I decided to skip our curriculum and let my kiddos have fun!! So instead of StoryTown, we were reading about bats and spiders! Since the time constraint, I decided to do 2 days of bats and 2 days of spiders with a "catch-up" day in between!
My kiddos LOVED every second of it!
Now be warned... PICTURE OVERLOAD!
We started with a KWL chart from {Kindergarten Smiles} Caitlin Clabby's unit: All About Bats! Followed by a circle map and tree map! We focused on writing 3 facts about bats! :)
We made the FREE bat craft from A Cupcake for the Teacher! The kiddos loved it and really worked hard on their writing so they could start on their craftivity!
Here you can see our "cave" with our writing and craftivities!
Here is another shot of the cave! My wonderful community college helper made it! :)
My kiddos also labeled this bat from Erica Bohrer's pack: Batty for Bats! Can you believe that she drew that little guy? Can you say talented!!?
I love love love that he has all of the body parts that we were learning about in the books we were reading!
Another shot! :)
After 2 full days of bats we started moving on to spiders!
My kiddos were discussing and learning SOOO much through these {super short and condensed} thematic units... I wish I could teach like this ALL the time!
Moving on to spiders!
We started the same way... KWL charts, circle map, bubble map, and tree map!
We wrote three sentences about spiders and made a craft!
Check out these cuties!
This little guys' eyes popped off! They loved adding 8 googly eyes to each spider!
I put a web on the wall and then stapled the spiders on top! They look super cute!
Oh! We even got a black widow! LOVE IT!
You can tell that ALL of the spiders look different! We didn't use any templates! I just showed them what to cut out {the 2 body parts & eight legs} and how to cut out the legs!
Some had difficulties but we talked about trying our best!
Every time I see these little guys I can't help but SMILE!
This week was a short week due to conferences. We had 2 half days and no school tomorrow! YIPEEE! I'm also very excited because I had all 26 parents show up and they were all so sweet and supportive... yay!
So, I decided to extend my thematic units and focus on pumpkins!
The week went amazingly WELL!
I will share pics and post about our activities SOON!
In other news, make sure you like Sweet Times in First on FB because I'll be having some giveaways soon! :)
Have a wonderful Thursday!
Everything looks great!! Thank you for the shout-out! :)
ReplyDelete❤Teri
A Cupcake for the Teacher
I'm loving all the bat ideas!
ReplyDeleteThe REAL Teachers of Orange County
Awe, love it all! Thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteYour week looks like it was so much fun! You're kiddos are so lucky! :)
ReplyDeleteį¦DeAnne
First Grade and Fabulous
Okay this is awesome! It looks like you had loads of fun and your kids learned so much! My doormate used to be able to teach like that and loved it. Now we're all required to follow our core materials so we've lost track of how to be creative like this (well more her than me...I never got to teach like this). I'm scared I won't be able to if I ever get the opportunity but we'll see. I think we're going to try to branch out and be some rebels. ;) Hope your pumpkins go as good as bats and spiders!
ReplyDeleteShibahn
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