LA MATERNELLE
For each theme you will most likely find several components that are repeated every month. In kindergarten this is especially useful in terms of learning French. When an activity is familiar we find we can begin to speak in French more consistently, the explanation is the same, the task is familiar, the language we use is repetitive.
- a bank of vocabulary with word strips and a visual dictionary
- a class book
- a song or poem
- a mini book
- a math journal
septembre - Les couleurs
This is a book I do in September with my students after we have done our colour unit. Children write their names on the first line, their favourite colour on the second and colour in the balloon their favourite colour. I also like to add pictures of my students on the balloons as it is the beginning of the year.
octobre - Les formes et l'halloween
The first file is the first take home book I do with the kids in the fall. We read it together several times, the students make their copy, they read it to me individually, then repeatedly with their classmates and then we sit in a circle and the kids are given the option to read their new book in front of everyone.
This is my Halloween themed SMARTboard attendance page for this month. Students move the pumpkin with their name on it onto the fence.
Over the summer, I found the French translation of "Go Away, Big Green Monster" by Ed Emberley on Amazon. When I read to my students last week, they asked for an encore! I decided we needed to extend the reading activity. During the craziness of Halloween day, my students were busy creating their own big green monsters!
novembre - Les dinosaurs
The kids love this class book as they get to draw themselves as dinosaurs in any colour they choose!
This is an example of some vocabulary cards I've created for each month.
This is the dinosaur themes attendance page for November for the SMARTboard. When students touch the dinosaur with their name on it, it spins around.
At the paint centre this month, my students will be painting beautiful sunsets, tracing out black dinosaurs et voila - dinosaur silhouettes! They are so excited about their new centres!
Here is my ABC centre for the month of November. Students use the clothespins to match up the letters on the coloured dinos. Great fine motor and letter recognition!
décembre - Noël
The first five files are some fun things I found on a website. The two "decore boule" ones ask students to continue the pattern on the Christmas ornaments. The "sapin" file asks students to colour the ornaments on a Christmas tree based on 1 ornament being a certain colour, 2 another colour, 3 another colour, etc. "Rond et pointu" is a great Christmas sorting activity and kids have to order the pictures of Pere Noel getting dressed in the last file.
The following files are my monthly class book for the month of December, my take-home book and my vocabulary cards. The take-home book has six little pages as well as a cover but I usually have just three pages and the cover. You can differentiate based on your class and students.
I have two pages for December for the SMARTboard, an attendance page where students move an ornament onto the tree with their name on it and a centre time activity with four pages covering counting, sorting, matching and a page where kids can decorate the tree.
janvier - L'hiver
This is my little take-home book for January. Students have to read the size words and match the right sized snowflake to the right page.
I just created this activity and I plan on giving each student a blank 11 X 17 sheet folded in half. They will write "l'hiver" on one side and "l'ete" on the other and cut out and sort the images.
Here are the two winter themes SMARTboard activities for this month. On the attendance page, students move the snowman with their name on it down to the snow. The activities for centre time include pages for creating a winter scene, sorting, counting, measuring and dressing for the weather.
I decided to attempt a "research" project this year during our winter theme. I showed the students two pictures of a snowshoe hare, one white and one brown. I asked them if they knew what it was and if they knew anything about hares. I then read them a factual book about hares and we made a list of all of the things we had learned about hares. The next day, we reviewed what we had learned and we made a list of the five main things: Il change, il mange, il court, il creuse et il écoute. We then made a little book where students had to write in three of the five verbs and show me what they had learned through their drawings. It was a very successful project!
février - Les ours
For this class book, students choose to write and draw about a brown bear, black bear or polar bear. Once the book is put together, I also like to graph the students' choices.
I recently made a little take-home book to go with the bear theme. We have used a little book in the past where students put one bear sticker on the 1 page, etc. I wanted to take it up a notch and include theme vocabulary. Students will choose how many bear stickers that would like to put on each page and will write the appropriate number in the box.
I just created a SMARTboard activity for the bear theme. I went a little overboard and there are seven pages!
This is an interactive story where the storyteller magically turns a glass vase of water different colours as the story about a bear is told. As students listen they colour their own booklet as the story indicates. The student booklet is on the last pages of this story.
Polar Bear Painting
I tried out a very cool art project with my Kindergartens this week. It is from the site http://thatartistwoman.blogspot.com/. Students had to draw a horizon line, paint purple above and add salt. They then had to put a napkin around the bottom of a cup and put it on the purple to create a moon. They then painted blue below the line and put plastic wrap on the wet paint. Once dry, we dabbed on a polar bear with a stencil.
This week I will be doing a Jazzy Journal type activity for math. Students will need to round the corners on squares and rectangles and glue them together to create a bear. I have punched out red and blue dots for berries. Students can pick how many berries they would like to glue onto the bear's hands. They fill out a little sheets showing how many berries their bear has.
