D is a letter with so many words. The themes for d are endless. I definitely could have overwhelmed myself with this letter. But I stuck to my lesson plan and had a pretty stress free week.
Bible
This week we move into the New Testament. We read a bit about Jesus' childhood but the main focus was on John the Baptist.
Bible Verse: Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near. -Matthew 3:2
Repent is a word that my dragons were not familiar with. To help explain this I had the kids stand up. I explained that repentance was asking God for forgiveness and changing your life to follow Him or turning your life around. When I said this I turned 180 degrees. Then I had the kids do it. I said you are walking God's path when you turn your life around. Turn to Gods path.
Doll Dragon said she wanted to turn the whole way around (360 degrees). I explained that this was saying you're sorry but not living like you are sorry. Not following God. Living the same way. She seemed to understand and said I want to walk this way and turned back 180 degrees.
The kids did giggle at John eating grasshoppers and honey.
Day 2 we made a desert scene craft and wrote our bible verse on it. More on that below.
Alphabet/Games
To remember the letter d our motion this week was to make a d with our fingers and say 'd-d-desert'. It took the kids a minute to make the letter d with their fingers but by the end of the week they had the motion down.
Doll Dragon made her letter d pencil topper too. No picture this time. She did take the time to decorate though. She is fond of the toppers.
Because of scheduling (or lack thereof) there are some activities we did not complete the first two days. There was another snow day scheduled in the schools and it was difficult to get any of the kids to focus or motivated. We did get bundled up and enjoyed playing in the snow though.
This was the first time I have played this game with Little Dragon and he really enjoyed it. Doll Dragon played this a bunch last year and was thrilled to play again. I did change things up for her and the older kids who were out from school. They had to pick things that ended with the letter d.
Another game for Doll Dragon was Roll & Write. It is a game to help remember site words. I found the game online.
Roll the die and write down the word that matches the number on the die.
It is great handwriting practice too.
Inside Doll Dragons Week 13 folder were some new sight word flash cards. She practiced making sentences with D words such as: deer, doll, do, and did.
Number 9
My lesson plan does not have a lot of focus on numbers. Most of the focus is on the letters. I try to bring up the number more often if I remember. This week I asked the kids what they knew about the number 9. To tell me something about it.
I had a variety of answers. Most of them were things like '9 flowers, 9 snowmen' and such.
One Dragon showed me 9 fingers. Another said it comes after 8.
I thought this was a good question to get the kids thinking about what a number actually is.
Then the dragons did a small playdough number 9 activity.
Crafts
Desert Scene
Materials:
Sand Art
Materials:
The Dragons did a great job earning tickets this month but not quiet enough for the big items at the store. They are learning to save and earn though and have a visible goal to work toward.
I have been trying to get a Valentines activity in everyday until valentines day so we can show each other love. I am thinking of extending it throughout the month of February. There are plenty of things to learn about loving one another.
Bible
This week we move into the New Testament. We read a bit about Jesus' childhood but the main focus was on John the Baptist.
Bible Verse: Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near. -Matthew 3:2
Repent is a word that my dragons were not familiar with. To help explain this I had the kids stand up. I explained that repentance was asking God for forgiveness and changing your life to follow Him or turning your life around. When I said this I turned 180 degrees. Then I had the kids do it. I said you are walking God's path when you turn your life around. Turn to Gods path.
Doll Dragon said she wanted to turn the whole way around (360 degrees). I explained that this was saying you're sorry but not living like you are sorry. Not following God. Living the same way. She seemed to understand and said I want to walk this way and turned back 180 degrees.
The kids did giggle at John eating grasshoppers and honey.
Day 2 we made a desert scene craft and wrote our bible verse on it. More on that below.
Alphabet/Games
To remember the letter d our motion this week was to make a d with our fingers and say 'd-d-desert'. It took the kids a minute to make the letter d with their fingers but by the end of the week they had the motion down.
Doll Dragon made her letter d pencil topper too. No picture this time. She did take the time to decorate though. She is fond of the toppers.
Because of scheduling (or lack thereof) there are some activities we did not complete the first two days. There was another snow day scheduled in the schools and it was difficult to get any of the kids to focus or motivated. We did get bundled up and enjoyed playing in the snow though.
To help introduce the letter d we played 'Big D, little d, what begins with (or ends with) d?'
This was the first time I have played this game with Little Dragon and he really enjoyed it. Doll Dragon played this a bunch last year and was thrilled to play again. I did change things up for her and the older kids who were out from school. They had to pick things that ended with the letter d.
Roll the die and write down the word that matches the number on the die.
It is great handwriting practice too.
Inside Doll Dragons Week 13 folder were some new sight word flash cards. She practiced making sentences with D words such as: deer, doll, do, and did.
Number 9
My lesson plan does not have a lot of focus on numbers. Most of the focus is on the letters. I try to bring up the number more often if I remember. This week I asked the kids what they knew about the number 9. To tell me something about it.
I had a variety of answers. Most of them were things like '9 flowers, 9 snowmen' and such.One Dragon showed me 9 fingers. Another said it comes after 8.
I thought this was a good question to get the kids thinking about what a number actually is.
Then the dragons did a small playdough number 9 activity.
Crafts
Desert Scene
Materials:
- construction paper
- glue
- scissors
3 materials! That makes for an easy cheap craft.
I cut out a black cactus shape for each of the children. I gave them a white piece of paper and scraps of red, orange, pink, and yellow. I showed them a picture of the desert sunset that was in our bible story. We talked about the temperature of the desert during the day and night while the kids tore their papers.
After tearing up the paper the kids glued them onto their white sheet. They took complete control of this project. Choosing where to glue the pieces and how much paper they wanted.
When they finished the background they glued on the black cactus.
I wrote the bible verse on the desert scene and the dragons hung them up on the fridge.
Sand Art
Materials:
- Store bought sand art pack
- funnel
I found the sand art packs at the dollar store. I did buy a funnel separately because the sand art did not have one. With little hands funnels are helpful.
The dragons chose the colors they wanted and poured them into the circular bottle until the bottle was full. We capped them then tied a band through the cap so the dragons could wear them as necklaces.
To further our talk on deserts being hot in the day and cold at night I had the kids dress our weather people for the different temperatures.
Another month has passed and it was time again for our
I have been trying to get a Valentines activity in everyday until valentines day so we can show each other love. I am thinking of extending it throughout the month of February. There are plenty of things to learn about loving one another.
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