This we week dove head first into our unit on the ocean. We talked about the fact that there are five oceans in the world. Our world is mostly made up of water. We looked at this on the globe and on the map. We found the Atlantic Ocean, which we determined is the ocean that is closest to us and the one that if we went to a nearby beach or on the east coast would be the ocean that we would play in for some fun. Next, we located the Pacific Ocean, which is on the opposite side of the United States, or the west coast. A few of us have seen or been swimming in this ocean. We determined it was probably the second closest ocean to us. We then located the Indian Ocean, the Arctic Ocean and the Southern Antarctic Ocean. We decided if we would defiantly not swim in the Arctic or Southern Antarctic Ocean, as they would be very cold. If we ever go to India or Europe we might be able to visit the Indian Ocean. It was very exciting to see our students make all kinds of connections to the oceans that they had visited. Many wanted to share that they had been to a certain beach, such a s Myrtle Beach, the Outer Banks, etc. We explained that these were beaches all located on the Atlantic Ocean.
In our centers this week we created a rhyming book called, Sand, Sand, Sand. Students worked to read and then create their own rhymes in this book. Please have your child read this book to you at home. We read A House for Hermit Crab, and created our own hermit crabs. We learned that hermit crabs carry their house along with them where've they go. We also read the book Tammy the Turtle. This book describes the hatching of sea turtles and how they grow and return to lay their eggs around the same place they were hatched. It also talks about how sea turtles can mistake trash left by humans in the ocean and eat it, and get very sick. We want to make sure we take care of our oceans by never throwing trash into them, and picking it up and putting it in the trash can when we see it so that we can keep the animals that live in the ocean safe. We buried pretend sea turtle eggs in the sand and then dug them up to find out what happened to the sea turtle inside the egg. We learned that the majority of baby sea turtles to not make it to be full grown sea turtles due to a variety of reasons. We had to determine if the reason listed inside our egg was a reason caused by nature or caused by humans. If we ever see a sea turtle nest at the beach we know not to touch it or dig up the eggs, as this is a safe place that the mommy turtle has left her babies to hatch. We often see helpful humans rope off areas for the baby sea turtles to hatch so that they are not harmed by humans or predators. Finally we used puffy sand paint to create and paint our own sandcastles. We had fun placing real shells from the Atlantic Ocean in our sand castles.
This week we also introduced our play, Commotion in the Ocean, to the students. We sent home play lines and we can tell that many of you have already started learning these as we practice. We started singing the songs for the play, and we will have lots of fun learning some fun movements to go along with these. I sent home an email earlier in the week asking that parents be responsible for creating a costume for your child for the play. Remember these can be as simple or creative as you like. You know the comfort level of your child and we want you to be able to decide what they will be most comfortable in since it is many of their first times on a bigger stage. If you need help don't hesitate to let us know.
In reading this week we introduced our Chicken Soup With Rice April poem. Did you know that April is National Poetry Month. We will be reading lots of poems this month. On April 26th our whole school will celebrate with Poem In Your Pocket Day. This is where each child chooses a favorite poem and has it typed up and places it in his/her pocket. We will share these with our friends and anyone that we see on Poem In Your Pocket Day. More information will be coming about this soon.
In writing we worked in our journals. Many students were excited to write about their adventures over spring break, or about something they knew about the ocean. During journal time students choose the topic he/she would like to write about. This group of students loves to write, write, write! Hooray!
In science we did an experiment where we placed a shell in vinegar and another in water to see what would happen. We were amazed to discover that the shell that was placed the vinegar completely dissolved! The one in the water stayed exactly the same. We found out that shells are considered a base and vinegar is considered an acid. The acid breaks down the base until it dissolves. What a discovery! :)
In math we continued to work on the concepts of addition through the use of our range charts. We have added in several more materials for the students to work with these on during math workshop time. We also leaned a game called, Fix It Strips. In this game a pair of students has a strip with numbers on it. One partner is the reader and the other is the fixer. The reader calls out the numbers that go down the strip. The fixer has to verbally say what he/she is doing to the counters on the table to fix them to make the number the reader calls out. For example if there are four counters on the table and the reader calls out two the fixer has to say take away two. If the reader next says five the fixer has to say add three. They progress through the game until the reader has called all the numbers on his/her strip. Then the partners trade places.
Upcoming Events
April 17 - Field Trip to the Laurels Nursing Home
April 20 - Jill and Dickie Clark CSD Golf Tournament
April 24 - Kindergarten Earth Day 9:00 am
April 25 - Kindergarten Walking Tour of Davidson
April 26 - Poem in Your Pocket Day
May 3 - Commotion in the Ocean Play 11:00, MS Black Box (parent event)
May 18 - No School
May 25 - No school
May 29 - Kindergarten Water Day! 8:30 am- 12:00 pm (volunteers needed...sign up coming soon)
May 30 - Last Day of School
No comments:
Post a Comment