Winter is my favorite season to teach (fall is my favorite). We have a pretty mild winter here compared to other parts of the country, so I do try to make it extra special for the kids.
We spend a lot of time talking about snow. Check out this blog post that is all about snow. That was one of favorite day teaching. We are about to return to school for face to face instruction after 2 months of virtual learning. I am so excited to get these kids engaged in hands learning. My class will have to stay 6 feet apart, wear masks, and have their own supplies. If you can afford it, I recommend going to the Dollar Store and purchasing the square trays for your class. I actually purchased these years ago and I have to say they are the best investment. I have used them in my classroom for a variety of activities, including centers, arts and crafts, fine motor, and science. This year, I also purchased shoebox size tubs from the Dollar Tree. I already had a few for storage, but I wanted each students to have their own.
You can also decorate snowmen with shaving cream and glue. It gives them a fun puffy paint look. Both of these snow projects come from my Winter Steam Activities. You can purchase these here.
Have you read How to Catch a Yeti? It actually wasn’t out last year when I created this, but I did order it from Amazon. I can’t wait to read it to my class on Tuesday. Then, they will be able to build a trap to capture the Yeti. I created individual boxes for my kiss this year to catch the yeti. It includes popsicle sticks, hashtags for target Dollar spot, tape, string, and play dough. This is an affiliate link. If you order from my affiliate link, I do make a small profit.
I love a good winter read aloud. There are so many great snowy stories, but I have to say, Snowy Day is definitely my favorite. It is all about a little boy’s snow adventures. It is great for talking about cause and effect, science (why did the snowball melt in his pocket?), and get kids thinking about what they would do with a snowy day. When students are able to make a true text to self connection, they are more likely to REMEMBER the text.
Have you snagged this FREE resource for Snowy Day? I updated it this year, so you might want to take a look at the updated version. I laminated this anchor chart so I can use it year after year. We review them events of the story (the cause) and they talk about the effect. This free resource also includes an emergent reader and a writing sheet. You can get it here.
I love crafts. It breaks my heart when I hear teachers say they don’t have time for crafts. There are so many academic skills that come from crafts. Fine motor, following directions, and listening and speaking. Plus, they provide students with fun memories from school. I created Math Crafts as a way to encourage teachers to do crafts that include Math Standards.
In addition to the skills I mentioned above, students can also work on decomposing sums of 10. They can also be used for developing number sense. You can purchase my Winter Math Crafts or save money by buying the Math Craft Seasonal Bundle. These not only work o fine motor skills and math standards, they will provide your classroom or hallways with adorable decorations.
Of course, no snow unit would be complete without Snowy Centers. Even better, centers that can be used with Target Dollar Spot Erasers. I created these Snowman Math Centers, Printables, and Exit Tickets as a one and done for teachers. You get four Math Centers in both color and black and white, four worksheets, and four exit tickets that match the centers. These have been so helpful this year. Since my students can’t share materials, I am definitely using a lot more worksheets this year. However, it is the Exit Tickets that I couldn’t live without. I am teaching a lot more whole group then usual. I am able to use the Exit Tickets to quickly assess how my students are doing. I can assess my entire class I less then 5 minutes. Then, I can pull the students who aren’t understanding the concept one at a time to reteach (we can’t do small groups this year).
Of course, you can’t go wrong with Google Slides. if you are virtual, you can assign them as part of the daily work. If you are in person, I like to assign them as one their daily centers. You can get my Winter Google Slides Here.
If you are like me and just returning to classroom for the first time in a few weeks, I have a must read post about reviewing classroom expectations here.
