Comparing Temperature in FDK

This month we are focusing on the M2.1 expectation in mathematics which is compare and order two or more objects according to an appropriate measure (e.g. length, mass, area, temperature, capacity) and use measurement terms.  This week we focused on temperature for 2 days.

First I read this book "Hot or Cold" and talked about the hot and cold things we see in each picture.



Then I asked the students to come up with something that is hot or cold (either from the book or their own idea) and we put them on this chart.  We did 5 of each the first day and added 2 more for each column the second day.


Then during centres students worked with an educator to complete this hot and cold t-chart.

This was my example.

(Sidenote: I'm loving these clear photo frames I got at Dollarama, they are great for displaying centre instructions, exemplars, mini anchor charts etc!)


And here is some student work!




 Simple yet effective... exactly how I like it!

Do you have any fun activities for comparing temperature?

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Added 08.11.21:

I now have a full non-standard measurement unit with lesson plans and printables! Click here or on the image below if you are interested in taking a look:




I also now have a digital non-standard measurement unit! Click here or on the images below if you are interested in checking that one out:





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Five for Friday: November 21

Happy Friday! I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to share 5 things from this week!



It was Anti-Bullying Week in our board this week.

First we defined bullying and talked about how bullying is not just when someone is mean to you once or when a friend makes a bad choice a couple of times but it is when someone is hurting you with words or actions on purpose and it happens multiple times.

Then we watched a readaloud of Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes on YouTube.
Click here for the link.

I showed them the heart and told them that I would crumple up the heart every time someone said something mean to Chrysanthemum because that is how her heart would feel.

At the end we talked I asked students to come say something kind to Chrysanthemum and smooth the heart out.  We talked about how even though it looked a little better, it does not look like the same as before.  We also said more kind things to Chrysanthemum's heart and added bandaids.

I explained what the poem meant and emphasized how important it is to think before you say something mean.  The kids really "got it" and were super engaged the whole time!

I got the lesson idea from The First Grade Parade.


Another favourite for this topic is One by Kathryn Otoshi.
This is a good one to talk about sticking up for a friend who is being bullied
and what being a by-stander means.



The kids have been really into building their reading stamina during independent reading time.
It's so great when they buy into something!

This was our first stamina chart that we finished this week.
We started with 2 minutes and increased the timer 1 minute every day.
At the end they were reading 14 minutes silently!
Kinders can do it too!
During this time my ECE and I can both pull guided groups or do assessments :)

I copied this stamina chart from Mrs. Jone's Kindergarten.


This week since we compleated our first chart so we started on this new one below.
Their new goal is to read silently 10 minutes 100 times!
To be honest, 14 minutes was a little too long.
A big goal, but I'm hoping this stamina chart will last us until the end of the year!
I will set the timer for 10 minutes and we will colour in a box each time they read silently for ten minutes.  It also serves a double purpose as a hundreds chart for reference during math!




Progress Reports went home on Wednesday and we had Parent-Teacher Interviews on Thursday night and Friday.  I have really lovely parents this year who are all eager to work with their kids at home which I am so grateful for!

Here is the form I use to prepare for interviews.
I fill one out for each child and have it on my desk during interview time so that I can refer to it if needed and don't forget to pass along any important information. I know for most teachers it's all up in their heads but I get very nervous at interview time so I like to have it all there just in case my mind goes blank!


We also send home these handouts to give parents suggestions on how to practice the alphabet and sight words at home.  I give them one or the other depending on where their child is and what they need practice with most.

I copy a ABC linking chart on the the back of the alphabet one.
You can find a great free one at The First Grade Parade.


 For the sight word handout I copy the dolch sight word list that the student is working on on the back.


If you would like the conference form or the alphabet/sight word parent hand out
click here to download them for free!




For the first time in weeks I have very little planned for the weekend!
I'm super excited, mostly because I'm a huge homebody but also because I just found out we have the Lucy  Calkin's Writer's Workshop resource at our school and I brought the first few books home to read! I love to teach writing and am always looking for new ideas for mini lessons so I'm looking forward to diving in with a big mug of coffee tomorrow morning!



I ran out of printer paper last night and am running super low on card stock so I ran to Staples today after school to pick them up.  While I was there I saw these adorable holiday Mr. Sketch markers and just had to have them! I resisted for the Movie Theatre themed one that was out in the summer but I couldn't with these.. I mean.. look at the packaging! ;)

The colours are nothing spectacular but I'm always running out of black and red first so those will come in handy! They have cute snowflake prints on the actual markers too :)
They don't beat my favourite scent, Blue Raspberry Slushie though!!


