Weather Wednesday!

Hey Kinder Friends,

So much fun talking about the weather as the weather is changing. It is always a topic we discuss as we observe the daily weather and look forward to spending time outdoors. Considering we have Weather Wednesday each week when we record our observations and we discuss and collect weather data daily you can imagine it is tough to keep the discussion fresh and ongoing at times.

We finally had a few days with some wind so we decided to shape our discussion around that. According to our standards our children are supposed to collect information using tools such as wind socks. So we decided to look up wind socks before making our own. Just a simple search and we were able to find lots of examples to look at.

Our wind socks were pretty simple and we decided on a weather theme. Just construction paper and some streamers and a little bit of glue and we had some pretty cute wind socks to hang around! For more Science fun join me here! Happy Investigating.

Is It A Tool Or A Toy?



Hey Kinder Friends,

I have to admit with a holiday right around the corner I have been thinking about toys a lot. Toys just seem to conjure up childhood memories and remind me of having fun. And in Kindergarten it is no different but maybe with a little twist. We usually start our Science year off with discussing Science tools and safety and naturally we include some discussion on tools and toys in the classroom and their uses along with safety. I love the beginning of Science in Kindergarten because it is in the early days that we are busy with exploration and learning expectations. Shopping for holiday items and seeing toys it made me start to think about how fast time flies and soon I would need to begin to think about the first few weeks of Science. I knew that I wanted to use Is It A Tool Or Toy? again this year.



If you are interested in using this in you classroom click on the image above.

This download contains real life images of tools and toys. It has two rounds of slides. One set is without the discussion question and the other set contains the discussion question on the slide. The PowerPoint was created to aid in Science Tools or Toys discussions and to help facilitate communicating like Scientists. The file is editable to some degree to allow for personal customization of probing questions, adding or deleting slides or creating more rounds if needed. The culminating activity is a notebooking prompt writing page. This is truly Science Fun Ready To And On The Run!

 

How is it used I the classroom? I use this to help in facilitating discussions about tools. What I like about it is that it does facilitate a great discussion about what is a tool or toy and I encourage the students to justify their thinking through the use of sentence stems. I was pretty amazed at the responses and justifications the children shared. We learned that even toys can be used as tools it just depended on how you used the objects. We used the presentation four times during the week and we notebooked about it on the last day. I was able to incorporate several books with this mini study.

 

 

I like the first book because it has age appropriate Science tools the children can relate to and I loved the second book because it was interesting to look at tools that other people use and discuss those tools and their uses and tie in a little safety here too. It's super simple and I love just that and I love not having to hunt and search for good quality pictures of tools and toys because they are all in one place in the download.

 For more Science fun just click on the picture above! Have fun investigating friends!

 



Getting It All Done And Fun!

Hey Kinder Friends,
Well hasn't it been fun having two ice days in Texas? Really we should celebrate because that drive home on Thursday was just dreadful. But the time has been well spent planning and preparing to make a big bang before the semester officially ends. This time of year is always so much fun in Kindergarten. It is hard to fit it all in and keep the objectives going too! As I was looking through my files it really made me want to create and recreate some things from the past and make it easier to get it all done. And with that in mind I did just that!

I love just running to my computer and printing off those life savers that we all have because it makes me feel like I have time to invest in creating or finding something I don't have that addresses some more pressing need. After two ice days I feel as though I needed some quick print and run fun!

So I created Santa Goes To School Print and Run Skill Based Holiday Fun. And while I was working my mind started wandering... Because if you know me then you know how much I love teaching Science. And I could not wait to get my hands on those files and dress them up a bit for the holidays! And when it was all said and done I ended up with a lot of holiday fun and a lot less drama!

And although I had this kind of drama in Science last week I still can't wait to get to school and get to investigating. I really can't wait. Because you know... Santa IS the best toy expert in the world and he needs a little help.

Just love this book year after year. And it just gives me a reason to investigate toys and a little force and motion. I really can't wait!

You see when I start talking about Science I get all kinds of excited. I warned you and you might have known it. So let's get down to the real nitty gritty. You know as Kinder teachers we all love some of those traditional things like reindeer food to send with the kids and countdown to Christmas bell chains. You know everyone does it because it's like teacher tradition and they were passed on to  from wonderful teachers. But let's face it, times have changed and so have our jobs and fitting it all in is just difficult. So instead of reaching into a file or tote for that crinkled up template, I recreated my two classic favorites. Yep, just print and run fun for me! Which now frees me up some time to invest into assessment and report cards.

CHRISTMAS THEMED
Standards Addressed:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.10 Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.1a Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.K.3 With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.2a Recognize and produce rhyming words.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.3a Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary sound or many of the most frequent sounds for each consonant.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.3c Read common high-frequency words by sight (e.g., the, of, to, you, she, my, is, are, do, does).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.4 Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.
CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.A.3 Write numbers from 0 to 20. Represent a number of objects with a written numeral 0-20 (with 0 representing a count of no objects).
CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.4b Understand that the last number name said tells the number of objects counted. The number of objects is the same regardless of their arrangement or the order in which they were counted.
CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.B.4c Understand that each successive number name refers to a quantity that is one larger.
CCSS.Math.Content.K.MD.B.3 Classify objects into given categories; count the numbers of objects in each category and sort the categories by count.
CCSS.Math.Content.K.G.A.1 Describe objects in the environment using names of shapes, and describe the relative positions of these objects using terms such as above, below, beside, in front of, behind, and next to.
CCSS.Math.Content.K.G.A.2 Correctly name shapes regardless of their orientations or overall size.

