Tyranno-Tag

We sorted dinosaurs by what they ate today.  Each child was given a dinosaur and asked to classify it as a carnivore, herbivore, or omnivore.  Then we went into the gym to measure out the length of all our dinosaurs. Many dinosaurs were under 20 feet long, while one was 90 feet long.  We would switch dinosaurs and then go stand on the number of feet long our new dinosaur was.  After everyone was able to measure four dinosaurs we played TYRANNO-TAG.  I was the big bad carnivore Tyrannosaurs, and the kids were herbivores trying to run past me.  If they got tagged the had to be stationary carnivores trying to tag the other herbivores.  The kids had a load of fun and got some great exercise as they continued to learn that some dinosaurs ate other dinosaurs.  Have a great weekend.

Fossils to Radishes to Museums

        It was a very busy day here in kindergarten.  We started with a fossil hunt outside.  Yes, our little paleontologists searched for fossils in the courtyard.  They had to record where they found their fossil, predict if it was a carnivore, herbivore, or omnivore, and then illustrate their fossil.  The kids also went to the garden to harvest the radishes they planted earlier.  They were impressed to see the different colors produced by the Easter Egg radish seeds.  Then Farm Abby showed us how seeds start to grow when soaked in water.  The kids used toothpicks to take off the seed coat, carefully split the seed and then find a baby plant starting to grow.
        After a Maine Day lunch with a special dessert whipped up for us by Mrs. Erdman's fourth grade, we took our hand at excavating fossils by using a toothpick to dig chocolate chips from chocolate chip cookies.  The kids will never look at cookies the same way again.  They worked for a half hour slowly finding each chocolate chip in their cookie.  We ended our day with a trip to Mrs. Erdman's class museum to learn all about Maine.  The year might be drawing to an end, but the learning is still fast and furious.

Dinosaur Map

Today we met with Mrs. Burgess's class to talk more about dinosaurs.  We used an interactive map of the United States to find different examples of dinosaurs.  We were surprised to find an aquatic dinosaur in Nevada, a landlocked state.  That got us thinking about how our Earth has changed over time.  We also found a map of Pangea, when the world had just one super continent.  Then we practiced playing with the forms of continents to see how the shapes of the continents fit nicely with each other.  The class also learned a dinosaur poem and discovered several sight words in the poem.  Remember tomorrow is the field trip to the Botanical Gardens.  Send your kiddo with good walking shoes and socks.  Please apply sunscreen before they come to school.  Thanks!

If you want to check out the dinosaur map at home, try this link.
Dinosaur Map:  http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/dinosaurdiscovery/l/blstatedinosaurmap.htm

Checking Out the Plants

Today we took a break from our math assessment to go check on the seeds we planted.  Farm Abby took us to the school garden and we saw how our radish seeds compared in growth to some beet seeds planted by another class.  We also compared lettuce growing in a cold frame to lettuce growing in a raised bed. 

We also took a trip to the PIE sponsored Science Museum.  The kids loved checking out magnets, shells, a skeleton and sensory balloons.  The whole class worked hard today to get through a ton of assessments and I appreciated how quiet they were when they weren't working with me.

Remember:  Field Trip to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens on Wednesday, June 5.  Be sure to pack a lunch for your child.  We will be gone all day, please make sure to send your child with sturdy shoes as we will be walking a great deal that day.

Caddis Fly Creations

As we continue our look at the pond we have used pond animals and plants to help us break up syllables, learn verbs and adjectives, alphabetize, and understand life cycles.  Today we got a little messy.  The kids read a poem about a caddis fly and found all the adjectives.  Then they learned that a caddis fly makes a shell for itself from the debris at the bottom of the pond. The shell protects the caddis fly until is seals itself into the shell to begin its transformation into an adult.  The kids took pond debris we have been observing and turned it into a shell for their own caddis fly.  It was a fun, albeit messy, project.

Pond Compound Words

Today we made compound word pictures.  We reviewed what a compound word was, talked about how compound words are two words put together to make a new word, and then made a pond picture labeling all the pond related compound words.  You can help reinforce compound words at home by making your own list of the objects in your house that are compound words, like baseball, raincoat, or pineapple.  If you come up with a great list, send it in and we'll add it to ours!

Cattails and Alphabetical Order

Today we  worked on putting letters in alphabetical order.  We talked about how using an order helps us find things quicker.  The kids then put cattails in order from the shortest to the longest cattail.  We measured the cattails with a tape measure, after determining that would be the best took for the job.

