Five for Friday - June 24

Hi guys! I'm back for a little recap and linking up with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday! Here is some things that have been happening in our classroom the last two weeks :)

1. Father's Day Gift

We made this craft for Father's Day this year!

First we took a picture of the kids pretending to climb a ladder (against a wall). Then I printed them out. They painted a piece of cardstock blue. Once it was dry they glued the popsicle sticks, toothpicks, their picture and the moon on. At the end they added some stars and on the back they wrote the message:

Dear Dad,

I love you to the moon and back.

Happy Father's Day

Love, STUDENT'S NAME

It was a little time consuming but it came out really cute! And it was easily adaptable for kids who chose to make it for another special person in their life other than their Dad :)

We also read this story! Perfect for Father's Day AND to go with the craft!

2. Patterning with Straws & Shoelaces

My kids love patterning so I set out some cut up straws, shoelaces and a patterning book to create this provocation. It sneaks in some fine motor too ;) The kids loved this centre and it was popular all week!

3. Painting Raffles

I make a lot of samples for a variety of centres and one day I asked if any of the kids wanted a sample I had made for the painting centre.  Since so many kids wanted it we decided to set up a raffle station where the kids can put their name in a bucket if they wanted to win.

Since then so many of them have decided that they want to make a painting to be raffled off! 

I set up 3-4 paintings on easels with buckets in front and small pieces of paper for them to write their names. I tell them to write their names, fold it twice and place it in the bin that is in front of the artwork that they want.

At the end of centre time I collect the buckets and have the artist come up, name the painting and draw for the winner. They have been coming up with such fun and creative names!

4. Parent Pride Board

Today was our Kindergarten Celebration of Learning.

All parents were invited in to our room in the afternoon and we got to share some of our learning from the year. We started with a slideshow with music as the parents arrived and once most parents were seated we started our presentation.

In our presentation (a second slideshow) we had students come up and talk about each slide, what we were doing and/or what they learned. The parents loved hearing their child and other students speak about their learning from the year.

At the end we invited the parents to write down one or two things that they are most proud of about their child's learning from the year on a post-it note and stick it on this Parent Pride board.

It was a huge hit and I am excited to read what their parents wrote to them on Monday!

5. Who Am I? A Kindergarten Memory Book

This is one of my favourite end-of-the-year traditions. Each year we make this "Who Am I? A Kindergarten Memory Book" and send it home on the last day of school.

It's a "guess who" type book with clues on one page...

and the answer on the next!

We have the students fill in the blanks and then I outline their writing to make it pop a little more.

I love this book and not only is it a great keepsake (for me and the kids) it's also simple enough for them to read and parents often tell me that it is one of the most read books in the summer!

That's it for me for this week! We have 3 more days with the kids and 1 P.A. Day and we are out for the summer! 

If you want to link up with Kacey too you can click on the image below:

Happy Friday!