 TEKS Objectives
Standards Addressed:
Language Arts
K.2(B) identify syllables in spoken words.
K.2(D) distinguish orally presented rhyming pairs of words from non-rhyming pairs.
K.2(H) isolate the initial sound in one-syllable spoken words.
K.11(A) follow pictorial directions (e.g., recipes, science experiments).
Reading/Comprehension
K.5(A) identify and use words that name actions, directions, positions, sequences, and locations.
K.5(C) identify and sort pictures of objects into conceptual categories.
(B) ask and respond to questions about text.
(E) retell or act out important events in stories.
Oral And Written Conventions
K.18(A) use phonological knowledge to match sounds to letters.
Science
K.2(A) ask questions about organisms, objects, and events observed in the natural world.
(B) plan and conduct simple descriptive investigations such as ways objects move;
(C) collect data and make observations using simple equipment such as hand lenses, primary balances, and non-standard measurement tools.
(D) record and organize data and observations using pictures, numbers, and words.
(E) communicate observations with others about simple descriptive investigations.
K.6(B) explore interactions between magnets and various materials;
(C) observe and describe the location of an object in relation to another such as above, below, behind, in front of, and beside; and
(D) observe and describe the ways that objects can move such as in a straight line, zigzag, up and down, back and forth, round and round, and fast and slow.
K.9(A) differentiate between living and nonliving things based upon whether they have basic needs and produce offspring.
(B) examine evidence that living organisms have basic needs such as food, water, and shelter for animals and air, water, nutrients, sunlight, and space for plants.
K.10(B) identify parts of plants such as roots, stem, and leaves and parts of animals such as head, eyes, and limbs.
Social Studies
K.4 use terms, including over, under, near, far, left, and right, to describe relative location.
K.6(A) identify basic human needs of food, clothing, and shelter.
(B) explain the difference between needs and wants.
Math
K.2(A)  count forward and backward to at least 20 with and without objects.
(B)  read, write, and represent whole numbers from 0 to at least 20 with and without objects or pictures.
(C)  count a set of objects up to at least 20 and demonstrate that the last number said tells the number of objects in the set regardless of their arrangement or order.
(D)  recognize instantly the quantity of a small group of objects in organized and random arrangements.
(F) generate a number that is one more than or one less than another number up to at least 20.
K.6(A) identify two-dimensional shapes, including circles, triangles, rectangles, and squares as special rectangles.
K.8(C) draw conclusions from real-object and picture graphs.

THIS DOWNLOAD ALSO INCLUDES:
THE SCIENCE OF SANTA'S FAVORITE SEASON

Table of Contents:
These are Christmas Themed Printables
2 Blackline printables A-Z Missing Letters
4 Blackline printables Identify The Beginning Sound
3 Blackline printables Identify How Many Syllables
3 Colored printable Syllable Clip Cards
3 Blackline printables Identify Rhyming Pairs
7 Blackline printable Roll It Sight Word Recording Sheets
4 Blackline printables Cut And Paste Label It
1 Blackline printable We Have Lights Reader
1 Blackline printable Santa Likes Shapes Reader
2 Blackline printable Graph It
6 Blackline printables Learning The Number Line
4 Blackline printables Ten Frame Counting
6 Blackline printables Roll The Die And Add One-Six More
1 Blackline printable Buddy Dice Game Board
3 Blackline printables Reindeer Food
2 Blackline printables Bell Chain Counting Poem
1 Blackline printable Gift Giving Tags
Science Enduring Understandings And Photos
2 Blackline printables Magnet Investigation Holiday Themed
21 Blackline printables Toy Investigations/Notebook or Journal Recording Sheets
2 Colored printable Big Books- Positional Vocabulary & Path Of Motion Holiday Themed
These are Christmas Themed Printables
3 Colored printable Basic Needs Posters
4 Colored Parts Of Plants, & Animals Posters Santa, Rudolph, Poinsettia, Christmas Tree
4 Blackline printables Label It Parts Santa, Rudolph, Poinsettia, Christmas Tree
1 Blackline printable Living/Non Living Sort
1 Blackline printable We Have Lights Reader
2 Blackline printables Light Investigation Recording Pages
2 Blackline printables Light Sources Sort
1 Blackline printable Dramatic Play Placemats
4 Blackline printables Star Santa Craft
1 Blackline printable Santa Stationary
Everything you need to keep the learning going during the holidays!

 

 

A Little Science!