Remember that NWEA testing is this week, so try to help your kiddos get good sleep and a great breakfast in the morning.    Also, we will be going to a farm pond with Farm Abby on Thursday.  Please be sure to send your child in footwear that is appropriate for walking in potentially wet areas.

PONDS

We started looking at the pond today.  The kids watched a video of the life cycle of a frog, and then we had a chance to check out real frog eggs.  After the frog eggs were explored the kids took some time to observe what you might find around a pond. If you have any books about ponds we would love to borrow them.  Stay tuned as we explore more about the plants and animals around the ponds. 

This was our first day without Mrs. Keach and everyone missed her.  The kids also worked on revising their journals today.  We blended sounds to make words and used function machines to help us add and subtract.  It was a fun day and we are looking forward to doing more with ponds.

The PLAY!

Well, we read the book.  We read it again.  And again.  And one more time for good measure.  Then we wrote, and wrote and wrote.  Finally a script was ready.  Then we picked roles, and practiced, practiced, practiced!  The kids practiced during choice time, they practiced at home.   We made costumes, props, backdrops.

We invited EVERYONE in the school, and practically EVERYONE came.  The kids performed their play over and over and over.  Then the families came.  Moms and dads and grandparents, aunts and uncles....  We celebrated with party mix, owl cupcakes, cookies, and cheese and crackers.

This was a wonderful day to be a kindergarten teacher.  I am so proud of these kids!

Props!

Today we made props for our play.  The kids made drums, flutes, shields, black clouds and fire darts!  We rehearsed some more and found our marks for where to stand.  Everyone is practicing speaking clearly and with volume.  Ready or not, we'll be performing on Friday.

We also had some fun using a number grid to make a mystery letter.  Everyone helped each other find numbers like 57, 43, and 27.  Our mystery letter was P!  Then we used dice to create addition sentences and graph the sums we came up with.

The class has also started reading books by Leo Lionni.  We love that he is both the author AND the illustrator of his books.  Our first book was titled Swimmy.  The class could make a connection of all the fish working together to the work they are doing on our play. Today we read the book Frederick and learned that everyone can contribute to a group in their own way.

Stay tuned for more play updates.  Remember, the performance for parents is Friday afternoon at 1:30!

Push and Pull with Farm Abby

We put our knowledge of push and pull to real use today with Farm Abby.  We learned how the force of both push and pull are used when operating farm tools.  The kids started cleaning out one of the raised bed gardens to prepare it for spring planting.  

This afternoon we created an experiment to test the strength of different materials when pulling a bucket of blocks.  We practiced pulling using paper, yarn, crayons and rulers.  The kids recorded their results in their experiment notebooks.  

I'm not sure whether we were pushing or pulling when the limbo stick came out, but everyone had a good time celebrating Tropical Day by doing the limbo.  I would have added pictures, but somebody had to hold the limbo stick =).

Experiments

We took mystery materials today and used them to work more with push and pull.  The kids each took a straw and a cotton ball.  They practiced pulling up the cotton ball by inhaling through the straw.  Then they had loads of fun pushing the cotton ball on different surfaces and blowing the cotton ball from different directions.  We would experiment, gather and discuss our findings, then experiment some more.  Our work ended with the students making observations in their experiment notebooks.

We also sorted words by syllables.  Mrs. Keach gave us a graph to create with 1,2,3, and 4 syllable words.  The kids are able to see how many syllables a word has by putting their hand under their chin and then saying the word.  Each time their chin hits their hand is a syllable.  Try it at home with the names of people in your family.

Folks from The First National bank came in to chat with us about money today.  The kids read a poem about change, and then discussed how four pennies is worth less than one nickel, even though there are more coins.  We also were reminded to be safe with money by washing our hands after touching it.  Everyone was excited to receive a change purse and pencil (coming home tomorrow).

Remember tomorrow is Tropical Dress day.  The kids are encouraged to wear tropical clothes and bring in a beach towel for a lunch time picnic.

Push and Pull

After reading about the Three Little Pigs last week the class read a story about a great, big turnip that had to be pulled out of the ground.  This prompted a discussion about pushing and pulling.  We practiced pulling and pushing doors to make them move.  Then we wondered if the Big Bad Wolf "pushed" down houses with his breath, or if he "pulled" down houses.

We have been working on strategies to calm down when things get hectic in the classroom.  Today we all took a river stone and put it on our foreheads with the lights off.  Then the kids just listened quietly to guided stories about balloons floating in the air.  These self soothing activities help students learn to relax even when events around them feel overwhelming.

