38 Hours and counting

I officially have less than 38 hours of break left (I think it's 38 hours... sounds good, eh?) Today I worked from before 8 till after 4 on a Valentine's Day Literacy Packet. I had lots of fun working on it, but around 6 I realized that I was STARVING! I went the entire time without eating or drinking anything and I think I only went to the restroom like once. I'm wondering if this was me trying to get myself back in the habit of work...work... working! Who knows?

Tomorrow I am going to be devoting my time to getting report cards done and finishing lesson plans and laminating and cutting and prepping some things for my lessons. Sounds fun, right? Uh... I'm not too sure. But it's gotta get done!

This break has gone by WAY too fast. The first weekend seemed like it took forever and then after that it was like I was on a roller coaster that was going WAY TOO FAST! (For those of you who have already returned to work, you have my sympathy!)

So I wanted to share with you what I will be doing in Math this next week. We will begin our Geometry unit. This unit is to last for the next 7 weeks! This stresses me out! Because I honestly get bored after about 2 or 3 weeks of any given topic in math! Math is NOT my strong point. I can do small group and math centers without a problem! But whole group math, that is where my brain screams "HELP! HELP! HELP!"

But after doing some research on my favorite site (I think you already could have figured this one out) Pinterest, I came up with a week worth of lessons that I am super excited about!

We'll start the week (MONDAY) out by reading Square Cat. After reading the story we will discuss the attributes of a circle and a square. We will record these attributes on our "Attributes of a Shape" anchor chart. After discussing the attributes we will decide if we want to be a round or square cat. (We will discuss why "round" is a good word for "circle.") My hope is that we have time to create our own Round Cat/Square Cat. (This idea came from Chalk Talk: A Kindergarten Blog)

On Tuesday we will review the attributes of a circle and a square. I will then show the students a rectangle. All of my students should know what it is (let's hope!) We will discuss and record the attributes of a rectangle and then I will read the math book Two Short Two Long by Christianne C. Jones. After reading the story, TSW sort squares and rectangles.

On Wednesday, we will review the different attributes of the square, rectangle, and circle again. (By this time they should be VERY familiar with these attributes.) I will show the students a triangle. We will discuss and record the attributes of a triangle. I will read the story The Greedy Triangle. We will discuss the story. After reading the story, TSW will sort triangles and not triangles.

On Thursday, we will begin again by reviewing the attributes of these 4 basic shapes. I will read Shapes, Shapes Everywhere. We will make a web of places that we can find shapes in our real world surroundings. We will then go on a shape hunt (something I have done every year) and we will look for shapes around the school. Students will identify where shapes are and I will take pictures of these shapes. (I will use these pictures to make a Shapes In Our World power point that we will use to review shapes in our environment.) When we return to our classroom, TSW draw a picture of one object that they found that represents each of the 4 basic shapes we have been learning about.

On Friday, we will once again review each shapes and it's attributes. (They should REALLY know these attributes now!) I will read Shape Capers. After reading this math story, we will graph our favorite shapes. TSW create a picture using their favorite shape. TSW write about the attributes of their favorite shape. I will combine these shape pictures to create a class book "A World of Shapes." (This idea ALSO came from Chalk Talk: A Kindergarten Blog)

I am REALLY happy with this weeks math plans, but as you can see the majority of my ideas have come from Mrs. Larremore over at Chalk Talk: A Kindergarten Blog.  My fear.... is where do I go from here? What ideas do you have to teach shapes?