 

Hey Friends,

Probably one of the most asked questions I get is about Science. And since you know I love Science I really don't mind the question. I think one of my favorite parts of Science this year is integrating it into other parts of my day. And I am quickly becoming obsessed with charts of just about any kind but especially making them and using them with the kids. This chart was made for part of our Force and Motion unit. We are working on our final week in that unit and we have lots of hands-on investigations planned for what is sure to be an exciting week ahead.

 

 

We have been able to accomplish a lot with our Objects Can Move Chart.

 

Reading/Beginning Reading Skills/Print Awareness

We have been able to use this chart for:

Recognizing that spoken words can be represented by print for communication.

Demonstrating one-to-one correspondence between a spoken word and a printed word in text.

Recognizing that sentences are comprised of words separated by spaces and to demonstrate the awareness of word boundaries.

Identify that a sentence is made up of a group of words.

Science

This has been used as a visual aid to learn the terms needed for force and motion investigations.

And to help us describe the ways that objects can move such as in a straight line, zigzag, up and down, back and forth, round and round, and fast and slow.

 

 

The second question I get asked the most is about hands-on Science. I love this one too. This is the fun part. Reading and writing about Science can be fun but the actual hands-on explorations and investigations are the best part because we want to "just do it." This week we are going to investigate magnets. And this is such a super tool for Kindergarten Scientists. As with any big unit we work on I try to find a way for the children to extend the experience at home.

 

 

I created these Magnet Investigation Tools so that I could send some investigations home and a magnet to go along with the activities. They were super easy to make and cheap. If they don't come back to school I won't cry...a lot! But I have had good luck sending dice home and having them returned so I am willing to give this one a try as well. I found these magnets at WalMart and glued them on sticks I already had.

But before we get our Magnet Investigation Tools and get to investigating we are going to start with a little Magnet Safety Rules! But after that we have a week full of hands-on explorations to look forward to! I invite you to join us for Science and see what we discover. You can find us in the lab!

 

 

Activities from this post can be found in this unit Developing Young Scientists I Can Be A Scientist Exploring Force and Motion!

13 Different Hands-On Independent Field and Indoor Investigations with Recording Pages/2 Conceptual Big Books/3 Conceptual Emergent Readers and so much more! Options for building your own unique journals/notebooks to fit your classroom needs! Over 90 pages of Hands-On Science Fun!

 



Describing Properties

Hello Again,

I think I might be short on words today... Which would really be a shock if it were true. I feel like I have been speaking in code for a couple of weeks now. I can't seem to get the thought of descriptive language or sensory language out of my brain. I am starting to dream of ways to break this down into manageable chunks for Kindergarten children. The goal is to describe an object by its properties. I know it sounds easy. I know in print it looks easy. And I also know that every single person can describe and object by color. Year by year I get that. But what about the the other ways to describe an object? Sometimes for a Kindergarten student doing this independently can be challenging and doing this without prompting is difficult too. After several discussions and hands-on explorations with my class in Science, I decided to create this anchor chart after looking through my teaching notebook. I can see evidence that many of us actually can describe the properties of an object by its properties and looking at some of our thinking maps, I can see we use some really good descriptive language when prompted. Having a visual to refer to as we discuss and investigate might just help us get one step closer to reaching our goal and being independent. If you need a copy, just click on the image above and grab yours!



Need Science Fun?



Hey Kinder Friends,

Need some Science fun and inspiration? Come on over and grab some fun!

 

 



Kindergarten Science

Happy Day Friends,

If you have followed me for a while you already know I love Science. I especially love Science with Kinder kids. I hope this year you join me on my Science blog to learn all about Science. Right now we are talking about the Playful Learning Book Study and Scientific Investigations including the Invitation to Investigate. And soon we will feature some of the Learning Experiences from that chapter as well as the resources that are available.

And if you are interested in notebooking in Kindergarten there is a post about making your own Modeled Notebook to set your Science Investigations off to a good start. Also, step by step instructions on how to make your own which was a featured post on Classroom DIY!

I hope you join me inside the Science Lab for a year full of fun where we can investigate, explore and discover!

Nominated!

Hello Kinder Friends,

I just wanted to share this with you. I was nominated for one of the most fascinating Kinder Teacher Blogs. The best part is that it is for my Science Blog, that is near and dear to my heart. This is the place that I was able to share my true love of Science in the Kindergarten classroom.

Here is the post that grabbed someones attention. This was posted on my Science Blog during Earth Day this past year.

Are you looking for an activity to do with children that will provide some hands-on fun while you are having tons of Earth Day fun? I have the perfect project for you. Earth Day recycled hats are so much fun and a perfect way to show how we can use recycled materials to make something useful.

Overlay three or four sheets of newspaper on the table.

Place the paper on the head of your favorite Earth Day model.

Use masking tape to tape around the head.

Staple the pieces together.

Cut around the edges and fluff!

Admire your creation! Model and admire, admire and model.

Let the creativity begin!

The best part is that everyone can be dressed and ready for your Earth Day festivities and hats just make you feel so happy. And when Earth Day is over you have a super hat for your newly inspired Green Recycling Team!

Voting begins June 25th! Check back for details and thanks!