Rocks in our Heads( Our Study about Rocks!)

Kindergartners continued their first

Rock themed week with some "Rock"in' activities!

Wednesday 9/7

Kindergartners posed for individual portraits on the side of the school building near the stone wall.  (How appropriate!)  Check out your adorable children displayed on the door outside of our classroom! In the meantime here is a group shot!!



We listened to a story entitled A Place Called Kindergarten  by Jessica Harper and heard an interesting conversation among all of  a farm boy's animals while the lad  is gone  to a place called "Kindergarten."
(exerpt)


Where can he be?" asked the horse.
"I can't imagine," said the sheep.
"He always comes," whined the hen.
"Where on earth is he?" wondered the cow.


(If you'd been there, listening in, it would probably have sounded like this:


"NAYcluckMOObaaNAYcluckMOObaa.")

Shan, our energetic Physical Education Teacher, and the children didn't let a little rain ( O.K. a lot of  rain)  stop them.  They toted umbrellas and took a lively walk through "the rainforest" better known as the woods of the nearby park for gym class.  The children returned a little wet but full of excitement from the adventure.

Speaking of rain, K's placed a rain gauge in  the grassy area right outside of our door.  We predicted the expected overnight  water level of the gauge ( a little bit of rain, mid range level, full,  or over flowing.)  We were surprised the next day to find that the rain quickly reached 2"  and 2 1/2" by midday.

Thursday 9/8


While  reading When We Go to Kindergarten at story time,  Our class made comparisons with the kindergarten classroom  in the book and our Kindergarten class and  activities.  While listening we gave "thumbs up" for similarities and "thumbs down" for differences noticed in the story.

ABABABABABAB
ABABABABABAB
ABABABABABAB
ABABABABABAB
ABABABABABAB
ABABABABABAB
ABABABABABAB

Our Math lesson today consisted of finding out what constitutes a "pattern."  ('Items or series that repeat themselves when placed in a certain order' was our conclusion.)  We then created "AB" patterns (AB, AB, AB...) with materials from our Manipulatives Table.  Kindergartners did an excellent job of making AB patterns  on their own then "scrambled" (traded pieces) to find even more  patterns.   Later, we observed a piece of fabric containing AB patterning.   (yellow triangle, red triangle, yellow triangle...red triangle... )





Kindergartners have been bringing in their "Backyard Finds" selections to share at Afternoon Circle Time. We have had a variety of items-a flower, a carrot with its stem attached,  2 carrots, a tomato, lettuce, a miniature watermelon, and even a bug exoskeleton.   We also received a photo of 15 miniature frogs -all caught (where else) in the backyard!!

After the clouds emptied out all of its  rain, Kindergartners ventured out on a walking trip through the neighborhood!  We practiced walking with partners and crossing the street safely.  We observed many sights- tree bark with camoflaged patterning, hanging stepping stones, bird footprints in the cement, a heart shaped door on a bird house, and landscaping with a similar look to our rock formations in art class.  On the walk back to school we also saw a tree with a face (eyes, nose, and mouth)  watching us return.

Friday 9/9


We set up Camp Kindergarten complete with tents, canteens, lanterns, and other provisions during Dramatic Arts play.  Children donned vests complete with tools and safari hats.  We roasted (plastic) marshmallows and even ate a few real ones with our snack. We were later visited by a raccoon (puppet) family for extra visual effects.

As our busy week came to  an end, K's practiced their problem solving skills with game activities.  We attempted balancing, color recognition, and cooperation with Topple;  sequencing and spatial relationships with Batik; and patience and fine motor skills with large Dominoes.

Twister Moves provided a great opportunity to release some wiggles and have more practice with  following directions and color recognition.  We danced to our hearts content or fell on the floor exhausted-whichever came first. 

We also reflected  and "wrote" our day's thoughts and observations  in our journals.