All About Spring - FREE ACTIVITIES - Reading and Enrichment
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ALL ABOUT SPRING ENRICHMENT UNIT
We have beautiful “shoulder seasons” here in Idaho. After a long winter, I am so grateful when the birds return and bright green blades of grass start poking through.
Spring is also such an incredible time of year in the classroom.
Can you believe only a few months ago my sweet kinders didn’t even know the first letter in their name?
They are now reading and writing complete sentences.
They can show 1:1 correspondence up to 20, we are adding and subtracting, plus so much more.
Seriously… it is amazing to be a part of!
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Now we are solidifying our skills, and in March we have so much fun learning about all things spring.
This is an excellent way to bring science, social studies, math and reading together.
Plus, I am sharing a free March weather graph and a fun cut and paste season activity right here on this blog post.
Note: this freebie is towards the bottom of this blog post.
If you have been with me for awhile now, you know that I use enrichment units every month.
I love thematic teaching.
Students have natural excitement about the world around them, and what better way to teach reading, science, social studies and even some math by harnessing their natural excitement?
This make engagement a cinch as the kiddos are so excited to be a part of each unit:
In September, we studied All About Apples
In October, it was All About Pumpkins
In November we went in depth with All About Fall
In December we traveled all over and learned All About Christmas Around the World
In January we had so much fun with All About Winter
In February, we studied All About Friendship and social skills and it was perfect with Valentine’s Day.
Now that it is March, we are learning All About Spring.
April will be All About Earth, and May is All About Me and My Community.
Learn more about each unit on my Thematic Teaching page HERE or see my BUNDLE HERE
FEBRUARY FLASH SALE!
All About Spring is 50% off and the Year-Long Bundle is 75% off.
This is a limited time sale before March arrives!
SPRING READ ALOUD BOOKS
I center my monthly enrichment units around four read aloud books, so we can go in depth with one each week.
Week 1 we read When Spring Comes and have so much fun with activities that center around welcoming spring.
Week 2 we read In Like a Lion Out Like a Lamb and we learn all about spring weather and create adorable bulletin board crafts with our writing prompts.
Week 3 we read Everything Spring and study all the adorable baby animals that come in the spring.
Week 4 we read Seed to Plant and learn about the life cycle of plants.
Kids are fascinated with all things Spring, and it is fun to capture their excitement and transfer it into what we are learning about.
I am sharing freebies with you right here on this post too!
WEEK 1 - WHEN SPRING COMES
Have you read this book? Oh you’re in for a treat! It is the absolute perfect book to kick off our spring unit, and your kids will ask to read it again and again.
Throughout the book, it says things like….
The ground is muddy, but if you wait, spring will bring green grass.
The line but if you wait is repeated throughout the story the kids love this.
After we read the story, we watch it on video and the background music makes it fun.
We discuss as a class what happen when spring comes.
At the end of the book, it says when spring comes, you will feel it, smell it and you will hear it.
These two activities are perfect after we read the story.
Before we do the cut/paste Waiting on Spring, I use pocket chart cards whole group.
First I mixed up the sentences and ask students what they notice.
They quickly figure out the big bold letters say, “But if you wait…” so we separate those out.
Then I read the other sentences aloud and we figure out which ones make sense together.
The first time they need my help doing this and then I can move this to a literacy center and they can complete the cut and paste activity that goes with it.
Then students trace and/or write sentences about spring.
Two differentiated versions are included for a total of four pages.
One version students write their own sentence next to each spring picture.
The other version students can trace the sentence that is already there.
We finish up the week with a spring writing prompt.
They can write about anything they learned this week about when spring comes. It is so fun to see what they decide to write.
This finishes up our first week on spring.
WEEK 2 - IN LIKE A LION OUT LIKE A LAMB
This week we have so much fun learning about how spring can be like a lion and like a lamb. For many kiddos, this is an excellent introduction to figurative language, personification and comparisons.
The rhyming is adorable and the author refers to March as he/him (the lion) as he roars outside and pounds on the door (storm).
But then the weather turns and gets calm and warm and lion takes a warm afternoon nap.
He is done roaring and soon starts snoring.
Then the sweet little lamb arrives with warm weather, new grass, flowers and the yellow sunshine.
I love having the kids watch the story on read aloud the first time we read it because all the sound effects of the rain, thunder and animals.
After the story, we now get to talk about all the ways spring can be like a lion, and how spring can be like a lamb.
I give students their own little mini reader. I read it first, then we read it all together and then students can buddy read.
I generally follow the:
I read
we read
you read model.
I read the story first, then we all choral ready together, they I tell them, “You get to read now!” and they can whisper read it or buddy read the book.
This reading model builds confidence so quickly in students!
Then students color the pictures and take their mini books home to share with their families.
Reading the book and then watching the book on video with sound effects really helps students understand how the author is using personification and comparison.
Students can use their graphic organizers to draw and/or write about examples of spring being like a lion and like a lamb.
I display pocket chart cards for what spring feels like as a lion, and what it feels like as a lamb.
Do you graph the weather each day in your room?
I don’t all year, but during spring this can be fun.
Each day, students can decide if it is a lion day or a lamb day, and then they color a bar on their graph.
