude to our friends through a read-aloud on Monday morning. The Most Thankful Thing, by Lisa McCourt was the perfect way to start this activity.

“When a little girl asks her mom what her ‘most thankful thing ever’ is, Mom turns the question into a fun trip down memory lane. Turning the pages of Mom’s photo album, they discover many wonderful moments in Mom’s life, from summer camp to winning a trophy in a soccer tournament, from singing onstage to her wedding day. But one event in Mom’s whole life is the very best ever — the birth of her precious little girl.” -Amazon

We then compiled a list of things for which we are thankful. Next, I told the students that for the rest of the week, we would be making small, thoughtful gifts for our friends. Students picked a name from our special turkey and that was the person for whom they would create each project.

We began with a drumstick bookmark.

I was nervous that the students would have a hard time with completing the craft and giving it away, but so far, they have been very excited to sneak their crafts into their friends’ Friendsgiving Swag ags.

The next day, students made a corny joke book. I printed jokes on colored paper. Students chose a joke and then cut the joke part off the punchline part. Here is an example that I made:

The next day, I shared some things for which I am thankful.

The project on this day was to write an adjective on a turkey feather to describe their friend. Look how cute these turned out!

Students made a “sweet as pie” craft.

They also made a pinkie promise to their friend. Here are some examples of the special promises that were made.

It was very sweet to see how seriously the students took their promises. I love that they promised something that is important or special to them.

With two days left before break, there are a few more projects to go! I plan on having the children make a fall-themed bracelet and a turkey pin to give add to a friend’s swag bag!

Parents, I will be sending your child’s bag home on Friday! They will not have opened them yet! Please share with me your child’s reaction!

 

How Does It Work? Morning Exploring Edition

I LOVE Morning Exploring (Marshia McGuire, TPT) tubs. They are simply amazing. Each month I organize nine different fine motor building activities that have either a math or language arts focus. Last year, I created two kits for each of the nine activities so that students had their own materials to use independently. (I promise, Business Office, there was a reason I ordered 180 plastic pencil boxes!) This prep last year made setting up the monthly activities this year a breeze! Take a look:

A bonus activity is to use the letter beads the creature eats to spell a word or put in alphabetical order.

When the morning bell rings, students wash their hands and then head straight to their desk where their Morning Exploring activity awaits. (We previously have discussed each of the activities, and students are encouraged to use the “I can” cards included in their box to remind them of the activity. Also, the majority of the activities each month have the same goal, they just use different manipulatives and get increasingly more challenging as the year progresses.) This daily routine gives me a chance to connect with students, submit attendance, check in with parents, and work with students as part of our Read Every Day! program. (Read about that by clicking below.)

How Does It Work? Read Every Day! Program

 

Morning Exploring encourages students to work independently. It also solidifies math and language arts skills while strengthening fine motor. And the students LOVE the activities! A win all around!