Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Ohhhh how to try teaching once the snow hits! I forget how time consuming it is for kindergartners to take off/put on all of their snow gear. Since this is our first week with snow gear, it took them about 15 minutes to get ready for recess. They come to school with a LOT of gear! Each student comes to school with snow pants...hats....gloves...scarves...boots...jackets....face masks....and did I mention how easily these things get lost?? Woofta. Monday was an interesting day trying to teach the sequence of what we should put on first and what things we save for last. It drives me bonkers when students put on their gloves BEFORE they zip up their jackets, then ask me to do it for them. Teaching independence is one of my big priorities with 5-6 year olds. I decided to make a visual poster for my class to refer to on how to put on their snow stuff. It's been very helpful so far--I should've done this 4 years ago!

Getting ready to go outside for recess!

It's a tight space for so much stuff! Some kids go to another area in the classroom to put on their snow gear.

All set!

Another little teacher quirk I have is how I want students to put away their wintry things in their locker. To help teach the boys and girls organization, I tell them where to put their things and make sure they do it on a daily basis so it's consistent and they know where to find their things each day. Boots go on the bottom since they tend to be the most wet/slushy, jackets and backpacks are hung up on the hooks (snowpants too if they fit), and then the little stuff goes on top (hats, mittens, face masks, scarves). I made another poster for the class to refer to and they are really catching on!

What else have we been up to?

SMART Room
After learning all of the stations in the SMART room the other week, we were able to use the room in all of its entirely. I put the students into groups of 2 or 3 and they rotate through the different stations within 20 minutes. They LOVE it! Not only does it give them an energizing body break in the afternoon, but it also helps develop their gross motor and fine motor skills!

Sharing Our Writing
On Monday with the freshly fallen snow, I thought it'd be fun for the class to write about what they like to do in the snow. The process of writing is important as well as the SHARING piece! Everyone got to share what they wrote and showed their drawings. It gives them an opportunity to build their confidence as writers as well as letting them read their writing--so so SO important! It's one thing to be able to write something, but being able to go back and read it is just as vital,

Reading
We learned that we have reading superpowers! One of our superpowers is being able to recognize and read letters and words in our books. For one lesson, the kids went on a print hunt where they wrote down all of the letters/words they could read. I've never had independent reading time be so quiet! They were really searching hard to find text they knew.

Math
We've been learning and practicing how to solve and write addition sentences __ + __ =  ___. One day, we worked with our math trays and worked with manipulatives to solve addition problems.

For another lesson, we brainstormed and shared different story problems on the Smartboard and solved them together. Then the class wrote their own addition story and sentence. I'll be able to share with you at conferences this week and next what they each came up with!

That's all for the week...stay warm.