You can do this for March, April and May as I included all three monthly graphs in my All About Spring Unit.
Now that students know how spring can be like a lion or like a lamb, we get to make these adorable writing crafts.
Seriously… too cute right?
Students get to pick which one they like more. If they like rain, storms, thunder, playing in the mud…. they get to pick a lion.
If they prefer warm, sunny days they get to make a lamb.
Two differentiated writing papers are included:
Version 1: students fill in the sentence frame
Version 2: students can write completely on their own
We finish the week with our lion and lamb poetry.
Personally, I like to use these in small group settings because we are working on fluency, comprehension and writing.
This completes our fun enrichment week on spring weather, figurative language and lions and lambs.
WEEK 3 - EVERYTHING SPRING
I don’t think I have met a kindergartener who doesn’t love learning about animals. I have met a few who don’t like to touch them, but read them a story or show them pictures of animals and their eyes are as wide as saucers.
They especially can’t get enough when I bring out the pictures of baby animals. Seriously though…. talk about easy engagement.
Spring is the perfect time to teach students about baby animals, and this week we are doing just that. This book touches on everything spring (hence the title) but on almost every page, the authors talks about a different baby animal.
So we are diving right in and my kiddos will soon know all the baby names of their favorite animals.
I show students this adorable baby animal slideshow.
The sentences are predictable so students can focus on the new vocabulary.
Then they get an adorable mini book that matches the slideshow perfectly:
They trace the baby animal word on each page and can color the picture.
The same eight animals from the slideshow are in the mini book.
They turn out so cute and the students are thrilled!
Sometimes they will go around quizzing each other on each baby animal name.
Included are two different sets of picture word cards.
They can be used in pocket charts to match the babies and moms, they can be used for games such as memory or go fish.
The possibilities are endless with these cards, but this really helps with vocabulary and language skills such as grouping objects that belong together.
These are so helpful for your ELL kiddos.
After these activities, I feel like students have a good foundation so we move on to our reading passages with comprehension questions.
I prefer to use these in small groups, so I can make sure students are touching each word as they read and I can assist those who need it.
Three different versions come in both color and black.
After reading the passage twice, students answer simple comprehension questions at the bottom (I love that they require students to write the name of the animal.)
Also included for the week are some fun baby farm animal activities that work on skills such as matching, sorting, measuring, graphing and sight words.
These are perfect for fast finishers or no prep centers for the week.
WEEK 4 - SEED TO PLANT
Spring is the perfect time to teach your students about the plant lifecycle. This book, Seed to Plant, is full of bright pictures and information.
You may even want to split the book over two days so you can stop and make sure students are understanding. It covers so much.
Over the course of the week we will learn about the basic plant life cycle, what plants need to grow, discuss plants that we eat and then we compare/contrast what plants and people need.
This is also the perfect time to plant a classroom garden if your time allows for that.
Here in Idaho, sometimes it is sunny and warm this last week of March, and sometimes it is snowing!
I tell my kiddos that plants need both lion and lamb weather to grow.
I cut up these picture cards and we discuss what is happening in each stage. We place them in the pocket chart and talk about how plants grow slowly over time.
I show students the color version of the Lifecycle of a Plant chart and explain how you don’t have to draw every single step to show the lifecycle.
They can then color their own pictures on the black and white version.
I make sure to discuss that the flowers and/or fruit have the seeds, and this is how the process starts all over once the flowers wither and die (the seeds go back into the ground.)
Then we work on learning the vocabulary terms of five of the major steps: seed, germination, seedling, plant and flower/fruit.
Students can fill out their vocabulary pages and then we make flip books.
Once they make their flip books, they can practice “teaching” each other the steps.
I love incorporating science and social studies into our read aloud and thematic units.
Cut and paste labeling helps students understand the parts of a plant.
Three differentiated versions are included in both color and black and white.
We also discuss what plants need to grow.
I don’t dive too deep into the science about chlorophyl, but I do tell them that plants make their own food if they have sunlight, water, soil and room to grow.
They make another flip book about What Do Plants Need?
They already know how to make these since we just did one about the plant life cycle.
This then creates the perfect introduction to discuss how what plants need is totally different than what people need.
Finally, we discuss how people need plants, and really we focus mostly on plants we eat.
The kids think this is so funny as many have never realized that fruits, vegetables, wheat and rice are actually plants.
Students can make a list and write their favorite five plants to eat.
The picture word bank provides scaffolding, but they can also think of different plants if they wish.
It is so fun to see what they come up with.
Ready to get started with All About Spring?
Your students will have so much fun learning about the changes Spring brings, weather, baby animals, plants and more!
“Love these units. My kids like to do the activities that go with them. Thanks for another great product!”
“I can’t wait to use this unit! The fall and winter unit was awesome!”
“Really love these "All About" units!”
“Can't wait to use many of these interesting, cute and standard based activities in the Spring.”
“I love all of your resources!”
SPRING FREEBIES!
CLICK HERE to print this adorable free weather graph and cut/paste activity!
These activities are an exclusive freebie that aren’t included in the All About Spring unit.
These two activities, plus all of these adorable March centers are available FREE for our community members.
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