Polka Dot Classroom Tour!

I'm so excited to share my newest project with you all! Even though it's summer break, I can't seem to get out of teacher mode! I've been busy setting up a homeschool classroom for my daughter. She is 2 1/2 and we love working with her at home. We are so lucky to have this beautiful space in our house. We had been using this room for storage until my husband recently put down new wood flooring. I'm doing a bright polka dot theme for our classroom. I've only ever used my chevron theme at school, so now you can see some actual pictures of my polka dot theme in use!

The lanterns are from Amazon. The apple shaped chalkboard and pointers are from Target Dollar Spot.

Meeting Area / Reading Center

FREEBIE Polka Dot Banners: Mrs. Ricca's Kindergarten

Polka Dot Schedule Cards: Mrs. Ricca's Kindergarten  

Pocket Chart: Amazon

Calendar Set: Amazon

Eric Carle Carpet: Amazon

Storage Closet & Shelves

I keep all our supplies organized by theme just as I do at school. Here is the link to my Polka Dot Supply Labels. I just completely updated this set with dozens of new labels (and an easier to read font)! The clear bins and storage closet are from Target and the shelf units are both from Ikea. 

Dramatic Play Center

My husband built this adorable dramatic play center. We've transformed it to a flower shop, ice cream stand, lemonade stand, post office, bakery, grocery store, and more. We just used a couple of wooden crates from Michaels, spare pieces of wood, and chalkboard spray paint!

GRAB YOUR FREEBIE!!

PLANTS UNIT AND A FREEBIE!

June is here, and I always love ending the year with a science unit on plants! The activities below are part of my Plants Unit. The unit includes charts, experiments, worksheets, crafts, templates, songs, read aloud suggestions, and a sample outline of lessons. 

I like to launch this unit by reading aloud Peter Rabbit.* Then I tell the kids we have received a letter from Mr. McGregor asking for help taking care of his garden. This was inspired by Mrs. Lee's Kindergarten. The kids came to the conclusion that we should learn all about plants and help Mr. McGregor with his garden.

The next lesson is all about the plant lifecycle. We watched a video on Brainpop and then sang a song about the lifecycle, which is included in the unit. We also read lots of books about the plant life cycle. Below are a few of my favorites.* 

Then we learned about the needs of plants. We sang and danced to another song and the kids made these adorable flap books, which were also inspired by Mrs. Lee's Kindergarten. 

In the next lesson, we learned about the parts of the plant and how they function. We watched a Brainpop video and then we made a plant craft and students labeled each part of their plant. 

Throughout the unit, we also did lots of fun experiments. We did a sunlight experiment by predicting what would happen when one plant was placed in the sun and the other was placed in darkness. We drew and wrote about our observations after a week. We did a similar experiment with water. We watered one plant daily, but did not water the second plant. The students drew and wrote their predictions and observations. 

Of course, we just had to plant a garden of our own! I set out a variety of seeds for the kids to choose from. They planted their seeds and had fun throughout the unit watering, measuring, and drawing their observations in their plant journals (freebie is included in the unit sample). I love to read the book Planting a Rainbow* before we plant our seeds.

Finally, here are a few ideas I've used for art, fine motor, and sensory centers. The q-tip dot art painting is from Marsha at Differentiated Kindergarten. 

 

Download the unit sample for your freebie plant journals!

*Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. 

Holiday Fun & Freebie!

I know it's been a million years since I last posted, but I haven't forgotten about this poor little blog! Between teaching and being a mommy, I just don't have much time to spare for anything else! But I really do love blogging and I do want to post updates whenever I can. We have been having so much fun in the classroom, so I thought I'd share some of what we've been doing. 

Gingerbread Celebration

This was my favorite activity and I plan on doing it every year! The parents joined us in the classroom for a gingerbread house activity, and we had a blast! To make the houses, we used milk cartons, icing, graham crackers, and candy (all donated by our awesome parents).

First we read the book The Gingerbread Man. 

Next, I had an assistant model how to create the gingerbread house as we wrote down the steps through interactive writing. 

At last they got to work on their houses! They had so much fun decorating the houses with their families!

During writing workshop, I had the kids write their own how-to using this simple sheet to guide them. This will prepare them for our upcoming how-to writing unit after the break. Click the image below to download the freebie.

Snow Globe Craft

We made snow globes for our parent gifts this year. I got this adorable idea from my co-worker, Debbie. I used Powerpoint to place the kids' faces into the clipart. Then the kids colored their picture and finger painted the snow. Finally, I glued them, laminated them, and put magnets on the back. I love how they turned out! 

Math & Literacy Centers

Here are some of the fun holiday centers the kids have been enjoying...

Tasty Ten Frames - We roll a die to determine how many red counters to place in our ten frame. Then we figure out how many green ones we need to make ten. Finally, we color the ten frame and record the equation. 

Sums for Santa - We roll two dice to determine how many ornaments to place on each tree. Then we add them together and write the equation.   

Add & Cover - I brought in some peppermint candies to spice up this old game! The kids roll two dice, add the dots, and cover the numeral with a candy. 

Count & Color - We choose a card, place it on the mat, and count the candies. Then we write the number and color the ten frame on the recording sheet.

More or Less - This game is played like War. Each partner chooses a card and places it on the mat. They figure out whose number is greater and whose is less. The player who has more keeps both cards. 

Christmas Count - We pick a tree, count the ornaments, and record the number on the recording sheet. 

Count the Room - Students hunt for pictures around the room and count the items in each picture. Then they record the number on their recording sheet.

This cute Shake & Spill Gingerbread Center came from Teaching in Progress. 

Christmas Tree Play Dough Counting - This freebie came from A Dab of Glue.

Gingerbread Lane - We pick objects out of a gingerbread house and identify the ending sound. Then we write the letter inside a gumdrop on our recording sheet.  

Stocking Stuffers - We pull small objects out of a stocking, figure out the beginning sound, and color in the correct letter on our recording sheet. 

Syllable Express - We choose a picture and clap the syllables. Then we sort the pictures into the correct train car and stamp the syllables on our sheet. 

Gingerbread Families - We segment each word, sort pictures by the middle sound, and then write the words under the correct vowel on the recording sheet.  

Elf Hunt - We hunt for hidden elves around the room. We read each sight word and write it on the recording sheet. 

Roll a Word - I modified this game slightly. Instead of using dice, I used a wind-up Santa toy and a grid of words. The kids wound up Santa and read the word he landed on. Then they wrote that word on their graph. 

All of the centers above can be found in my Christmas Math & Literacy Centers on TpT.

 

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year!