Ms. J's Kindergarten Class: We are SCIENTISTS!

Last week, we were able to utilize the science room in the fifth grade pod. There are all sorts of goodies up there just waiting to be explored. We spent our time learning about magnets.

The first day, the class got to build and find ways to use the magnets however they wanted. Students built shapes, structures, and pictures out of the magnetic rods and balls. A few discovered that there were things in the science room that were magnetic, such as the shelves and metal rods in the chairs. It was fun to see their process of thinking.

On the second day, I posed the question: "Which shape is the strongest?" Students predicted in their science journals which shape would hold up the best using the magnetic rods and balls. Their guesses included triangles, squares, and rectangles. I demonstrated how to make each shape then had the class make them on their own.

After our exploration, we discovered that triangles are the strongest shape. For our third day, I challenged the class to make a bridge out of triangles. After showing them how you can put 5 triangles together (3 up right, 2 upside down) to make one of the bridge's walls, I challenged them to make bridges on their own and see how long they could make it. They worked in small groups.

What we found out is that in order to make a very long bridge, it needs to be put together in small increments (i.e. put 2 small bridges together to make 1 large one) rather than connecting one long wall with another. It was hard to put the long wall up and piece it together with the other side; it kept falling apart.

What I stressed the most with my kindergartners is that it is OKAY to not succeed the first time you do something. We learn valuable lessons from making mistakes and not having something turn out exactly right the first time. Scientists do trial and error over and over again until they get the results they want. Our time spent in the science room last week was an excellent opportunity for cooperative learning as well as stretching our thinking in how things work in our world.

MLK Jr. Day

We learned about Martin Luther King Jr. and how he helped people learn to get along with each other despite their differences. I embraced how wonderful it is that we live in a world where everyone has their own unique look (let's be honest; it would be a boring place if we all were a carbon copy of one another!) and that no matter who the person is, we all have feelings. We made self portraits that we will cut out later this week and make into a special poster--stay tuned!

Charles Schulz

We had an actor come in on Thursday and put on a play about Charles Schulz and the work he created when he was alive. Different students got to participate in helping him draw the different Peanuts characters. The kids recognized Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Linus, and Lucy--and clapped every time he finished a drawing! It was very cute. We will be talking about the Peanuts Gang again soon for next month's Valentine's Day.