Native American Week

We are incredible lucky and are located in a place surrounded by history...I kid you not go to the grocery store, favorite bar, or even picking the kids up from school and you can see people in period clothing. At first its odd, but I love it. It also means as a kindergarten class, we have an opportunity to visit a recreation of a Native American village to experience life first hand.

We begin the week with a tree map organizing our knowledge into schema, new information, and misconceptions (fail-no photo). I use post-it notes so we can move the information around if needed. Next, we discuss how Native Americans did not have names like our own. They often used nature and talents to describe their children. We gather a bag full to nouns related to nature. I do require the children to pick nature that is found in our area. Then we gather a list of adjectives. We then have a naming ceremony, where the children choose at random one from each basket. It is amazing how each year the names fit each child. This year some of my favorites were: talented turtle, small twig, and running sky. We then create vest that will be worn to our Pow Wow the week of Thanksgiving.  The children decorate with Native American symbols and we encourage them to tell different stories with their vests.

We spend two days learning about corn and Indian Corn. I love Gail Gibbons for non-fiction books and her book about corn is a wonderful resource. I gave each table an ear of sweet corn and Indian Corn to explore. The children created observational drawings in their Kindergarten Notebooks that focused on the details they could observe before it was husked and after. We then set up a piece of Indian Corn in water to see if it will sprout. We left the corn at the science table to be explored the rest of the week.

We finished the week with science rotations. I set up four rotations that would give the children a chance to try the chores that Native American children completed daily. One group used turkey quills and paint to create a Native American headband for our Pow Wow.

The second group worked on weaving. I used embroidery hoops and scraps for the children to weave.

The third group used beads and colored pasta to create a necklace, which again will be worn at our Pow Wow.

The last group worked on a STEM project building either a canoe that holds 2 people or a yehakin that zero hero bear can live in.

I love how this group added a bed and a firepit inside the

Yehakin

It was hilarious listening to the children during weaving that his arm may fall off it was so tough.

Trying Math Journals

Last year, as I was searching the web, I came across Deedee Wills' math journals and I loved the idea of them and I thought well I could do this myself. After downloading the free sample, I began creating my own, but not very well or consistently, and eventually they fell through the cracks. My students still flourished in math in so many ways, but their math journals didn't turn into the tool I had hoped.

This year Patterning using different sizes.

This year I took the plunge and purchased the whole bundle... And I love them. They really do make math journal time so quick, easy, and painless. 90% of the time I don't even give a mini lesson about the prompt because they are so relevant to the curriculum we are working with. We use Everyday Math, but I do supplement my centers with lots of activities found on TPT or Pinterest. Occasionally I come across one, and want to save it for a mini lesson to guarantee success.

Our quick mini lesson on showing it a different way.

The beauty of the prompts is that even when you need a mini lesson it can be a simple as a white board and class discussion. Excuse the awful picture, but I showed one way to make 5 then challenged my kids to make 5 in 3 other ways. We just drew it right on the board and bam! We were done and it was their turn.

These math journal prompts have cut down the amount of time we spend on math journals. Between getting journals, reading the prompt up to 10 times, and completing the prompt is 10 minutes. JUST 10 minutes. The bundle comes with extra prompts for each month, so I can use some of them during my small group if children need more assistance with a concept.

My last favorite part of these journal prompts is that they are the fastest way to assess the children on a daily basis on all the topics. We are not using Common Core, but each month includes shapes, patters, addition, comparison, subtraction, and writing numerals. Within 10 minutes each day, I know exactly where each child lies within a specific topic. I can choose to stop and teach then or make plans to cover it whole group during another mini lesson.

If you have been on the fence about these prompts... take the plunge, do it!