I have a strict scope and sequence to follow in all subject areas so that means any thematic studies occur during Math and Reading. I never get to go "all out" bats , spiders, or pumpkins as I see many of my teacher friends get to do, but I'm glad I can still fit it in somewhere. My resources include freebies (gotta love those!), purchased items, and some that I made. This was my version of trick or treating all over the web! I hope you can find some things you can use!
This week we focused on bats during our literacy block. On Tuesday, I read "The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat." The kids got a kick out of it! We reviewed sequencing and how it helps us retell a story. I found this quick activity (FREEBIE!) that the students were able to complete in their reading journal from Sharing Kindergarten . Click the link and download the free preview. The sequencing activity is included as a freebie.
Source: Sharking Kindergarten
For our main read aloud this week (we work on this read aloud for 3-4 days and use it to learn new vocabulary and reinforce our focus comprehension skill) was "Stellaluna." We created bats and retold the story ( beginning, middle, and end). I really want to focus on getting my kids to write down their answers and not just orally retelling. Using the bat was great because there was just enough space for them to focus on the important events. I cut out the parts for my kids to save time and then drew lines on a slightly smaller version (used the copy machine to shrink them to about 80%), copied those and had them cut out those pieces to glue onto their bat. My wonderful teammate found the pattern and from there I sort of freehanded it to get the right size. I attached template (I didn't use this exact one, but I wanted to share something!) and all you would have to do is add lines! Click here!
In small group, I used 3 different leveled readers from my group. One was from Deanna Jump's Bats Math and Literacy Packet. The other two came from A-Z Reading. I signed up for a 2 week free trial since my school hasn't renewed our subscription yet. If you don't use it , I would definitely sign up for the trial! I love using their leveled readers for my small groups. Here are the two leveled readers used for our non-fiction reading on bats! "Bats" (this is level O and my high group read this with assistance) "Bats Day and Night"
In my small group, we also worked on segmenting sounds. Yeah, I already had various versions of sound boxes, but I couldn't pass up a freebie. I first had my students use pumpkin erasers to segment sounds and then I had them practice writing the letters for each sound. I found this freebie from Teach 123 - Michelle. She has a whole seasonal packet with 3-5 word sound boxes for FREE!
We also made some creepy crawlers for our work with short e and used it to make a quick and cute bulletin board (Web of Words). I used Thank God it's First Grade's spider word families activity. The kids LOVED it! Tip: To save time, tape the legs to the body for your students and then have the students complete the rest of the craft.
We will have more seasonal fun in math this upcoming week, but I did use roll and cover mats from my Monster Math Unit! Click to download the freebie - my treat to you! If you would like more monster math fun you can purchase the whole activity pack from my TpT store. I will be using more of the activities this week for "monster week." First 2 people that comment (leave an email) can get the whole Monster Math Unit for FREE!
I hope you were able to find something that you could use in your own class. In the upcoming days, I will be adding some of the activities we are doing this week. Check back soon for some more "treats!"
