Fitting It All In Between Snow Days (Plus a Fun Math Freebie)

Thank goodness it's Friday.  I just made it through (I think) my first full week of school since December.  With all of our snow days January was totally choppy, which makes for teaching that feels a bit discombobulated.

I took down our January artwork to make room for some February goodies.  We made Valentine kids to hang up in the classroom.  They turned out pretty cute.  I really love projects that "look" like the kids.  Each student's personality always seems to shine through.

We also worked on a little post Groundhog Day activity.  I was disappointed to be out of school the the days leading up to Groundhog Day.  We missed our chance to do the groundhog prediction glyph that I like to use with my firsties.  

I thought for a few days how I could spin it and still take advantage of some of the fun Groundhog Day learning opportunities.  I decided to go with a simplified opinion writing craftivity, weather tracking to see if the groundhog's prediction comes true, and of course some groundhog themed read alouds.

I'm so glad it worked out.

Finally, we held our Solid Shape Museum.  Each year I have students bring in items from home that represent five solid shapes: cube, sphere, cylinder, rectangular prism, and cone.  

The students present their shapes and then place them in the museum.  We discuss the shape attributes and explore if they can roll, slide, or stack.  When all of the presentations are over, students complete a Solid Shape Museum mini book.

The kids really enjoy this project.  It is also a perfect way to make a real world connection to our math studies.

If you are interested in doing this project with your students, click on the picture below for a free copy of the mini book and a parent letter home explaining this project.

The clip art is from JW Illustrations, Scrappin Doodles, and Pink Cat Studio.

Well, I guess that's about it for now.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Best.