Greetings!
It’s hard to pick one agenda item to share with you all
because we had so much fun discovery and learning in the classroom this past
week! We read a book together called Messenger, Messenger and learned about
escalators and delivering messages through a bike messenger. The kindergarteners even received a special
visit from a bike messenger.
April is poetry month and Mr. Fines has been reading us some
fabulous poems and teaching the kindergarteners how to write their own
poems. We break open words together and
the whole class collaborates in sharing their favorite descriptive words. We have had some marvelous poems about
spring; Mr. Fines and myself have learned a lot about what each kiddo loves
about spring and how they are experiencing the world around them. Poems are challenging and our kindergarteners
are rising to meet this new method of written expression. They are learning to use all their senses to
help them elaborate on their experiences; which brings me to the main topic of
our blog this week, science!
We have just begun a new science unit; the kindergarteners
are learning about properties. Science
can be such a fun learning experience at this age; Mr. Fines and I have
embraced science to create a positive hands-on exploration of properties, as
well as the states of matter. Mr. Fines
had previously read the students Bartholomew
and the Oobleck, a Dr. Seuss book, which was a wonderful lead in to my
introductory lesson on solids and liquids.
We listened to Solid, Liquid, Gas by Brad & Diana and learned
some simple dance moves to help our kinesthetic learners associate each phase
with a physical representation. After
listening to the song, the students learned about the differences between
solids and liquids, and we shared some great scientific discussion.
The students then were able to delve into some fabulous,
messy exploration of Oobleck. I
encouraged their scientific questioning by asking them if they could figure out
if it was a solid or a liquid. They were
given “I wonder thoughts” by Mr. Fines and I to engage their minds to think
about the Oobleck in multiple ways. I
was so excited by all of the incredible scientific exploration, and the
discussions about the material with their friends, Mr. Fines, and myself! Mr. Fines continued our science unit with a
lesson on properties. The students were
comparing and contrasting random items and using their words to describe each
object in multiple ways. They even
discovered that a sponge is hard and small when it is completely dry but when
it is wet, it expands and softens so that it can easily be squished; a perfect
example of how scientific learning can be done at home too!
Enjoy the pictures and video from our Oobleck solid or
liquid science discovery!
Mrs. Davis
For more interactive activities with states of matter visit:
