Science Tuesday's with Dr. George

During our first three weeks of school, Kindergartners spent Tuesday afternoons with Dr. George.  He peaks the children's interests with relevant and interesting topics related to the world of Science.  He and I collaborate on activities related to our weekly themes.


 Week 1:  Rocks
 Week 2:  Insects/Bugs
 Week 3:  Bones (generated from a conversation with Maia and Mason regarding dinosaurs being embedded in rock during our rock discussion)

Our first unit discussed the 3 kinds of rocks and their  personalities (igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary) and where they might be found.  Afterward,  Dr. George used  candies to demonstrate a metamorphic transformation  (See blog entry "Rocks in our Heads"  for details. )

 Week 2's demonstration included Dr. George's collection of "Domesticated Beetles" and the bone carcasses from  the remains  of it's food. The children observed and counted the bug's legs, noticed it's distinct characteristics, and  found out the purpose of domesticating beetles to support composting efforts.

Last week's discussion easily segwayed into a discussion about theories related to the evolution of dinosaurs into birds.  Dr. George took a poll with the children at the beginning of class as to the validity of this theory and then the class spent the rest of their session together supporting and/or disputing the notion. 

Kindergartners learned about the names of the bones and their locations and met "Bob," Dr. George's skeleton model.  The children then compared sizes of tibias, fibula's, and humerus  bones with the beetle's food remains, Bob, and their own bones. 

They also sought out bone matches with diagrams.  

Inch by Inch!!!

Inch worm, inch worm,
measuring the marigold, 
you and your arithmetic you'll probably go far
Inch worm, inch worm,
 measuring the marigold,
seems to me you'd stop and see
 how beautiful they are!
Two and two are four,
Four and four are eight,
Eight and eight are sixteen
Sixteen and sixteen are thirty two.... 
(-written by Frank Loesssen)

Kindergartners have been studying units of measurement particularly inches.  This was partly sparked by the unexpected downpour of rain and our daily check of our classroom rain gauge (located outside of our classroom back door in our SK backyard.)
K's have  observed the measure of rainfall for several days now and have been spontaneously reporting out to the class.  We are also charting our results.





The Inch Worm song was introduced at circle time and is now  being heard sung spontaneously throughout the classroom.  We also received a recording by Dan Zane for our listening pleasure (Thank's Ava!)   I must say, however, that nothing beats the original recording by Danny Kaye's Hans Christian Anderson. ) 
The class discussed what a marigold was, predicted a marigold's color, and reasons why the inch worm does not seem to notice the flower.  Afterwards, using rulers and tape measures, we scouted out the room attempting to find items that measured 1".  We had an eclectic group of items (including  people that obviously measured more than an inch- several feet to be exact.)  Kindergartners were impressive at handling the measuring tools as well.  (Some tools doubled as masks:))

An Inch Worms game was introduced for table choice.  The premise is to pull out random "worms" (tape measures with varying lengths) out of a  container until empty then  attach  "worms" together lengthwise.  Afterward,  the players compare total lengths of their worms with their opponent's.  This game allowed for layers of skill building- taking turns, making comparisons, fine motor, skill building, and sportsmanship.

Our First Field Trip to the Library!!!

Kindergartners listened to Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen and Lola at the Library  by Anna McQuinn in preparation for our first field trip.  At Circle time, Kindergartners made comments about proper library etiquette - quiet voices, putting books away after use, "no running", and then noticed similarities in the books' contents.  We also discussed bus safety-keep seat belts fastened, no noises that would distract the driver, and exiting the bus safely onto the curb.

We afterward boarded the bus and meandered through the neighborhood to our destination.  We arrived in plenty of time to tour the library meeting room, artwork, and snack area then visited the book hold area (where Val's pre-requested book was waiting for her with her name on it!)   We also visited the Circulation Desk (where Val checked out her book.) Afterward, Olivia assisted in  returning a video to the "media return slot."

After being warmly greeted by the Story Teller and Musician, we found out that  the meeting room was our Story Time room and we were just in time!   And what a great time we had!!  We began with a beautiful "Hello" song from around the world followed by a Ice Cream themed felt board story.  I wonder if the K's remember  the desired flavor of all of the others (vanilla)  or how many scoops (16)?  A dance to the "Hokey Poky" and  another felt story followed  with the book status of "out of print."

We learned that books can still exist after the physical book is gone if we continue to tell the story (nice thought.)

All of the stories today (centered around the letter "E,")  were prompted by a mailed letter  sent to the Storyteller's mailbox.  We even ended Story time with "The End" also beginning with "E."

Kindergartners ventured into the Children's section and browsed books (most), played with table toys (Eleanor and Niccolo), discovered an aquatic snake (Kai and Mason),  played games on the computers (Folurin,  Lilith,  Alexandre),  perused magazines (Olivia), listened to audio books and "read" to a young visitor (Ava and Olivia.)   Had fun-(All!!!)

We exited the library and found Mrs. Bayoneto out front  waiting for us.  We buckled in and  returned to school just in time for a romp on the playground and an early lunch!!  Great day!!!

Our musician plays  the guitar skillfully.

An empty conference room?

A group shot with our Story teller, Miss Rachel.  Say I c e C r e a m!!!!!!!!!..... 

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.