Mystery jar #2

A few days later I brought in a new jar with a mystery substance inside.  Once again, I brought it from home so it was safe.  Here is what they said:

Sight:  blue, water, sea water, melted jello, gatorade
Smell:  yuck!, stinky, vinegar chips, poison, perfume
Touch:  water, cold, smooth
Hear:  echo of the container it is in, nothing

Next we will get to experiment!

Mystery jar #1

Because the children are getting better at putting on their "scientist hat" I brought in something to test their skills.  

I told them nothing, other than it was safe and from my house.  

They used their 4 senses to come to any conclusion that they could.  Here is what they were saying:

Sight:  marshmallows, snow, flour, ashes, sand, powder
Smell:  ice cream, nothing, yucky, flour, peanut butter
Touch:  snow, powder, sand, powder with water, cold, smooth, little bumps
Hear:  wind, air, the echo of the bowl, nothing

Do you have any ideas based on the children's descriptions?

Adopting a family

Every year our classroom adopts a family in need from Children's Hospital.  We spend time talking about important social studies concepts like wants and needs to make it relevant to daily life.  

How do you get what you need?
Do you get things you want?
Do you get everything you want?  Why?
Do all people get everything they want?
Do all people get everything they need?

I told a brief story of a family who is in need this holiday season.  Maybe they are in a situation where they cannot afford most things.  I read the names of the children and their ages.  I compared those ages to the children in our school.  A four-year-old girl.  Do you remember when you were four?  I then read what was on the wish list.  Clothes, Shopkin eggs, a baby doll.  I asked the children why they thought those items were on the wish list.  Have you ever wanted to play with a baby doll?  Did you ever need new clothes?  We went through the list and categorized the items into "wants" or "needs."  What struck the children was that the list had quite a few "needs."

I introduced the idea of a "Giving Tree" to organize the wish lists for the school to see.  That way, more than just our class could participate.  The children decorated ornaments and hung them.

The class developed a plan to inform the school so everyone at Branch Line could be involved.  As a group, we drafted a letter to all the teachers to tell their class.

Dear Kids,

The tree by the office has ornaments on it.  Don't touch them.  Only grown ups can touch them.  Our class made a wish list for people who are poor.  There are 4 kids who want and need stuff on their wish lists.  You need to ask your mom and dad if you can get an ornament and buy what's on the ornament for the family.

From, Junior Explorers

I then put the information in the weekly school newsletter so all the parents would know.  As of today, the Giving Tree is up and running, so stop by and take a look!

Wants and needs

To continue with our service project, we started talking about the difference between wanting and needing.  This fits perfectly around the holidays.  I started by asking the children what they needed to stay alive.

We looked through various pictures and discussed if it was important for us in order to live.  We talked about toys, pets, clothes, houses, and plants.  A few subjects sparked a debate.


"We need a microwave to make food warm.  We need food to live."
"I don't have a microwave.  I just have a grill."
"Microwaves make vegetables, and vegetables are healthy."


"You need books to read and learn."
"You don't need to read to learn."
"You need to learn to live healthy."
"You can learn without books."


From there, the children worked through a picture sort on their own and discussed their reasoning with their teacher.

Alive vs. Not

To prepare for our annual service project, I start by discussing what it means for something to be alive or not alive.  

As a group, I asked the children what it meant for something to be alive.  How did they know the difference between alive and not alive?

"You know a fish is alive because it is swimming."
"A penguin is alive because it lives somewhere cold."
"An elephant is alive and then it gets shot and dies.  It gets dead."
"A shoe

is not alive because human feet are moving it."

I then showed various pictures of animals, plants, toys, and everyday objects.  I told the children that right then they might have different ideas on whether the things are alive or not, and that was okay because they are going to learn more soon.

This got us thinking and gave us more ideas.  If something is alive, it needs water.  If something is alive it moves.  If something is alive it can die.  We made a list (which I added to) about the qualities something needs to have to make it alive.

If something is alive:

• It can grow and change
• It can reproduce (make more of itself)
• It needs food and water
• It needs air
• It moves by itself

The children have been showing their learning by doing a sorting on their own.

Our 5 Senses

Over the past few weeks we have been exploring and experimenting with our 5 senses.  Our 5 senses help us understand the world around us.  

For our sense of sight the children looked at small portions of a picture and tried to describe and guess what they were seeing.  For touch the children felt around in a mystery bag and practiced their descriptive words while pulling out familiar classroom objects.  To practice their hearing, the children shook eggs filed with familiar objects and made guesses for what they could be.  For their sense of smell, the children closed their eyes and made guesses as to what they were smelling as a teacher held something under their nose.  

