Friday, December 29, 2017

THE SNOWY DAY

The Snowy Day is such a sweet book and good for teaching so many things.

                                                  

We have been working on writing small moments in our Narrative Unit. This story works great as a mentor text. We usually read it before Christmas and then again in the winter. I love to play the sight word snowball game after we read this story. I write sight words on pieces of scrap paper, wad them up, and place them on a masking tape line in the middle of the rug. The class is divided into two teams, one on each side of the line. When I say, "Go," everyone picks up the "snowballs" and tries to throw them to the opposite side of the rug. The goal is to have the least number of snowballs on their side of the rug. After about a minute (that's really long enough for a round of this game...), I say, "FREEZE." Everyone must freeze and I count the snowballs on each side. Then, everyone must pick up a snowball, unwrap it, and read the word to me. They can then wad it up again and place it on the line for another round, or toss it into the recycling bin and be done!

This week, we made snow with Q-tips and chalk. This activity is student directed, easy, and fun. I made and copied little Peter characters on red paper. The children cut these out and drew on his face and buttons. You can find Peter on Google images and make copies of the image for each child, too. Then, they could experiment with chalk and paint with Q-tips to make their own snowy days. I taught them how I make snowflakes, and it was a very relaxing, quick little activity. Some kids had forts and blizzards. Some had a few flurries.



                                                  

We have so many ideas like this in our monthly Happies packets. Feel free to check out the previews for our packets each month. Our packets are FULL of ideas to bring happiness to your classroom. You can find these at Dr. Jean’s website or at my TpT Store!

                                

Thank you for stopping by!