Hey, there! Looking for some great resources to use in your classroom as we kick off the new year? Here's a run down of all my favorites:
New Year's Project:
This one is PERFECT for a fun writing & art project to do the first week you get back to school! It makes a wonderful hallway display and keepsake. Lots of options and extras are included!
Dramatic Play: Fitness Center and/or Hot Cocoa & Ice Skating!
These are both SO CUTE to see your kids using their imaginations with! For each one, you only need a few props (like maybe a few very light hand weights and a mat borrowed from your school gym... or paper plates to use as "skates" and some plastic cups for pretend cocoa) and the kids will take it from there! Dramatic play is always the most popular option for my kids at choice time. :)
The Mitten by Jan Brett
This bundle has it ALL: reading, writing, math, art, retelling, games, finger plays, a class book, vocabulary, & more! I love teaching all of this, but I currently have it printed out and put in an envelope for my emergency sub plans!!! It would fill DAYS upon DAYS ...and be so fun for the guest teacher and kids if I ever need to be out.
Penguin Directed Drawing & Animal Research
These are both a MUST-DO for me in January! This is a bundle, but you can also purchase them separately. I like to have "Penguin Week" and do the 5-day research project M-F and conclude with some "Fun Friday Art."
Animal Research:
Kids each get a little packet and do some quick K/1 appropriate VERY AUTHENTIC writing practice (one page per day and topics are: diagram, habitat, food, babies -eek! so cute!-, & fun facts.). As we wrap up the writing (only takes 5-10 minutes max), then we watch a few teacher-approved YouTube video clips (1-3 min each) that make everything we learned about that day literally COME TO LIFE!!! Write about how baby penguins hatch from the eggs... and then see it happen!! Write about how penguins "fly" underwater and shoot up onto the ice... and then witness it with your own eyes! Animal research is one of my kid's favorite things! We try to learn about a new animal at least every other week.
Directed Drawing:
This comes with two unique features:
✏️ Print and Go, "Perfect Start" Paper (has special starting points already lightly printed on it to ensure ALL artists get off to a perfect start!)
✏️A gorgeous, full color show that guides everyone step-by-step through the drawing process. You get detailed photos, clear explanations worded in ways that kids understand, tips and reassurance for artists, and loads of creative variations so all YOU have to do is flip through this show and read what it says aloud, one page at a time. Super simple to teach!
More Animal Research!
If you and your class end up loving the animal research as much as my class & I do, these are also perfect for January- March!
Writing
This is the time of year we usually get into How-To writing! Need books, papers, writing ideas, and easy-to-follow, super thoughtful lesson plans?
My team usually feels like this is the time of year our kiddos need a little extra CVC writing practice so we've added these pages into their journals. Simple & cheap! Great for homework, small groups, or whole class!
100th Day
Is your 100th Day in January or February? Either way, you'll LOVE this bundle! It includes THE BEST ART PROJECT OF ALL TIME, several cute class books, & a word search. If you don't already have this, you probably need it. :)
I hope that little roundup of January resources was helpful!
Thanks for stopping by!