Putting those 5 senses to work, everyone got to examine a simple glass of water.  What were some descriptive words?  

Working with magnets

One item the children have used often is a magnet.  They are used in the classroom to spell words, make pictures, and are even on some refrigerators at home.  What I heard a lot from gathering prior knowledge was that magnets "stick" and only to things made of metal.  We experimented with a magnet wand and tested out different objects to see if it was magnetic. 

From there I talked with the children about the terms attract and repel.  We found that magnets can go towards each other or away from each other.  We saw that magnets that were the same wanted to go together when they were on opposite sides.  

"repel" "attract"  make note of the magnets in the picture

"It's so tiny!"

Ms. Amy is our resident garden expert and plans and tends to it all year.  Have you seen our weekly farmer's market?  She needed help with seeds and we were there to assist her in any way possible!  This was our chance to use our first science tool- the hand lens or magnifying glass.

With Ms. Amy, the children discussed the seeds in detail and counted how many days until it would be harvest time.  They then planted the seeds.  We have one hanging on the window and check the root progress often.  It went from one root to three overnight!

"That's what a scientist uses!"

This week we focused what scientists might use.  They need tools to do their jobs.  We looked at pictures together of a variety of tools and then talked about how they could be used.

This is for picking out wood from your finger.
This is for picking up small things.  Like bugs.

That's for swimming.
Goggles are for keeping your eyes safe.
Goggles are for looking far away.

Computers are to look something up like how big a dinosaur is.
That's for sending emails to other scientists.

We went over how to be safe with science tools.  How should they be used?  How can people be safe with them?  How do you think you will use them in our classroom this year?  The children cut out and discussed pictures of tools as they added them to their notebooks.  In the next few weeks the children will spend the working with each tool.  They will practice safety and practice being thoughtful investigators.

"Making potions and looking at things"

This week I asked the children what they thought science was.  I did not tell them what the definition was for a reason.  I wanted them to think of the word on their own and relate it to their own experiences.  Some children may have never thought about science or scientists before.  I learned their prior knowledge.  Eventually we will learn together, experiment, define, hypothesize, and experience.  Maybe we will see that science is more than just "making potions and looking at things."

Below are some of the children's ideas.

Scientist looking at a bird.

Scientists make potions.

Once upon a time there were machines.  Science machines.

Things they have at the doctor's office when you have surgery.

planets

volcano erupted

space

Inside the body

Welcome 2017-2018 school year

Welcome to the new school year!  This is my classroom blog where you will find a lot of information regarding your child's time at Branch Line School.  I use this blog to explain the children's work with projects and provide links to other helpful pieces of information.  Spend some time looking around the blog to visit past projects, other classroom blogs (coming soon), and links you might be interested in learning more about.  

For those of you who couldn't make orientation, here is a virtual tour of the classroom!


This is what you will see when you walk in to the classroom.

On the left is the water bottle station.  When you arrive every day, take your water and put it here so you can grab it whenever you're thirsty.

You will also have a shared cubby.  This is where you put your backpack and lunch box for now.  Don't forget to pack a raw fruit or vegetable for snack!

Behind this door is a bathroom for our class.

This big rainbow table is where I do a lot of my teaching.  I help kids learn in a lot of fun ways in small groups of 3-4 kids at a time.  You will learn more about this later.

This is the block area.  Here is where you can build, pretend, work together, and communicate with each other.  This is also where we have our class meeting times.

This is the small group space.  This is where kids can practice teaching each other, learn together, work by themselves, and play games.  Here you can practice collaboration and independent learning.

For now this is the drawing table.  After some time this will become the writing table.  Right now you can draw, write, and create.

This is the reading space.  This is a quieter space where you can get comfortable with a good book.  Right now there aren't too many books on the shelf, but this area grows and grows as time goes on.

This is the table where we have iPads.  Those won't be ready for a few days, but for now we can use the table to build on!

This is our sensory table.  Sometimes you just need a break and this is a great place to take it.

I hope you like the tour and I can't wait to start my days with you!

Making shade

After spending time discussing weather, the children focused on the sun.  What does it do for us?  How can we use it?  

Then a question was posed:  Can you make a structure to block out the sun from the earth?  They went to work planning out basic structures using everyday materials.  Then they tested it out!  

Reflection: Did it work?  What needed to be changed?  What was easy/difficult about making this?  What does this remind you of?  How could people use these ideas in real life?