To decide this we practiced pushing air out of our mouths to make a tissue move, and then pulling air into our mouthes, thus sucking the tissue into our mouths.  Then each child took a small paper cup to experiment with pushing using their exhalations.  We had cups upside down, scuttling across the tables,  and holding bears, legos and unifix cubes.  The children watched their peers and then tried new ideas.  Tomorrow we will craft an experiment using our air to "push" cups around.

This afternoon we worked on our costumes for the class play.  We modeled our designs after those of Gerald McDermott, the author of the story our play is about.  The students talked about warm and cool colors, shapes and lines.  Everyone is interested in making four star work and they are checking out what their peers are doing for ideas.  They are frequently coming to Mrs. Keach and I looking for more input of how to revise their costumes.  What may appear to be mindless coloring is actually creation of a product using geometric concepts.  I can't wait for your to see their completed products.

Connections

Today we went to a Kinderconcert.  The Portland Symphony Orchestra came to Brunswick High School and performed Carnival of the Animals.  Our music teacher Mrs. Drury  has been teaching the  students about this piece of music and the instruments they would see today.  It was so exciting to see the kids connect what they've been learning in music to a real performance.

Connections carried over today in reading groups.  We read our books and then made Text to Self connections about what we read.  A Text to Self connection is made when something you are reading makes you think about something in your life.  We all took turns connecting books about butterflies to monarchs we have seen, rabbits hopping to our grandmother's rabbits, and an owl looking for a friend to our own times of wanting someone to play with.  Text to Self connections are a way to improve our reading comprehension.  We will be talking more about these connections in class.

You can also make Text to Self connections when you are reading at home.  Ask your child what the stories you read make her think of.  I guarantee it will be a great conversation starter.  Have a great night!

Best Day EVER!!

We truly had the best day ever in kindergarten.  We covered several math, science, social studies, writing and reading standards with eggs,  and plants today!  Rather than a lengthy explanation I'll let the photos tell the story. 

 The kids stuffed bags with different materials to protect a raw egg from a long drop.   Four of our six materials came from plants.

 We used a plant based dye (beets, blueberries and grape juice) to dye our plant based popsicle sticks

 The kids check out our material bags after the drop to confirm their predictions of if an egg would survive the fall.

 Mrs. Keach asks the kids what will happen to an egg left in vinegar and the kids find out what will spin best, a hard boiled or raw egg.

 We dropped six bags of materials protecting the eggs.  Note the sugar, beans, and fur on the floor from bags exploding on impact.

 The best way to start off the experiment is with Humpty Dumpty.

 After the real egg drop, the kids tucked different materials (legos, tissues, dinosaurs) in plastic eggs to see if the plastic egg would break open.  It was constructive chaos!

 The class LOVED watching the bags drop.  It was more fun than Times Square on New Year's Eve.

 The end result of our packages.  There are broken shells in every bag but the sugar.

 Making predictions for our experiment.

Counting out popsicle sticks.  How many did we dye?  How many did we leave natural?  130 were dyed, and 169 were left natural.  One stick stayed out so we could use it to stir the dye.

On top of this, the kids finished writing their play AND earned all their marbles!  We will be celebrating with pajama day on Monday, April 1.  This truly was the best day ever.

Sight Word Eggs

Today we each wrote words and tucked them into plastic eggs.  Then the kids hid their eggs around the room.  When all the eggs were hidden the kids then went looking for eggs.  They brought the eggs back to circle and read the words inside.  We used sight words as well as palindromes (words spelled the same backward as forward). Whenever somebody came up with a palindrome we put it on our new chart.  So far we have the following words on our chart:  wow, did, hannah anna, peep, pop kayak, dad, mom, noon, bib, bob, and pip.  See if you can add any to our list with your child.

The kiddos are also taking bookmarks home today.  These bookmarks have strategies to read tough words.  The strategies include: looking at the picture, saying the first and last sound, stretching the word out, finding chunks you can read in the word, skipping it and reading on, trying different sounds that letters can make, go back to the beginning and try again.  Then, if you still can't read the word, ask for help.  We will be focussing many lessons on these strategies and it will help if you also support this work at home.

Tomorrow is going to be exciting as we use natural objects to dye eggs!

Guess the Number

Today we had fun working in pairs with a 100 grid.  One child would close his eyes while the other circled a number on the grid.  Then the child with the closed eyes put his finger on the grid while his partner guided him to find the circled number.  The directions given were up, down, left or right.  When the child found the circled  number he had to say what it was.  The kids enjoyed playing this game.  We also had to find purple word cards hidden around the room.  Once found the class sorted the words into "an" and "am" piles.  You could do this at home with our kindergarten sight words, or with the first grade words that will be coming home next week as so many members of our class already mastered the kindergarten words.