Insect eBook

We have researched insects and other creepy crawlies over the last week. The children spent the last few days discovering more about an insect they had never heard of before. They found some pretty amazing creatures that look different from many other insects/animals we have investigated.

Here is our eBook. Some children chose to sound out and write their own sentences, while others chose to copy directly from their animal research. We are glad that we do not have some of these insects around Minnesota!

Earth Day: How will I help the Earth?

The children chose to research several different topics for Earth day. We read books about cleaning up and stopping pollution, watched videos on how to recycle, as well as shared our thoughts with each other and on our iPads. We have some very Earth-friendly children in class!

Here is a quick video on how we can each help the Earth. The children do a great job with each of these tips at school!

Our Lego Challenge Week

We became engineers and architects this week and completed a lego challenge week. Each day, the children voted on which challenge they would like to complete. We had three great days of creating that challenged the children's thinking and patience.

Day One: Marble Mazes 

       

Day Two: Bridges 

 

Day Three: Build a City
Our day three was pushed back for a snow day, but we finally were able to use our building skills to build a city. We had buildings, apartments, houses, stores, restaurants, and vehicles. There were also a few statues and trees. We labeled our work so others could understand the purpose of the structure.

We used a lot of team work and understanding during the group work projects. We also problem solved  while building to be sure it was a solid structure. It was a good unit! We have shared a video below so everyone could see how our marble mazes worked. Enjoy:)

What if dinosaurs were still alive?

We spent some time exploring dinosaurs this week. We checked some sites, apps, and videos for information. We learned many different things, such as what was alive when the dinosaurs were here (butterflies, crocodiles, birds) and that birds are the closest living relative. We talked about meat eaters as well as plant eaters and what it would be like to have a dinosaur pet.

After some thought, the children filmed their own opinions about a dinosaur world. What would it be like if dinosaurs were still alive?

Opening a Store

After some great discussions on what money is used for and why it is important, we decided to open up our own stores in the classroom. Not only would it be fun, we would get to put our math skills (money), reading and writing skills (making posters, reading about stores and money, creating the product), speaking skills (filming a commercial), and social skills (selling and buying from others) to good use.

Here is a quick look at the children buying and selling products. They were each given a budget using fake money and needed to be careful about what they would buy. They also needed to be polite so others would want to be in their store. Any disputes about the correct price or change was handled by the bank (Mrs. Lembke). They could also save their earnings and spend them later.

One of the last aspects of the creation of our stores was to film a commercial. The children decided how and where they would film. They also chose what they would say in front of the camera. Keep in mind that the videos were completely filmed and created by the children. Some chose to set-up the camera on their own, while others chose to have someone hold it for them. This can cause for some interesting camera angles and glare. This is learning at its' best! Some chose to flash their great prices, while others just wanted to use a catchy phrase or two. They did a great job. Enjoy!

Our Superhero Book

Our Superhero book is complete! We have placed an order to receive some hardcopy books and I will paper copy for others. The kids did a great job of planning, illustrating, and writing the story. Our manuscript was more than 50 pages of hard work. Unfortunately, the company would only give us 30 pages, so we had to trim things down. The kindergarteners worked harder than I have ever seen.

If you would like to preview an eBook version, just follow the link below. The Kindergarten Superheroes has a great message about kindness towards others.

Weight and Balance

The kids saw some posts about weight on Twitter and asked to learn more. So, we pulled out the balance and discussed words such as heavy, lite, and equal. We found that marbles and erasers were much heavier than pencils and glue sticks. The kids decided that glass and rubber were heavier than wood and plastic. Good observations!

We used the application Doodlecast to film what we learned about using a balance. The three recordings below had clear audio, as we are still learning how to speak loud enough for our iPads. I hope to gather more recordings as we explore math concepts in upcoming weeks. The kids have chosen to explore money next week.

AP's Recording

EG's Recording

HJ's Recording