In alignment with our Character Strong SEL Curriculum, I facilitated a lesson based on the book Mr. Peabody’s Apples with a focus on the author's message. After the read-aloud, students worked together as a team to complete an Apple Tower STEM challenge.
Throughout the year, I offer various reading challenges to encourage students to set reading goals for themselves and spend time working to achieve them. Most recently, I sent home a Winter Break Reading Challenge which students filled out each time they spent twenty minutes reading. Students had an opportunity to earn a prize when completing these activities.
Northern Hills hosted an author visit with Bridget Heos in October. Leading up to this event, we spent several weeks reading her books and discussing how authors can have a variety of purposes for writing. The presentation allowed students to learn more about the writing and publishing process and how an author can write fiction and nonfiction books.
In December, Kindergarten students participated in a Gingerbread Man-themed lesson. I read The Gingerbread Man Loose at Christmas and The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School. As a follow-up activity, students searched in sensory bins for Gingerbread Man cards labeled with letters and colored them on a recording sheet.