Zoom Zoom Zoom - We're Going to the Moon!

Our class continues to be very interested in the sky!  Take a look at some of our learning!

 

This month students chose a topic they were most interested in (sun, moon, stars and clouds) and spent time in small groups learning about hot gases on the sun, craters on the moon, constellations and storms!

Our Sky Inquiry

I wonder... 

V.T. "Why does gravity hold peope down?"
J.M.X. "What is the sun made up of?"
Z.L. "How does the rocket ship go all the way up to space without stopping?"
S.B.  "Where does the sun go at night time?"
K.H. "Why do the stars come out at night time?"
D.V. "How you can get out of Earth and into space?"
S.S. "How can the rain and snow come out of the clouds?"
S.Z.  "How can rain turn into snow?"
E.R. (jk)  about Chris Hadfield ' "How does the rocket ship move when he's not driving it?"
E.R. (sk)  about Chris Hadfield "When the fire goes out (at the bottom of the rocket ship) how does it keep floating?"
S.Z. "Why does all of the stuff float in the rocket ship?" 
P.Z. (replied to S.Z.)  "If we ate the asparagus like that on Earth it would fall to the ground.  The crumbs on the rocket ship would float away."

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We were excited to turn our drama area into something new and special.  We had the idea to turn it into a Rocket Ship!  We had lots of things to think about like what  it should look like, what it should have inside and what it should be called.  

V.T. came up with the idea to name our ship "Sun Conqueror" all of the students gasped (so did Miss Campbell and I!) and we thought it was perfect! 

Students who wished to help with the Sun Conqueror were able to plan the design, decorate, make fire for the bottom with tissue paper.  Students have also been watching Chris Hadfield videos to see what a real rocket ship looks like on the inside.  We watched him brush his teeth and eat a sandwich in outerspace!  Students quickly decided afterward that our rocket ship should not have a kitchen.  We covered it up with white chart paper.   We can't wait to facilitate more learning in our socio-dramatic area!

 

 Our JK and SK students have been so curious about the sky and have been wondering a lo!  When they ask a question we encourage them to write it on a speech bubble and post it on our cupboard doors.   

Last week, S.S. asked "I wonder how rain and snow come out of the clouds?"  We were excited to hear the students different answers... here is some of our thinking. 

A.M.  "I think the ice in the clouds melts and turns into water." 

E.R. (sk) "I think the clouds go big, big, big and then smushes and the rain and snow come."

A.K. (jk) "I think first water vapor goes up to the sky.  It turns to water and gets people all wet." 

V.T. " The clouds feel angry, they blow up and makes rain, snow and lightning."

J.L. "The water turns to snowflakes when the clouds get cold." 

S.M. "The clouds push out the snow and rain.  If it's winter it's cold." 

H.H. "Ice to snow.  It's falling." 

D.V. "I think the clouds are soft and the raindrops fall from soft stuff." 

P.Z. "The rain moves the snow and then the snow drips down."

A.D. "The wind blows it out." 

K.H. "The sun in the summer time." 

M.O. "All the materials are in the clouds.  When it's morning the fall down like the seasons." 

S.B. "They get too big and then they fall out of the cloud." 

I.L.  "The clouds want to see the snow." 

S.S. "I think the wind blows it out." 

E.B.  "Maybe the ice was in the clouds." 

Z.L.  "The clouds are so soft it's really easy for the rain and snow to come out."

S.Z. "When the clouds get bigger the inside gets bigger too." 

D.M. "The clouds push it out." 

L.H. "The snow turns into water when it wants.  When its sunny the snow melts.  The ice goes back up into the cloud." 

E.R.(jk) "Rain and snow are friends and there is a secret passageway.  And then they have a playdate." 

U.Q. "The wind." 

G.A.  "It drips out of the clouds."

A.K. (sk) "The clouds push it out."

We read the book "The Water Cycle" to find out the answer to our question.  We discovered the rain and snow come out of the clouds when the clouds are full and can't hold any more water.

We also learned the words evaporation, condensation and precipitation.  We love singing "The Water Cycle" song!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ez9vQV154U 

We have been playing with water and sponges in our sensory table.  We pretend that the sponges are clouds.

Keep sending in your beautiful stuff!  We have been enjoying making pictures and using our imaginations!

2-d Shapes!

We have been learning about 2-D shapes!

Making shapes with our bodies!

Building shapes on geoboards.

Finding shapes on our clothing!

Using shapes to make pictures!

 

 

We used rectangles, triangles, circles and squares to make these jackolantern faces!

Our Full Day Early Learning Kindergarten Expectations

G3.2    identify and describe, using common geometric terms, two-dimensional shapes (e.g., triangle) through investigation with concrete materials

G3.3    compose pictures, and build designs, shapes, and patterns, using two-dimensional shapes, and decompose two-dimensional shapes into smaller shapes, using various tools or strategies (e.g., sand at the sand table, stickers, geoboards, pattern blocks, a computer program)

The Sky

One of the most amazing parts of the new Ontario Full Day Kindergarten Curriculum Document is its focus on play based learning through inquiry.  It gives us, as teachers, the ability to listen to the students interests and tailor our planning around what they want to learn about.  Miss Campbell and I have been doing a lot of listening lately and within the last few weeks our students have been buzzing about the sky!  

