5 Little Pumpkins

5 Little Pumpkins

I registered our class for the fall CIESE Square of Life project. For this project, our class observed square meters of earth in the schoolyard. The students looked for and recorded items that were living and nonliving; they were assisted, during this process, by their big buddies! After our class completed this initial activity, we made a Skype call to another class in the project, to discuss our findings. This was the first Skype call of the year and the students were very excited and did a great job. CIESE's Square of Life online collaborative project is a wonderful activity for students in grades pk through 5. Working with big buddies makes this activity possible with younger grades and the Skype call gave the students an opportunity to discuss their understanding of living and nonliving. To add a literacy connection, the students discussed and then read questions that they had prepared for the Skype call. This process helps children understand how we communicate and collaborate with others in order to learn.

FOSSWeb.com

Our class went to the computer lab on Friday and the students used a new science website that supports our curriculum. FOSSWeb is the official site for the inquiry-based FOSS science curriculum. The website has grade level interactive science games for the students as well as information and resources for adults. Our class should work within the K-2 area and explore the many science units that include: force & motion, air & weather, plants & animals, plus much more! Enjoy!

Shadows

The Kinder Pandas are learning about the sun and shadows. This afternoon, the students measured their shadows and they will measure their shadows again tomorrow morning. We will compare the length of the shadows and how the position of the sun effects the length of the shadow.

Planting our Vegetable Garden

The Kinder Pandas planted their vegetable gardens today. Each child has two square feet of garden space where they planted their vegetable seeds. The children planted either lettuce, radishes, or turnips. Everyday we will go to the gardens to water, weed, and watch our plants grow.

Planting Seeds Inside and Out

The Kinder Pandas will begin planting our vegetable gardens tomorrow. So the children will know what is happening under the ground, they planted seeds (beans) in a baggie. They will be able to see the roots and sprouting process. We hope that the seeds will germinate within two weeks. The children will record their observations in a journal, as any good scientist would do. Once the seeds have sprouted, the children can plant their beans at home or in our garden.

Young At Heart Readers

Every Tuesday, from approximately 1:00 pm to 2:15 pm, Mr. Robert Smith reads to the children of the Kinder Panda classroom. Mr. Smith is the grandfather of a student in our class, and is a member of the Young At Heart Readers. He volunteers his time to help support the kindergarten literacy program at Oak Hill Elementary by helping create a love of reading in our children. All of the children look forward to reading with Mr. Smith! We are very fortunate to have him as part of our curriculum!

Learning About Horizontal and Vertical Lines

The Kinder Pandas are beginning a unit on shapes. Today, we began defining the different types of lines that are used to make shapes, such as straight, slanted, vertical, and horizontal lines. We looked at examples of artwork by the artist, Piet Mondrian and his use of lines, angles, and color. The students made their own Mondrian-inspired pictures as an extension activity.