Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Feast

Our Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast was so much fun! We had a lot of parents who came to join us Tuesday afternoon. If you helped prepare food beforehand or wash dishes after, THANK YOU! Myself and the other kindergarten teachers are so fortunate to have such involved families.

Prepping the food!

Dontchya love our turkey headbands? The students made them all by themselves.

Thanksgiving Learning

One of my favorite parts about this time of year is teaching about what life was like back then for the Pilgrims and Native Americans. I used a link from Scholastic.com that shares photos of what the Mayflower and plantation looked like during the 1600s. The class was so shocked at how DIFFERENT their life was. They couldn't believe there were no grocery stores to buy food; the pilgrims and Native Americans had to grow crops. There was no electricity, no video games or i-Pads, no school, different clothing and houses...you should've seen the reactions on their faces! However, there were some things they had in common with us; such as having Thanksgiving Feasts and that they were people who played, laughed, and talked. What I love most about teaching Thanksgiving to my students is helping them see what we can be thankful for BEYOND just toys and material things. For example, life on the Mayflower was very difficult. The pilgrims didn't have beds or even toilets to use the bathroom. Discussing these things with the class helped them to see that simple things, such as having a bed and warm house to live in is more valuable than having the latest toy/gadget. 

We did a writing activity where students had to think of 4 things they were thankful for this year. I was happily surprised when NO ONE mentioned a toy. Instead, I saw family, friends, houses, cars, and food on their lists! Mission accomplished. (By the way, they wrote the words all by themselves, with very little help from me!)

Each student got to share with the class all the things they are thankful for.

Thanksgiving Math

Counting and writing teen numbers

Adding dots on 2 dice

Counting 0-100 with connect the dots

Measuring with connecting cubes

We started Math Journals this week! I am gearing them up for when they get in the older primary grades where they will be solving lots of word problems in math. They will be pros! (I wish I would've been able to do this when I was in kindergarten.)

Cute turkeys we made using skip counting by 10s and 5s

We made an addition book that works with groups of 5 + another number using ten frames. It helped the class to see the pattern in addition and also served as a good visual.

Ooooo I am SO EXCITED for the holidays in December! I have a lot of fun things in store for the class to get in the spirit. :) Rest up and see you next week.