Worksheet-Free Wednesday

Last week was my first time to try Worksheet-free Wednesday. It was just a trial-run at first. I got the idea after reading Elizabeth Hall's blog post about it on www.kickinitinkindergarten.com! It really went well last week so I decided to keep it around. I think it's a great way to think outside of the box and really make your lessons more interesting and hands-on. I never give "busy work", all of my worksheets that I give out are always meaningful to whatever we are learning about. However, sometimes you just need a break from the worksheets. I think Wednesday being the middle of the week is a great way to do something different. We still covered all of the skills we would've covered if we had worksheets, we just got a little creative. This week we have been reading fiction and non-fiction stories about penguins. Penguins are so much fun to learn about.  The kids are having so much fun with this unit. Here are some pics of what we did today during Worksheet-free Wednesday!



We actually did this craft yesterday. It is Tacky the Penguin. We are currently reading Tacky the Penguin and the kids think it is absolutely hilarious. I don't have a pic, but we did a Venn Diagram about Tacky and his penguin companions on the Smart Board together.

This is our Daily-Fix it for Language Arts that I made for my Reading Street units in TPT. We look for errors in the sentence and then fix it! Instead of them doing the worksheet, I put it on the Smart Board and put butcher paper on their desks. I also let them pick their favorite marker to use too. Butcher paper is fun!

 

 

Since the weather has been beautiful this week, we've been taking advantage of getting to go outside. I took the kiddos outside and gave them chalk, I would say a word like "cat" and they would have to draw a picture or write the word of something that would rhyme with cat. After we did about four words I let them draw pictures for a little bit. Everyone needs a good dose of sunshine!

 

For some extra word work I gave the kids all a marker board and marker and would say a word and they would have to spell it. They love using the dry-erase boards!

 

 

 

 

We've been studying measurement in Math and today we worked on capacity. We practiced filling different sized containers of sand to see which containers would hold more/less. They are always wanting to play in my sand box, so this was a great way to let them play with the sand but also learn about capacity.

 

 

My kiddos are obsessed with shaving cream... So for a quick addition lesson I busted out the shaving cream. I would put a math problem on the Smart Board and they would have to draw their answer in the shaving cream. It gives the room a nice smell for a minute too.

 

 

Here are our science experiments for the day. How does a penguin keep warm in the icy cold water? Well their feathers and oil of course. I simply gave the kids a mitten to wear as their feathers and put a latex-free glove over it for the oil. They got to dip their bare hand and their covered hand in ice water to see the difference.

 

 

Our last little experience was seeing how a penguin waddles. I had the kids put a ball between their ankles and walk back and forth without dropping it. It was fun!

 

 

 

That's all I have today! Worksheet-Free Wednesday is so much fun!