That's it from me! I hope you have a great weekend!
Thanks for reading :)
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Five For Friday: November 14

I'm linking up with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching for my first Five for Friday post!


I finally have enough pictures from the week to do one of these!
Here we go.




On Tuesday we had our Rememberance Day assembly.
It was organized by the 7/8 teacher and she did a fantastic job!
One of our jobs for the assembly was to make a poppy.
Our class grabbed all things red (tissue paper, feathers, dot markers, red stickers etc.) and filled up our hearts with the red.  A small group worked on filling the paper plate with all things green.  My ECE assembled it at the end.

Even though it's a little messy (and that feather hanging off at the bottom is driving me a little crazy!)
I love it because it's kid work and created almost independently by the kids!




We wrapped up measuring length this week so I had my kids trace their shoe, cut it out and measure how long it is with the counting bears.  It was a great way to see who got the concept and who needed more practice.  If you want to grab the recording sheet for this activity you can click here.



We started working on ordinal numbers this week.
I made this anchor chart to teach my kids about ordinal numbers and for them to use it as a reference!
It is my favourite anchor chart yet this year!



Some of my students are obsessed with dinosaurs, so when I found these at Target I snatched them up! So far we have been using them for making numbers, sorting and patterning.




We had a lot of kids away today so I really got to sit down and work with a lot of my kids one-to-one.  This is my independent/free choice writing table where they get to draw and write about whatever they want.  This little guy in the bottom picture is such an artist! He wrote "I am playing a Flash game".  After we did this page he asked if he could do 2 more pages.  Makes my teacher heart happy when they enjoy writing :)

That's it! Happy Friday!!
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Activating Schema: Community Helpers

This week we dived into another guided inquiry, community and community helpers.

The FDK Personal & Social Expectation is:

3.1 recognize people in the community and talk about what they do

3.2 recognize places and buildings within their community, both natural and human-made, and talk about their functions

First my ECE led a discussion on what students saw and where students went on Halloween.
This led to some of the students using the words neighbourhood and community.

Then they discussed what a community is, what we do in a community and things we see in a community.



On the second day we brainstormed people who help us in our community.
They knew a lot of community helpers!



Then I read these two books and added the jobs that were introduced in these books to the "learned" portion of the chart.


After we developed a list of community helpers, we voted on which community helper they want to learn about the most.  Suprisingly the top 3 were teacher, bus driver and veterinarians.

We will start with their wonders on teachers on Monday.

Stay tuned ;)


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November Currently

I am linking up with Farley at Oh Boy Fourth Grade for her monthly currently linky party!


Listening:

My last load of weekend laundry is in the dryer! Hip hip horray ;)

Loving:

My grade team is awesome.  I have been very lucky to work with awesome people every year but this year I feel especially lucky.  Everyone has the same goal, to give the kids the best education possible.  They are open to new ideas, to look at their practice and find weaknesses so that we can address them and grow as educators.  My principal is the same way.  I am truly inspired by these amazing, hard-working ladies every day and feel so lucky to be part of an amazing staff :)

Thinking:

I may have bitten off more than I can chew this week.   Between progress reports being due Friday, staff meeting on Tuesday after school, PD sessions after school on Wednesday AND Thursday I may be barely standing by the time Friday rolls around.  I'll definetly need a lot of coffee this week!

Wanting:

The weather has been kind of yucky lately.  I just got new leather boots for my birthday from my boyfriend and I have Sorels for the snow but I don't really have anything appropriate for this wet weather we have been getting except for the original Hunters that I own that are way too long and hard to drive in (I'm very short).  I'm thinking of getting the kids version since the shaft is shorter than the adult ones and also a lot cheaper.

Now safe with matte black or glossy red to add a pop of colour to my otherwise monochromatic wardrobe?
The struggle is real.

  


Needing:

Progress reports are due this Friday and I need current assessment data.  If I could I would take a day and do assessments all day! But since that's not possible I'll be doing them every second I can get all week.

Reading:


Oral language is a big focus at my new school, especially at the beginning of kindergarten.  I joined the book club for "Oral Language at Your Fingertips" in my board and have been loving it so far.  It's a really easy read packed with lots of ideas to increase language development in your class.  It is put out by the Ontario Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists Association so I don't know if it's widely available but I highly recommend it if you can get your hands on a copy!

Head over to Farley's blog to link up too!
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