To Catch a Leprechaun...

Oh my, did the students have fun setting up their leprechaun traps the past 2 days!! I have a flow chart posted in our room on what steps it takes to be an engineer and how kids (yes kids!) can be engineers.

On Thursday, we established what the challenge is, which is to try to catch a leprechaun. After we discussed the characteristics of a leprechaun (they are greedy, small, sneaky, selfish, fast) and what kinds of things they like (gold coins, rainbows, the color green), we brainstormed supplies on what we could use for our traps. I then put them into small groups of 2 or 3 and had them decide in their groups what materials they wanted to use for their trap. This involved a lot of teamwork and compromising--important skills to learn and establish in kindergarten!

Today, we worked on the creation of our traps and trying it out on pretend leprechauns (does their trap really capture the leprechaun?). I gave the kids scissors, glue, markers, etc. and they went to work. The classroom sure was a BIG mess, but it was so fun to see the groups work together and talk through their creations.

After constructing our traps, each group presented their trap to the class and tested it out to show how it would trap the leprechaun.  

We will see on Monday if any of the traps catch a real leprechaun. ;) They kids are crossing their fingers!


Weather Stations

Number words

5 groups, ten frames

Subtraction sentences

More subtraction practice (we really need it!)

Adding

Writing complete sentences. Punctuation marks are key (and easily forgotten)!!!

Word families

Beginning and ending sounds

Vowel spinner: real vs. silly words

Reading real vs. silly words

We talked about Dr. Seuss last week, but I wanted to do a special project with the kids on my favorite Dr. Seuss book...

The majority of the class LOVED it. Quotes ranged from, "THIS TASTES JUST LIKE REAL EGGS!" (haha..it's because they are....??) "Where's the ham?" "I want more!!!!" "Do I have to eat it?" I had each student try it even if they were apprehensive, because just like the character in Dr. Seuss's book, you never know if you'll like something unless you try it. ;) teehehe

See you next week!