A Plant Unit for Teachers!

    In my classroom it is very important that children are given the opportunity to fully engage with the curriculum incorporating a hands-on approach.  One of my favorite units to teach is the “life cycle of a bean plant.” Not only do I love to grow and take care of plants as a hobby of my own, but I love the many ways in which you can teach children about plants.  It’s a topic they love!  When learning about plants and flowers, the children can get their hands dirty and watch what we are learning happen before their very eyes!
    In my plant unit, there are ten science lessons including advanced vocabulary and thoughtful correlating activities. The unit begins with the topic of living vs. non-living things and moves on to complex science topics such as photosynthesis.  As a teacher, I realize that lesson plans need to be adapted to your specific needs and materials, therefore, each lesson has a very short and vague outline to allow for your personal touches.  I wanted to provide teachers and educators a packet of many activities that you could take and leave as you please.  There are many Common Core Standards that apply to this unit as a whole, but you will find a list of some of the main standards that are applicable to this unit in its entirety. (Preview does not include all pages, there are 172 pages in all)

Click on a picture to purchase my unit on TpT! $8

    Also included are various literacy and math games and activities that can go along with the time spent on learning about plants.  These games and activities practice skills commonly seen in a kindergarten classroom (beginning of first grade or struggling learners as well).  The story of Jack and the Beanstalk can be used as a correlating literacy lesson and has accompanying activities.

    In my classroom, as a culmination of our unit, we are able to showcase what we have learned at our biannual science fair.  It is SO exciting for me to see the children explain to their family and friends the meaning behind “cotyledon” and the process of “capillary action!”

    I have to share my absolute favorite part of this unit!  Really, this isn’t just my favorite part of the unit, it is my favorite part of this year.  I have been trying to take an idea in my head and bring it to reality for a few years now and needed lots of help!  The wonderful and generous families this year helped make my dream come true and create a classroom garden in our courtyard.  I wish I took pictures of it before it was cleaned out because it was a sight for sore eyes, for sure!!!  Here are some before pictures after an awesome dad weeded and cleaned out the bittersweet, prickers, and whatever else was in there! Before this you couldn't even see the ground!

I had some more lovely fathers come in on a Sunday and build us some raised beds.  Aren't they something?

Finally, the children (who have been staring longingly through the window out to our project), were able to plant herbs and vegetables and bring this space to life.
How adorable is it to see children learning in this way?

Isn’t it precious? Ugh, I just feel like that emoji with the heart eyes when I look at it!!!!

Now we can all enjoy this beautiful space day in and day out!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you can put this unit to good use!

100th Day of School

Back in March, we had our 100th Day of School!  We had a blast playing games and doing activities to celebrate this exciting day!  The children added either 10 toppings to their pizza or 10 flowers to their flower pot.  We then counted by 10's to 100.  We also played a guessing game of what the children decided to bring in for their 100 objects.  Check out our crowns of 100!!

Just like the Pilgrims did!

    Thanks for your patience with my blog!  I have a post I’ve been wanting to write for weeks but because of personal things going, I wasn’t able to take the time to write it!  So although it is late, I am so excited to share about our Thanksgiving festivities!
    I follow a blog by Julie Lee, another kindergarten teacher, and years ago she had written about her “Pilgrim Life” centers.  I loved the idea so much, I decided to copy it and apply my own thoughts and creativity!  Using the book, The Littlest Pilgrim by Brandi Dougherty, I created a few different centers for the children to pretend.
    Here’s some examples of the centers:

The first center was to practice “cooking” during Pilgrim times.  I made a turkey out of a styrofoam dome and feathers.  The children then “plucked the turkey” and to add some academic skills, they sorted the feathers by color.

The second center was “sewing.”  The children were given lacing cards and practiced how to sew as the Pilgrims did!

The third center was “making dolls.”  Back in pilgrim times, boys and girls would use cornhusks to make their own dolls.  To mimic this, we used strips of paper bags and tied them together just as they would with the cornhusks back then.

The fourth center was a “fishing” center.  The children went fishing and when they caught a fish it had a number on it.  The children then had to match it to the card with that many tens and ones.

The fifth center was “stacking wood.”  The children stacked cardboard blocks in neat “woodpiles” and then counted how many blocks they used.

The sixth center was “stuffing the mattress.” The children estimated how many plastic bags it would take to fill up their “mattress” which was actually a pillow case.

The seventh center was “picking the berries.”  On a big piece of felt, I attached pom-poms with velcro and stuck them on as if they were berries in a bush.  Once the children picked all the berries off the bush, they graphed them to see which “berry” had the most and which had the least.

Each time the children finished a center they wrote a page in their pilgrim booklet which downloadable from Julie Lee.  www.mrsleeskinderkids.blogspot.com

Feel free to Download my free “Pilgrim Life” centers pack.  Just click on the picture!

Here are some other pictures of the fun we had for Thanksgiving!

We made a Wetu!!  Made out of flexible PVC pipe, paper bags, and LOTS of tape! :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Now on to Christmas...