Water Table

It started with corn, moved to wheat, then sand, and now....

 

 

The water table is open!  Oh, this has been a highlight over the past week!  We've been giving kids the chance to explore at the water table.  We have boats, funnels, large and small cups, eye droppers, turkey basters, and tubes.

 

We encourage the kids to explore capacity, objects that sink and float, and experiment with the way water moves.

 

If you volunteer in the classroom during our center time, I will probably ask you to supervise the water table.  The kids LOVE it but, as you can imagine, it can get a little out of hand without an extra pair of eyes. 

 

As the weather warms up, especially when it gets to be pool season, I would like to encourage you to break out the measuring cups and other plastic kitchen utensils for kids to experiment with!

 

Happy water play!

Pop! Blowing Bubbles in Kindergarten

I absolutely love the month of May, in kindergarten.  The kids are becoming confident readers and writers. They know they expectations of school and work hard to do their best.    Poetry writing begins in May as well.  It's a time for kids to have fun and write!  I have always found that this unit is the most freeing for young writers. 

Today's poetry experience involved this book:



and these bubbles:

The book came from Barnes and Noble and the bubble set came from Lakeshore Learning, in Bellevue (and online).

Before reading the book, I asked the kids if they had ever had any experiences with bubbles.  Of course, their hands shot into the air.  They all wanted to share their bubble stories. We took time to share and time to "turn and talk" to tell their friends about the stories.  I reminded the kids that because they had played with bubbles before, they had schema for bubbles.  We read the book and kids shared lots of connections they made.

Then came the fun part.  It was a gloriously sunny day, so we went outside for some bubble blowing fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a little bit of free exploration time, I asked the kids to do the same activity, but this time use their writers' eyes.  We talked about using our senses (but not tasting the bubbles) as we made observations.  There were comments about how you could see a rainbow inside of the bubbles, and how far away some of the bubbles floated before popping, and the different sizes of bubbles we were able to make.

When we went inside, the poetry began spilling out. 

"BIG bubbles started into small bubbles.
All bubbles
Pop on the roof"

"Bubbles are shiny.
I like popping bubbles.
I like chasing bubbles.
I like to blow bubbles."

I can't wait to share more of their poetry as kids continue working on these pieces.

I'm so happy to be back in the classroom.  I've been home resting for quite a while.  I won't know for 3 more months if I have any permanent kidney damage, but for now, I'm just thankful to be feeling better every day.  Thank you for your support and understanding while I've been in and out of the classroom and recovering from my surgeries. 

A Really Cool Idea!

If you read my literacy blog, then you have probably already seen this post.  I'm sharing it with my kindergarten friends because I think this website is awesome for young writers!  The process is really very easy.  We have a scanner at home, but you could also do this by taking pictures of your child's artwork. 

Here's the post:

Yep, my daughter is a published author.  Her first addition, hardbound book, arrived in the mail yesterday.  She dedicated her book to her family.  Awww.



Ok, so the truth is, I found this GREAT website, run by Barnes and Noble.  It's called Tikatok.  I showed it to my daughter and we were able to read several featured stories, written by other kids.  She was so excited to get started!  I'll walk you through the process in a future post.  For now, you should just check out the site.  (By the way, I don't receive any compensation from the company.  I was just really excited to find this resource.)

I can't even begin to tell you the smiles and giggles coming from my little girl, when her book arrived.

There's even a great About the Author page on the back of the book.

Oh, so much fun!  I'll try to get a post out, this weekend, including the nuts and bolts of how this works.  It's pretty cool, very simple, and highly motivating for young writers.

Happy writing!

Three Days Off

Hello Families!

It's conference time, and I've been busily meeting with a few families today.  While, I'm here working, many of you are at home with your kids.  What will you be doing on these days off?  (If you're stuck at work, like me, just keep thinking that it's almost the weekend.)

If you do happen to be at home with the kids, and you're looking for something fun to do, I always recommend the zoo, aquarium, or science center.  If you're looking for something a little less expensive, like FREE, then I'd like to suggest a trip to Bothell Feed Center. (by Fred Meyer's at Thrasher's Corner)  We have a pet bunny at home.  This is Cookie.


I buy everything we need for Cookie at Bothell Feed Center.  I'm a farm girl at heart, so making the trip to the local feed store just feels better than going to a big chain pet store.  Anyway, I was at Bothell Feed Center last week and can you guess what they had there?  BABY CHICKS!  I was soooo close to taking a few chicks home and telling my hubby he had to build a chicken coop. 


Heading to Bothell Feed Center would make a GREAT field trip over the next few days.  As an extension, here are a few questions you might want to ask your child:

What is something that you can do that a baby can't do?
What are some ways we take care of babies until they can care for themselves?
How do you think you would care for a baby chick, or another baby animal?  (This would be a great question to ask at the feed center too.)
Where did you sleep when you were a baby?
Where do baby animals sleep?
How do animals stay warm at night?
Where do you think a bird might sleep?
How do you think birds make their nests?
What do you think they use to make their nests?

The conversations could be endless!  I love to talk with curious kids.  They are full of wonder and excitement about learning.  Turning a simple trip to the pet store into an inquiry project is really exciting for kids.

Here are a few books you might want to track down too:









Here's a great idea for helping the birds too!



And here is the link to the original post, if you'd like to read more about it.  By the way, Bothell Feed Center has an excellent supply of wild bird food, if you're interested in feeding the birds.


Have your kids create a stuffed animal play area in your house.  Encourage them to show what they know about how animal parents care for their babies.

The possibilities are endless!  I hope you're enjoying your time with your kids and finding some wonderful learning experiences to fill your days!  We'll see you all on Monday, and I hope you have great stories to tell about your days off. 

Happy Field Tripping!