s, nickels, dimes, quarters and half dollars. We even learned a little song to help remember their names and values. The kindergartners also learned about dollar bills and their amounts. It was fun to watch them compare the dollar bills and coins and figure out different ways to make the same amount of money. The last week of November they learned how to label all the puzzles using the control charts in the classroom. The kids have been working so hard on their handwriting and journaling each day.
Reading Group | Kindergarten
with Ms. Faith
During this last month, we read a Haitian folk tale called, Bouki Cuts Wood. In the story, the main character Bouki, meets a man who he believes is a diviner who can tell the future. Some of the activities the students worked on where drawing pictures based on the story, such as what they thought was the funniest part of the story, or what they would have done to Bouki to make him see that he was alive. The students came up with some great discussion questions for our group time, and we they discussed more in depth questions, like “What should have told Bouki that he was alive?”, and “How did the man know Bouki was going to fall out of the tree?” The kindergartners enjoyed this story, and really got a laugh out of how silly Bouki was. On our last reading of the story, I read the story aloud and the kindergartner would act out the events while I read. They got into character and had a blast bringing the story to life.
For our first science experiment in the month of November we watched a zip-lock bag explode by putting vinegar and water in the bag, then throwing a tissue ball full of baking soda inside and sealing the bag shut. When the vinegar and baking soda mixed we created an ACID-BASE reaction and the two chemicals worked together to create carbon dioxide. The gas needed a lot of room so it started to fill the bag, and kept filling the bag until the bag could no longer hold it anymore and, POP!
We also defied the laws of gravity by turning a full glass of water upside down with a piece of cardboard covering the rim. The kids were excited to discover that there were more air molecules pushing up against the bottom of the cardboard, creating a higher pressure area compared to the lower pressure area inside the glass. They learned the force from the atmospheric pressure holds the cardboard up and the low pressure zone in the glass prevents the water’s weight from pushing the cardboard down.
The last week of November we made our very own lava lamp by combining oil, water and food coloring, then dropping Alka Seltzer in it. When I put the oil in the water the students noticed how the oil stayed above the water because the oil was lighter than the water or, more specifically, less dense than water. When we added the Alka Seltzer tablet pieces they sank to the bottom and started dissolving and creating a gas. The gas bubbles then rose and took some of the colored water with them. When the blob of water reached the top, the gas escaped and down went the water.
By: Faith Weihe
This month your students had the privilege of learning many art concepts.
Ms. Michele taught the students an art concept called resist. She had the class use oil pastels to draw an under water scene. Then, the students used watercolors to paint over their drawings. Because of the oil in the pastels, the watercolor doesn’t stick so the drawings still show up. The second week the students learned about observational art, which is when you look at an object and draw it. The students all had hand held mirrors, and looked at themselves to draw a self-portrait. The budding artists used pencil to draw their faces and features, and then used crayons to color. Ms. Michele talked with them about looking at the shapes of their features and had them feel their noses to get a sense of how to draw their face. It’s always fun seeing how the self-portraits turn out. For the last project, students drew each other for figure drawing. Each student gets to stand and pose while the rest of the class draws them. They learn how to draw fea