Measuring with Different Materials

http://www.sesamestreet.org/play#media/game_1d5fc163-c225-42da-bb59-75e763ba038f

 

The above link goes to a game on sesamestreet.org. Murray is zookeeper and is measuring how tall and wide the animals are. The only problem is that he left his ruler at home and so he uses other materials to measure the animals. We played the game on the Smart Board in class. Then, we took materials that we had in the room and measured each other!

 

  

 Measuring how long with sticks!

Measuring how wide the easel is with 'ice' blocks!

 

 

 

 

Measuring how long the Word Wall is with blocks.

Science Experiment - Vinegar, Baking Soda, and a Balloon

We investigated vinegar and baking soda using our five senses. We talked about how the vinegar is a liquid and the baking soda is a solid. We poured vinegar into a water bottle and used a funnel to put baking soda inside a balloon. We made predicitons about what we thought might happen when we put the balloon on the water bottle. When the baking soda dropped into the vinegar, the gas omitted filled the balloon with gas and inflated. We talked about how it was a gas that was inflating the balloon. Then, the students passed the balloon to each other while waiting for dismissal.

 

 

Graphing

      We have been learning about the different types of tools that community helpers use to help them complete their jobs. Last week, each student got a picture of a tool. Pictures of four different community helpers were posted around the room. The students had to stand next to the community helper that matched the tool picture that they had. When everyone had sorted themselves, we tried to determine which group had more/fewer people. It was a little confusing to count, so we lined up and made a "people graph", using the squares on the carpet. The next day we took the pictures and then made a floor graph. We duplicated the floor graph on paper and talked about the graph in terms of more/fewer/same.

 

The kids sorting themselves on the carpet.

Making a "people graph"!

Making a floor graph, and duplicating it onto paper together.

Our Plants

We did an experiment where we put a white carnation in water and added green food dye... the kids were excited to watch it soak up the green color!

 

And here is our paperwhite bulb in full bloom! The kids aren't quite sure if they like the aroma... but they are very interested in the flower and are so excited that we planted it! :) They wrote about it and drew a picture of the final bloom...  so each child will have a book complete with before/during/after photos, pictures, and words of our paperwhite experience! I am going to bind them so that they are 'real' books; the kids can't wait to see them! :)

Cinnoman Scented Necklaces

We have been reviewing our five senses in science this past week. For one lesson, each student got to choose a die cut sandpaper shape. We talked about how it felt rough. Then, we passed cinnoman sticks around the circle and talked about what they smelled like. Then we used the cinnoman sticks like crayons to rub onto the sandpaper shapes. We used string and beads to make necklaces, and strung our cinnoman-sandpaper shapes onto our necklaces.

 

 

Checking in on our Paperwhite

A few weeks ago, we read the book Paperwhite by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace and planted our own paperwhite bulb. We checked in on our paperwhite and here it is! We talked about how it is growing and looked at the roots (quite visible through the glass). We wrote and drew about how it had changed. We will check in on it again next week!

Our Neighborhood Bulletin Board

We have been talking about places in our neighborhood. We transformed one of our bulletin boards into a neighborhood, adding one component at a time. We added class writings/projects to each area of our neighborhood (grocery store, doctor, train station, school, and post office) and read a book that related to each area. Below are close up photos of each specific area. The kids love it... they are proud to talk about the neighborhood that they made!

This is our train station. We read Freight Train by Donald Crews and sorted pictures by color onto our freight train. Then we used interactive writing to label each picture.

This is our post office, and below, a close up of the photos displayed. We read Bear At Work, by Stella Blackstone, and transformed our writing center into a post office. The students picked names out of a bucket and wrote letters to the person that they picked. At the end of the day the letters were delievered. They had a blast opening their letters and discovering who had written to them.

This is our doctor's office. We read Going to the Doctor, by Anne Civardi, and talked about our own personal experiences at the doctor's office. I wrote down quotes from the children and posted them around the doctor's office. They enjoyed sharing their experiences, probably more than they enjoyed the actual experience itself! :)

 

This is our school and playground/park area. We read Preschool Day Hooray! by LInda Leopold Strauss, and completed a shared writing on a pencil about what we do at school.