I found some great Brown Bear, Brown Bear activities on Pinterest that I have translated. Thanks so much to http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/BrowBearBrownBear.html for the great resource. I have a SMARTboard file, 3 versions of a booklet for differentiation, vocabulary cards and playdough mats created by a colleague. Enjoy!
I also intend on doing a KWL chart with my students to see what they know about bears. I've created a few versions of a booklet to have them share their knowledge about what bears do in each season.
Here are some songs about bears that you can use on your SMARTboard. The first is to the tune of Frere Jacques, the second is a poem and the last is to the tune of Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear.
mars - Les métiers
This is a really cute craft that we do during our Community Helpers unit. Students cut out a black doctors' bag, add a red cross and fill it with doctor stuff.
This is a great class book where students draw themselves as what they would like to be when they grow up.
Students add "non" to the speech bubble of each animal until the last one answers "oui". I have several version of the book with more or less print depending on ability. We added glue and gold sprinkles to the pot of 100 gold coins on the last page. 100 Day arrived in March one year because kindergartner's did not attend on Fridays, this book was just perfect! A farm animal unit is planned for May, this book introduces some of those animals.
Green Scavenger Hunt
This year for St. Patrick's Day, I am taking my class on a green scavenger hunt. I have booked our school's class set of digital cameras and have found classes in older grades to help us out. I am very excited and I will post the results!
Here is a visual dictionary of the vocabulary, there is a male and female version although I tried not to be stereotypical about the jobs.
These have been helpful in both grade 1and kindergarten. Our social studies curriculum at both grade levels begins with a discussion of groups the students belong to. I asked my students what kinds of activities they participated in and then made the cards based on what they do. Each year I add a few depending on the interests of my students. The first set of cards I distribute and let students look at, trade, decide whether it is something they like, find a friend who belongs to the group pictured on their card. Then each student settles on one that reperesents something they do. We put two hoops down to create a Venn Diagram and discuss which groups you choose to be in and which you are automatically in. There is always some disagreement when it comes to whether you choose your language, school and so on. Great discussion in grade 1, mostly sorting in kindergarten.
The job cards are fun as students select what they would like to be one day, what their parents professions are, do they know anyone in the professions pictured.
It is so funny to me that this is also posted above. I just took Jackie's idea and spruced it up! I added the print to each object and a mini math journal.
Here is a take home book for the Community Helpers theme. Students need to fill in a colour word describing the colour worn by the person in the picture.
Here are my SMARTboard activity pages for centre time. They cover measurement, counting, sorting, matching and patterns.
avril - Le printemps
One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that I typically save my class books for later in the month so that students have had a chance to get familiar with the vocabulary. When we are journaling or making the class books, I give the students one of the vocabulary cards to copy.
One of my favourite activities to do in Kindergarten is the hand print rainbow. I have lots of 1/4 sized pieces of construction paper of each colour of the rainbow. Students trace their hands in each colour and bring them to me as I put them up. Each year, this activity becomes magical, chaotic synergy!
This is my take home book for the Spring theme.
Last year, I added some flowers, tiny shovels and watering cans to the rice table and watched the kids have a blast in their "garden".
mai - La ferme
This is farm-themed take home book.
Although this craft is rather prep-intensive, my students last year did a really great job with these adorable pigs.
P.S. - We are planning a big change for May and are going to study the Rainforest this year. Stay tuned for information and materials for this unit!
The Rainforest
I am so very excited to be teaching this unit for the first time this year! I have created a couple of take home books, one on counting and one on verbs. I have also created rainforest vocabulary cards.
Here are some of the fantastic things that came out of our rainforest unit!
I created the "jaguar who lost his spots" as a math centre. Students can roll 1, 2 or 3 dice and then place that many spots onto the jaguar.
We did a whole group line drawing activity. We used a picture of a tree frog as our guide. The kids were so focused and so proud of their efforts!
I borrowed this idea from lilteacher.com. Students made snakes with pattern blocks on black construction paper. I took a picture of each student's final product and they could make as many snakes as they wanted to afterward.
I created a template for a straight snake and students were asked to make a pattern down the snake's back. I had them laminated and we then used them for measuring.
As a team, we turned our school foyer into a rainforest. We could then talk about all the different layers. and all the animals and plants that live there. This also allowed us to involve the whole school in a very cool Kindergarten project.
juin - Sous la mer
This is the take home book for the Under the Sea unit. Students write a colour word and colour their fish appropriately.
This book asks students to apply their knowledge of under the sea vocabulary that has been taught. They choose the vocabulary card that would like to write about and draw a picture on the page.
With these pictures, you can create a little book to go along with the Charlotte Diamond song "La Belle Pieuvre".
The vocabulary cards for the under the sea unit:
We read the book "Drole de Poissons" by Lucy Cousins and the bright colours and goofy fish really hooked my kids. This is what we did as a follow up activity.
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