Top O’ the Learning For Little Learners

We know  

is coming.

And we know our little learners

are getting more and more excited

 about St. Patrick’s Day.

So let’s embrace their excitement…

harness it…

and use it for the greater good.

Let’s talk about ways to make Saint Patrick’s Day
more fun and engaging in your classroom.Get ready… this is a HUGE post full of
Ideas…
products to enhance learning…
and freebies to grab up.

Kinders can not ever have enough opportunities to work with sight words.

Our job is to expose them to these words as many times as possible, in different ways, and sneak learning into their little brains by making it fun.

Check out this Secret Code Word activity that allows learners to break the code to make sight words and words similar to sight words.

They use the code breaker sheet to match the numbers to the letters, making the words in the pots of gold.

We practice using the colorful pots in small groups to learn how to do this task.

Check out their amazing work!

Then we use the printable in independent groups to master the skill.

They worked perfectly in our word work stations.

Literature has provided us with so many outstanding books to cover this holiday with.

Here are a few of the books I enjoy using.

We love that Old Lady who keeps eating things… like CLOVERS.

 And this printable reader allows your readers to fill in the color word before the object.

 We have a reading comprehension game to go with the book.

And a FUN sequencing activity as well.

And I adore the book Leprechauns on the Loose.

{This is an amazon link, but I would buy this from here,

The Scholastic Teacher Store. It is under $4 right now.}

 And we use this game board to review our reading comprehension skills.

When a student answers a reading comprehension question correctly,

the roll a die and move around the board.

This game is a HUGE hit in my classroom because

My kids have no clue they are learning and review skills.

They know they are playing a game and they want to win!

I love to keep data on these games too.

I write the student’s name and mark slashes or checks for their answer.

After dating the paper and writing the name of the book,

I have great data for RTI if I need it.

Speaking errr Writing about the Leprechaun on the Loose book leads us to writing tie in.

I love letting my students choose writing prompts that appeal to them.

I also like to write about the Beginning, Middle, and Ending parts of the book.

 It is rare for two students to sequencing the story the same.

{Also, insider hint here,

I start with the beginning of the story,

then we move on to the end.

We complete the middle story element LAST.}

I also use the 1 2 3 sheet in a few different ways.

We can pick three characters to write about, three different endings,

or even three ways to describe Cindey or the leprechaun.

Honestly, since my goal is to get my kids writing,

I am not that picky about what they write about.

I want them to have input.

And who wouldn’t want to write about leprechauns using this prompt and word wall.

 Since these little writers are supported with the word wall, they can easily do this activity independently.

But let’s not forget that OLD LADY.

Check out these amazing {in my eyes at least} sentences and matching pictures.

My students LOVE using word wall or the book to help them write the words correctly.

Since we used the book Leprechaun on the Loose,

 and Cindey makes a trap,

so we also make a trap!

We use the clues the book gives us to estimate his size.

In the story, the leprechaun hides behind a box of crayons…

 so we use an empty box of crayons as our height measurement.

We also will entice that tricky guys using a pot with one piece of GOLD in it.

Here is what each team gets to work with:

They can collect almost any trap building tools from the classroom.

Here is an example of a team’s trap planning.

And the final product.

This group measured the container and determined that

if they could get the leprechaun INTO the trap,

he would not be able to get out!

So their “design” is to have the toys around so he will come play…

then he will see the gold and try to get it.

{Insert evil laugh here.}

Was my room a mess for 24 hours? Yep.

Was my custodian surprised? Nope.

Was it worth it? Absolutely.

I loved stepping around 5 different sets of traps.

And we were all surprised when the GOLD pieces were missing out of each pot,

but there wasn’t a leprechaun to be found.

That guy did trash our classroom though.Here was a little message he left us in our art center last year.

 

I love to add the novelty of St. Patrick’s Day into math as much as possible.

Here is a time worksheet I turned into a game.
I make copies of the worksheet and glued them down to a notepad.
Then I laminated them and cut them apart.

Now we can write on the shamrocks instead of a worksheet.

And I get to reuse it year after year.

We also use these rainbows to write the numbers
BEFORE and AFTER the given number.

And there are several versions of this…
the set above uses purple numbers in the middle.

This set below uses DIFFERENT green numbers.

We also used these erasers

to make a fun themed graph.
This is a freebie so grab it here.

I also use the old pots from previous years to make a fun addition game.

I take a silver sharpie and write the answers on the pots.

 Then I take some two sided counters and write math equations on them.

 My students solve the math problem and put their gold coins into the matching pot.

I also LOVE this addition activity.
{It is a little tougher to grasp and it gets my kids thinking…We lay out one side of our rainbows and try to make the missing number in the middle..
BOTH sides added together make the answer.

Do you see it?

How about now?

We love adding FUN elements into our classroom.

One of the ways we do this is by baking.

I love to make these rainbow cupcakes with the class each year.

We love to make a ton of art…

After all, isn’t ART what parents want to keep for years and years?

A simple art project we make is this Irish flag.

Since we just talked all about the American Flag in February,
it seems right to make this flag as well.

Plus this helps little ones understand why we wear orange and GREEN for St. Patrick’s Day.

And this art was so easy to make!
Three colors… easy cuts.AND MORE!!!

We also have a special visitor… SILLY MCGILLY.
{Read this post here to see all about this cool idea!}

Check him out in our window.

 He comes to play tricks on us.

Here he is with our Daily 5 necklaces.

HE TOOK THEM ALL.

The next day, he confiscated ALL our green crayons.

And what is Ireland famous for?

POTATOES!

So we grow a potato in our room.
It provides a great bridge from March to April when we discuss plants.

We journal our potato once a week to see how it changes.

This is also a freebie pack I know you will want to grab asap.