It all started a few weeks ago when a few students including S.B., J.L., A.K (jk) and V.T. exclaimed during DPA one morning.... "LOOK! The moon is out! And it's morning!"  Slowly, other students have jumped on board noticing, thinking and wondering about different things in the sky including clouds, the sun, birds, rain and jumbo jets.

Introducing our first inquiry... 

take a look at our learning and inspiration!

 

 

Z.L. "I did a sun, a moon, a little cloud and bigger clouds." 
Miss C.  "Why did you put dots on your moon?"
Z.L. - "Because I looked at the book, saw the moon had dots and made mine."

We are learning how to make collages on our favourite iPad AP - "Pic Collage" 

We made this one as a class during our afternoon meeting!

 
Here are some Mrs. Zupnik made to capture our learning. 

 

 In looking at the sky during a nature walk, some of our students thoughts were: 
S.S. "I saw a bee in the sky." 
V.T. "I could see the sky when I was running.  The sun is really a star." 
S.Z. "I saw the sun right beside the clouds." 
Z.L. " The sky is actually purple if you were floating up high.  But if you are far it looks blue."
G.A. "I saw the moon this morning.  IT was following me.  It was moving." 
S.B. "Jets are so fast to see in the sky."
E.B. "If the clouds are coming down they have to fly back up."
A.K. (jk) "Little clouds turn into big clouds." 
A.K. (sk) - "The sun makes us hot and sweaty." 
D.V. - "I see (the cloud) over there, it changed!"
S.M. "The sun makes my eyes hurt." 
E.R.(jk) "The sun is made out of hot lava."
 
This week, we started our wonder of the week about our first question: "I wonder why the moon is out, and it's not even night time!"

I.L.

We post our thinking with sticky notes on our "I Wonder" wall!

Here is some of our thinking about our first question! 

G.A. "It has to.  The moon has to go up." 
S.B. "Sometimes the moon is behind the clouds and sometimes it is in the front." 
A.D. "Because sometimes the moon goes behind the sun."
L.H. "The moon is having a conversation with the sun." 
K.H. "The moon's mom let's the moon go outside in the morning." 
A.K. (sk) "I think in the daytime the moon turns into the sun and in the nightime the sun turns into the moon." 
I.L. "Moon"
S.M. "Sometimes the moon wants to be friends with the sun." 
E.R.(jk) "When it's out in the nightime the sun doesn't get to see it." 
A.K.(sk) "I think because the moon doesn't want to be left alone." 
Z.L. "Because people are still sleeping.  Because it is still nighttime for some people." 
J.Lnds "It's afraid of the dark.  He doesn't like the dark." 
D.M. "The moon likes to stay with the sun in the morning."
M.O. "It needs to be dark if you need to sleep." 
E.R.(sk) "It sometimes goes up and sometimes goes down."
J.L. "Because he likes the sun." 
L.S. "I think sometimes the moon is behind the sun." 
V.T. "Maybe that time the moon was sick and the Mom said the moon has to go outside and visit the sun." 
D.V. "I think the moon is playing hide and seek." 
P.Z. "Maybe because the Earth is spinning and the sky is moving." 

Miss Campbell put some soft dough in our sensory table this week!  (A combination of flour and baby oil - without telling the students we were calling it "cloud dough") Here are some of the things we observed them talking about with each other as they manipulated the dough. 

K.H. "It feels fun and soft.  I am making a cloud.  It is really big.  It flies in the air.  It feels like water." 
H.H. "A star! A sun!"
E.R.(jk) "I feel a pillow."
S.B. "I am making clouds.  When things go toward it, it breaks." 
A.K.(jk) "It smells like real dough! I made my own cloud and now it is raining! (crumbling)"
Z.L. "I am making raindrops." 
J.Lnds. "I am making a star.  I am making it rain (pinching fingers together)." 
S.Z. "It feels like clouds!"  D.V. "Ya clouds are really soft!"  S.Z. "Ya they are!"
V.T.  "I can make it thunder! (throws dough down) Clouds get so heavy it feels like they have to go to the bathroom." 
D.V. "It's raining!  I think the moon would feel like mashed potatoes!"
L.S. "It's so gooey and so soft.  I made a moon.  It is white and so nice and pretty."
A.K. "I made a star.  It's big.  It has dots. At night they shine." 
M.O. "This stuff is white and clouds are white!  I am doing raindrops going into the ground." 
E.R. (sk) "It feels like snow combined with sand.  I made my own fluffy cloud.  I think the moon would feel hard like metal." 

(to be continued...!)   :)

International Dot Day!

Last Monday we celebrated International Dot Day in our classroom!  We had so much fun reading the book Dot by Peter H. Reynolds.  After reading the book, here were some of our students thoughts!

