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Snow Doubt About It!

Well it's the middle of January and we finally had our first snow.......which of course is directly related to the firsties inability to focus on anything except the snowflakes falling outside our classroom window. So with that being said we are diving into snow themed activities! Jan Brett's books www.janbrett.com are a great avenue for teaching inferences, predicting, sequencing, and comparing and contrasting skills. The borders in her artwork give clues for what will happen next! We read The Mitten and The Hat and completed a Venn Diagram. We sequenced The Mitten by putting animal cutouts into real mittens. (that I have collected out of the lost and found over the years) I then had the kids write descriptions for the mitten that they chose using adjectives.

It's math time and we are jumping into symmetry with snowflakes. We made super cute tie dyed coffee filter snowflakes. I laminated them to make them more sturdy and hung them up. Here's how:
  • Have your kiddos color them with washable markers. This is their chance to scribble to their hearts content!
  • Then spray each coffee filter with water. Don't be afraid to soak them, the colors will bleed together. (OCD warning-it will make their desk a mess, but cleans up easily with wipes)
  • What is great about using coffee filters? They dry super quick! 10 minutes tops.
  • After they are dry fold them into fourths and have the kiddos cut symmetrical shapes. Viola! These are great to keep up in your classroom all winter too!

Need a fun activity to encourage affirmations in your classroom? Have a snowball fight! Give each student a piece of scrap paper to write an affirmation on. Crumple them up into a ball and throw them! After each student has a new snowball have them open them up and read their affirmation. This also works as an exit ticket at the end of a lesson. Ex. How do you know that water can be a solid, liquid, and gas? Have them write down their answers, throw them, and share out.

Hope everyone has a cozy, fun winter, with a few snow days thrown in too! ~Mandy

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