A Hoot of a Kindergarten Class!: week of April 20 |snapshot|

this week we learned all about the Earth's properties!

the students first drew what they thought was under their feet. then we learned about geologists and the 3 layers of the earth, S.K.8 SS.K. 7 S.K.2

we also learned about different kinds of minerals and how we use minerals to make table salt, windows, matches, glass, and minerals and they can be found in lots of different pieces of jewelry—sapphires, diamonds, rubies, etc. minerals are valuable because of how useful and/or how rare they are. the students participated in an activity where they were in charge of mining out valuable minerals from igneous rocks. I explained to them that when people mine materials from the Earth, they have to do their best to keep the Earth as intact as possible. if they are mining and completely destroy the surrounding Earth, then that area can’t be accessed and used again. their goal was to take as many minerals, or chocolate chips from their cookie (diamonds) now known as igneous rocks, by using toothpicks as their rock picks and a marker as their hammer. I told them I would give them “money” for every diamond that is successfully mined, but whole, large diamonds are worth more “money”. Each person will get paid for their diamonds at the end of ten minutes. they love when I play tricks on them so they were cackling when I pulled out over-sized dollars to pay them for their "diamonds" ;) S.K.8 SS.K. 7 S.K.2

Sink or Float Brainstorm

what does it means to sink or float?

we read Who Sank the Boat and named things we have seen sink or float.

we watched Nash’s Adventures http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/digger/5_7entry/8.shtml and the students played along with the sink or float game.

then students chose classroom items and predicted whether each object would sink or float before we did the experiment. S.K.8

Go Fly a Kite!

we had fun with this lesson. What is needed for the kite fly well? (Wind) What other forces affect its flight? (Gravity pulls it down; drag pulls it back; thrust makes it go forward; and lift keeps it in the air.) What are the advantages/disadvantages of the different types of paper? (heavier paper may weigh it down, but it may not rip as easily) What are the advantages/disadvantages of a tail? (makes it weigh more but keeps it on a straighter path) What affect does running faster have? (increases the thrust) we watched a YouTube video on how to make a homemade kite and then decided to try our hand at it, as well. while listening to Mary Poppins', Let's Go Fly a Kite, of course!
S.K.8 SS.K. 7 S.K.2

we also enjoyed watching Louis Armstrong sing What a Wonderful World and I enjoyed watching the students watercolor what they heard in the lyrics. makes the artist part of this teacher very, very happy and at peace to watch these young artists at work. :)

VA.K.5

What a Wonderful World-

I see trees of green, red roses too

I see them bloom, for me and you

And I think to myself

What a wonderful world

I see skies of blue, and clouds of white

The bright blessed day, dark sacred night

And I think to myself

What a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky

Are also on the faces, of people

going by

I see friends shaking hands,

sayin', "How do you do?"

They're really sayin', "I love you"

I hear babies cryin',

I watch them grow

They'll learn much more, than I'll ever know

And I think to myself

What a wonderful world

Yes, I think to myself

What a wonderful world Oh yeah

we also started our coin study this week with penny and nickel. we created our coin rubbings books, our Show Me the Money books, learning to count coins, how many of each coin makes $1, and started studying our flow charts.

Mississippi Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet made their annual visit to our school. we enjoy their yearly visits and are always entertained! they never disappoint!

we walked to the Jack Pleasant Greenhouse for Earth Day where Mr. Brian and Ms. Katie had some activities planned for us. we weeded the driveway, gathered sticks, made compost, planted seeds, and dug for earthworms.

Ms. Matlock invited us to Sumter Academy's First Grade Little Bit Circus last Friday. this was my first Little Bit Circus and it happens to also be special because it is Ms. Matlock's last Little Bit Circus. many of the entertainers were Campus School alum!

Tricky Thomas

Jubilant Ju Ju

Brawny Brayden

Hustler Hayden

Beautiful Bailey

Messy Maggie Mae

Curious Cooper

and for the finale Susan Sharpe, the first grade teacher, brought in Ms. Matlock's children who were in the Little Bit Circus many years ago to surprise her. such a wonderful end to Ms. Matlock's many years of service at the Academy.

we made 2 special snacks this week!

our first snack was to celebrate Earth Day.

the students did this one all on their own.

they mixed water and cake mix in a Dixie cup and chose either blue or green food coloring to represent water or land on a globe.

I then placed them a hot plate to cook for 20 minutes.

while the cupcakes were cooking, the students then mixed up either green or blue icing!

look at those awesome cupcakes and so easy for students to make all on their own!

our other special snack this week was ice cream with Magic Shell since we had been discussing Earth's properties. we discussed how Magic Shell started out as a liquid and became a solid very similar to how lava is very hot and then becomes hard as it cools.

quicksand fun in the library

rock fun in the library

we surprised Ms. Alison with a birthday breakfast!

our Shared Reading book this week was Just This Once by Joy Cowley.

we also got our first response to our Message in a Balloon!

it came from Talladega, Al!

limited centers:

block center- add stones to build with

math- play money center

Listening Center-Stone Soup

discovery center- real money for rubbings

dramatic play center- Rock Museum- add rocks, trays, cash register, bags and other items. students place rocks throughout this area by sorting into types, sizes, colors, etc.