"Vashti thought she couldn't draw, but she can!" - L.H. 
"Vashti signed her art like a real artist." - D.V. 
"Everyone is a great artist." - S.B. 
"When you start can you get better and better." - Z.L. 
"Vashti made different dots (small, big, etc.) - G.A. 

Throughout the week we painted and glued dots.  We signed our art just like a real artist, as Vashti did in the story!  We have a gallery outside of our classroom to display our work. 

We used plastercine to make dots with our names!

Our clothes had dots!  A.K. found a book in our classroom library and counted the dots!

We experimented with dots at the light table.

 We made paper pulp dots. 

1. We cut and ripped paper in our sand table. 
2. We played with our cut up paper in the water. 
3. We blended the paper with water and glue with Miss Robertson and Miss Campbell. 
4. We squished out the water through a screen and made a big dot!
5. Our dots looked like leaves with fall colours, they are hanging from the ceiling in our classroom!

Welcome!

Welcome to our new Full Day Kindergarten class 2013-2014!  Miss Campbell and I are so excited to learn and grow with your children this year!   Please remember to send in your Blog Permission forms this week!  We need to have all the forms back before we can start posting our learning.

You can also follow us on Twitter!  https://twitter.com/fdK_104    

We are celebrating International Dot Day tomorrow!   More exciting pictures to come!  :)

Potions and Designs!

 We have been designers, planners and builders this month!  As a literacy challenge, I asked the students to design a building.  Their imaginations soared as they came up with creative ideas of what to make and who to make it for in a structured plan! 

J.M.X. "This is a house for J.L.(JK)"
D.V. "This is a house for Bumblebee and Optimus."
N.W. "I made a Lego Ninjago base." 
E.R. I made a base for Sonic." 
J.L. (SK femaile) "I made Rick Hansen Public School. This is Mr. Yoshida's room." 
G.F.F. "I made a snail house it is for Shelly Thunder." 
D.M. "This is Mickey Mouses house." 
Z.L. "I made a castle for My Little Pony." 
M.S. "This is my home, my mom's car and my dad's door." 
A.L. (male) "This is a dino house." 
V.R. "This is Barney's castle." 
L.S. "
J.Lds. "This is Spike's house." 
E.R.(SK) "I made a castle for a princess." 
A.G. "This is a station for Batman and Robin." 
E.Z. "I made a zoo."
L.U. "This is Barbie's house." 
A.L. (SK female) "I made a school for Hello Kitty." 
J.L. (JK) "I made a house for JMX"
S.Z. "I made a castle for Optimus and Bumblebee." 
A.M. "This is a house for my family." 
M.O. "I made a fort for Mr. Rabbit." 
S.S. "I made a jumping castle." 
A.K. "This is a house." 
E.W. "I made a beach." 

C.W. "This is a castle."  

After making a detailed plan of what kind of building we wanted to construct, who we were making our building for, and what materials we would use...  We got to work building!  After we completed it, we took pictures and then wrote and labelled what we did on our favourite Ipad app - "Pic Collage!"

Check out some examples!  Everyone's copy will be coming home next week in their Portfolio.

 

 Science and Technology

4.2 state problems and pose questions as part of the design process

4.3 make predictions and observations throughout the design process

4.4 select and use tools, equipment, and materials to construct things using the design process

4.5 communicate and record results and findings after constructing things
either individually or in groups (e.g., explain and/or show how they made their structure; record ideas using pictures, words, numbers on labels or in charts) 

 

Our water table has been a busy place lately!  We have been exploring with coloured water and different measuring tools as we have been talking about capacity in math!  We used filled different containers like dishes, cups and buckets (non-standard units of measurement) and syringes and measuring cups (standard measurement)!  Through discovery, we found out that in order for our measuring to be right, we needed to make sure we used the same measuring tool and make sure it was full to the top each time.

The students began making potions or soups in the water!  We began writing out our potions and soups for others to follow the recipe for! We are amazing writers!!!

M2.1 compare and order two or more objects according to an appropriate
measure (e.g., length, mass, area, temperature, capacity) and use
measurement terms (e.g., hot/cold for temperature, small/medium/large for capacity, longer/shorter or thicker/thinner for length)

 M2.2 demonstrate, through investigation, an awareness of non-standard
measuring devices (e.g., feet, hand spans, string, or cubes to measure length; hand claps to measure time; scoops of water or sand to measure capacity) and standard measuring devices (e.g., measuring cups at the water and sand centre, balance scales at the block centre) and strategies for using them (e.g., place common objects end to end to measure the length of the classroom; use cubes to plan the length of a road at the sand table or the block centre; use footsteps to measure the distance between the door and the sink)

M2.3 demonstrate, through investigation, a beginning understanding of
non-standard units that are the same type (e.g., straws, paper
clips) but not always the same size 



Primary Play Day and our Kindergarten Celebration were a huge success on Wednesday!  We are so thankful for the good weather, but more importantly how supported we felt by the families in our Kindergarten community!!!  
 
Thank you ALL for such an amazing year.  It is such a pleasure to work at RHPS.  I am excited to see everyone in September!