Volcanoes with Symbaloo and Popplet

The children asked if we could research volcanoes this week. We began by viewing the sites on our Symbaloo page and researching what a volcano is and what it does.

When I asked the children if they had become experts on volcanoes, they stated, 'no'. When I asked them what they thought an expert was, they decided someone who knows a lot about something. We listed everything we knew about volcanoes (four pages of information), and they decided they were experts on volcanoes.

They created presentations to share in Popplet. In their presentation, they needed to include a title, name, picture, and supporting sentences. Beyond that, their presentation was all theirs!

They did an excellent job using their quick words, sound spelling, and putting spaces between their words. Great job kindergarten!

APBFDS

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HJ

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Farm Animal Fotobabble's

We began our farm inquiry this week. We asked many questions about farms, including:
What do the animals eat?
How much water do the animals drink?
How many people need to work on the farm?
What are some of the different kinds of cows?

We found a few answers in a video (on our Symbaloo page) and on our Worldbook of Animals app on our iPads. When we finished researching, we created Fotobabble's to share an animal we liked, found interesting, or just thought was worth sharing.

Take a look and enjoy:)

RN
LN
KC
HJ
OW
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AP
NP
LL
WD
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EG
LD
NH

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

I Like, I Love, I Care

With Valentine's Day approaching, we began to discuss what it means to like, love, and care for someone or something. The children discussed how they sometimes care, love, and like someone all at the same time. They came up with many ideas, and then chose a few to write about and then share with the world. Enjoy:)

Tally and Graph

When the children thought of their recent graphing project, I don't know if they realized how much work it would be and how much persistance they would need to show! They worked hard and completed a project that used tallying and graphing skills, which are a part of our standards. This project also included cooperation, perseverance, patience, and self-control.

We began by thinking of our own survey questions and sending them home to our grownups. The kids then used tally marks to gather their totals and created a graph. The end result looks great and gave us a real look at how tallying and graphing is a part of our lives.

Word Family eBooks

Phew! The children learned that writing an eBook in a few days is hard work, but we did it! We explored word patterns and families this week and practiced further by picking one family to focus on in our books. There was a lot of rhyming going on in class this week!

eBook Links:

Dillon

http://read.mystoryapp.org/read/aHR0cDovL2Jvb2tzLm15c3RvcnlhcHAub3JnL2VwdWIvNTZGQzk3NDgtNTMyRS00QTQwLTlCOTgtMzczRjU1MTZFM0E4LmVwdWI=

Logan

http://read.mystoryapp.org/read/aHR0cDovL2Jvb2tzLm15c3RvcnlhcHAub3JnL2VwdWIvRjdGMjM0RUMtMEVEQS00QTAwLUExODAtOUZENTE2RDhCRUQ4LmVwdWI=

Leslie

http://read.mystoryapp.org/read/aHR0cDovL2Jvb2tzLm15c3RvcnlhcHAub3JnL2VwdWIvODIwNzExRTYtMzNGQy00RkFDLUExMTEtNTY5MEQ5NDIwQjIxLmVwdWI=

Kaden

http://read.mystoryapp.org/read/aHR0cDovL2Jvb2tzLm15c3RvcnlhcHAub3JnL2VwdWIvMzk0RTdDODctODlDRi00RjIzLTgyMzYtQzkyMDU0QTZCQzgyLmVwdWI=

Eli

http://read.mystoryapp.org/read/aHR0cDovL2Jvb2tzLm15c3RvcnlhcHAub3JnL2VwdWIvRDFFNjQ4MUYtNjQ4RS00N0Y0LUE5RDctNTZGMzdBNjE2MzUzLmVwdWI=

Lily

http://read.mystoryapp.org/read/aHR0cDovL2Jvb2tzLm15c3RvcnlhcHAub3JnL2VwdWIvNjY4ODM5OUEtQTE4MC00RjQwLTlDQTEtRjBCREIxMTU2QTQyLmVwdWI=

Alexis

http://read.mystoryapp.org/read/aHR0cDovL2Jvb2tzLm15c3RvcnlhcHAub3JnL2VwdWIvRkM2OEEwMzYtM0IyRS00MTkyLUJERjMtNkYwNkREMjkyOTQwLmVwdWI=

Bryce

http://read.mystoryapp.org/read/aHR0cDovL2Jvb2tzLm15c3RvcnlhcHAub3JnL2VwdWIvNEVGRDNDNzItMzcwQy00NzkwLUE5QTMtNjJDRTYyOEYwQ0MzLmVwdWI=

Landen

http://read.mystoryapp.org/read/aHR0cDovL2Jvb2tzLm15c3RvcnlhcHAub3JnL2VwdWIvRTcxN0E0MjItQTQ4Mi00QkVGLThCM0YtRTQ4NUZEMDY1QURFLmVwdWI=

William

http://read.mystoryapp.org/read/aHR0cDovL2Jvb2tzLm15c3RvcnlhcHAub3JnL2VwdWIvNzk0RUI1RTktQkMwOC00QkMyLTlCQkYtN0RGQjY1Rjk1MUQ1LmVwdWI=

Hope

http://read.mystoryapp.org/read/aHR0cDovL2Jvb2tzLm15c3RvcnlhcHAub3JnL2VwdWIvNjRBMTBCN0UtQTg4Qi00MjFCLUE4N0QtMkJBMDZGRjNENkEyLmVwdWI=

Noah

http://read.mystoryapp.org/read/aHR0cDovL2Jvb2tzLm15c3RvcnlhcHAub3JnL2VwdWIvOTg4NTM5RUMtQzk0NC00Qzg1LUJCOUMtMzYwODg4RENDNUE4LmVwdWI=

Neela

http://read.mystoryapp.org/read/aHR0cDovL2Jvb2tzLm15c3RvcnlhcHAub3JnL2VwdWIvOTQwNDFERUMtNjU0Mi00NjNFLTg0NTctRDJCREI0OEEwREE5LmVwdWI=

Kids have great ideas: Space Projects

When we began our space unit (as requested by the kids), we collected ideas as to what we would use to learn more and how we would show our learning. We researched online, read many books, and searched a few apps. Then, we looked at our ideas and decided to turn spheres into space objects. There were several good ideas on how to do this, and paper mache was the winner.

We began by tearing many newspapers and collecting enough for everyone (we managed to procure a little extra for other classes). We had enthusiasm!

Then came the beautifully, messy part of the project. The water and glue were mixed and paper mache was placed over some balloons. The children decided that the moons would be small, the planets would be medium, and the sun and stars should be big. The big balloons were a little oblong, but we decided to continue on with our project.

We added some colors that closely resembled the pictures we were able to find. We were a little over-zealous with brushes, so our objects now have craters and mountains. We liked the added touch. 

We brainstormed all the fun facts we learned over the week and came up with more than 20 items. Everyone chose their three favorite facts about their object and neatly wrote out a space report. They worked hard, were very creative, and strong thinkers during our space unit.