Winter Wonderland…(Kind Of!)

Our first four days back at school flew by! We were very busy learning about our letter friend, Mr. D and his dazzling dances! We also did a lot of fun things with snowmen and winter. However, it’s been difficult to think that it is winter when there is no snow on the ground and the kids are outside playing in 60 degree weather!
Before we left for Christmas break, the kids made their own snowman and decorated it however they wanted.

This week we read the book All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Shertle. We talked about the steps in making a snowman using the words first, next and last.  The kids drew three pictures showing the progression of making a snowman. Then, they wrote the steps. They are starting to stretch out words by sounding out each letter and doing SUCH A GOOD JOB! They impress me everyday with their abilities! This project turned out great!
            

                                                    First, roll a ball. Next, roll one more snowball. Last, add detail.

 
Another fun writing prompt we did was, “If I lived in a Snowglobe I would….” We pictured in our minds what we would be doing inside the snowglobe and then brainstormed together some of our ideas. The kids were then able to draw the picture and write about it.

                  
 I would invite a friend over.                                             I would ice-skate.
This next project was hard to visualize, since we don’t have any snow on the ground!! But the kids used their imagination and made connections from past experiences to accomplish our goal. I asked the kids to close their eyes and imagine what it would look like outside in the winter if they were looking from their window.  They came up with lots of fun ideas like making snowmen, sledding, having a snowball fight, other houses with Christmas lights and snow plows
The kids loved the fact that their pictures look like a window! I do too!
Here’s our classroom display

  
               

On Friday I read the book Snowmen at Night. Instead of using the normal book, I projected it onto the screen thanks to:
http://www.wegivebooks.org/books/snowmen-at-night
I read the words as the kids looked at the big pictures.  It is a really neat book! We did a writers workshop on it afterwards where they got to choose what their snowman was doing during the night. Boxing, milking a cow, and riding a monster truck were some of my favorites.
This next week is all about REVIEW! We will be reviewing ALL of the letters we have learned so far and doing various assessments to make sure we really know our letters and sounds and how they are written (uppercase and lowercase).  If you get a chance, please review all of these letters with your child so they get all the practice they can!
                     
Thank you!