Planning for Play: December - January - February

Making time for play in Kindergarten is important... even in the 21st Century! 

Sign up for newsletters and gain access to my exclusive and FREE Yearlong Plan for Structured Play and follow along as we discuss themes for December, January, and February. 

Overview:

December is a wild and crazy time of year as students anticipate the holiday season. So, why not tap into their imaginations and incorporate engineering and science? With the gingerbread engineering theme students  can collaborate, create, and problem solve while having lots of holiday fun!
My favorite TpT resource for December:

January often brings cold weather and indoor recess. This is a great time to build on the engineering theme from December and incorporate force and motion concepts using marble runs, ramps and balls, and vehicles. Students learn about the effects of force and motion through exploration and experimenting.
My favorite resources for January:

February is a time when we tend to think about relationships and letting our loved ones know how much they are loved. In spite of major advancements in modern technology, written communication remains a skill all students need to develop. With the theme Post Office students are encouraged to write, communication, and nurture relationships.
My favorite TpT resources for February:

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT PLANS FOR EVERY MONTH OF THE YEAR!

August - Learning How to Play

September - Community Helpers: Restaurant

October - 21st Century Learners: The News 1, The News 2

November - Thanksgiving: Travel Agency

December - Engineering: Gingerbread Houses

January - Engineering: Force and Motion

February - Writing: Post Office

March - The Arts: My Talents

April - Animals: Vet's Office

May - Culminating Event: Pizza Parlor

Primary STEM Unit for St. Patrick's Day, "Leprechaun Traps!"

This week we had lots of fun in my Kindergarten class putting our engineering skills to work with my primary STEM unit for St. Patrick's Day trying to catch a Leprechaun!  

One of my favorite ways to introduce a new concept is in the convergent style.  In this way you provide students the "pieces" and they find connections, draw conclusions, and converge on the topic in their own way and their own time.  It is so much fun to watch them figure out what we will be learning about next!

On Monday we read Clever Tom and the Leprechaun by Linda Shute and learned about old Irish folktales that say if you catch a Leprechaun he will give you his gold!  Then I provided my students ample time and lots of supplies to create their own Leprechaun traps.  They quickly set to work planning, creating, and building some pretty

neat contraptions!

Afterward we all gathered around each other and listened as students explained how their traps would work and question eachother on their plans.  We left the traps set at the end of the day (much to the dismay of the custodians who had much to clean around... but they were very good sports and asked that we share the gold with them.)

When students arrived on St. Patrick's Day morning they carefully walked around checking their traps.  But, that pesky Leprechaun just busted all the traps and had gotten away! *Wink! One little girl was shocked to find "green pee" in the toilet!  When we started up our Smart Board Calendar there was a message from the Leprechaun saying our traps were tricky, but we couldn't catch him.  He said he had left some special gold for us hidden in the classroom.  The students' disappointment at not trapping the Leprechaun melted as they devoured their chocolate gold coins at snack time!

For the remainder of the week we learned about Simple Machines and how they make work easier.  Since we ran out of time this week, we will take Monday to plan new Leprechaun traps (for next year, of course), and complete our extended response assessment.  You can check out our fun unit, "Leprechaun Traps," in my TpT store!

You Oughta Know About Force & Motion

I'm so excited to link up with Ms. McClain again this month for the return of her

"You Oughta Know Blog Hop!" 

Be sure to follow all the links below to find everything "You oughta know" about in January!

For my post I'm letting you know what "You oughta know" about Force & Motion!  When our district adopted the new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) last year we were overwhelmed by some of the changes we needed to make in our curriculum. 

The standards on Force & Motion were among the first we tackled and this week our planning came to life in my classroom!

Every month I change out my play and explore centers to revolve around a theme or concept.  I have found that this benefits my students in SO many ways!  The student-centered, self-directed centers provide an experimental way for them to learn while also providing real-life opportunities to learn cooperation, communication, and conflict-resolution skills.  And all of these are just by-products to addressing the standards!  WOW!

This month all centers are focused on Force & Motion with some Engineering mixed in for good measure.  I hope you will find some of these ideas useful in your classroom... I know my Kinders are LOVING it!  (Click on each photo to link to resources!)



There are lots of great FREE online games about Force & Motion!



These magnetic shape builders were a hit!



This exact set is not available anymore, but there are lots of other great sets out there!



"Using force to push these magnets together is impossible!"



We have to keep a running sign-in sheet for the popular Marble Run!

The STEM science kits from Lakeshore Learning are well worth the investment!

They are 100% aligned to NGSS!

And, of course, the "old fashioned" tracks and trucks are always perfect!
These little guys are pretending to be gold miners from the hit A&E show, "Gold Rush!" 

 Has your school adopted the NGSS? 
If so, how are you addressing the shifts in curriculum?

An InLinkz Link-up

Interested in another Linky?  Check out my post here on the 100th Day of School!  Add your free/paid products or blog posts as we prepare for the 100th Day of School!