Bear Day: A Thematic Approach

Kindergarten students recently celebrated Bear Day in their classrooms. This thematic day incorporated reading, writing, math, science, music, and art with the help of each student's own Teddy Bear.

Student Teddy Bears came in all shapes, colors, and sizes. Students worked on using describing words to write about their stuffed friends. Kindergarteners have learned to stretch unknown words, count sounds in words, and match letters to sounds when writing. 

Many bear themed books were also read throughout the day including, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Paddington, and Corduroy. Students have been working on identifying story elements such as characters, setting, problem and solution. Throughout these read alouds the students also worked on their predicting and retelling skills.

Hands-on math was sure to be included on Bear Day! The students sorted, tallied, and graphed their own Teddy Grahams snack. Then they analyzed their graph to see which variety had more, less, or was equal. These skills extend on the current kindergarten math unit of numeration. 

Bear Day wouldn't be complete without the classic Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear Turn Around Dance and a reading of The Bears' Picnic, complete with a real Bear Day picnic!

Children make meaning through connections. The thematic approach to learning in kindergarten is way teachers ensure that students are making cross-curricular and real-world connections throughout the day. A "beary" good time was had by all!