Kinders are learning about their 5 senses. Having them sing our song is so much fun. They know it by heart, just start that bingo song rolling. "I have 5 senses yes I do..." We are doing that through learning about popcorn. We can smell it, hear it, feel it, see it, and taste it. Our kiddos start off by getting a kernel...describe it...then get a popped corn and to the same. They watch me pop a bit of corn kernels, making sure that they keep far away...it is HOT! We each get a cup of popcorn that I already have set for them and then we read the book:
As they finish their popcorn I have a bin ready to get the empty cups...or they play with them. After the book we finish up with our popcorn sheet. I use the same sheet on the board with words already to go. Finally, we line up to dance the popcorn dance...
When the book is done we add to what we know about reptiles: they have scales, they lay eggs with rubbery outsides, they lay them in soil usually, they are cold blooded, they have 4 legs or 0 legs. Finally, seat work. They are working on matching pictures with words and gluing it in their science notebooks. They are gluing in a poem (one...two...then your through with glue). They finish up by drawing their favorite reptile in their notebook and writing three facts about reptiles in the notebook.
2nd graders are working on weather. We start off with the words climate and weather on the board. We discuss the definitions using my weather packet I am finishing up on. We then discuss different types of weather and what it is like traveling on a trip to see family. Is the climate the same? Is the weather the same? We watched the video Weather vs. Climate video to get the definitions. It is a fun wrestling video. Different places gets us to see different things such as weather and climate. We followed up by pulling out the Ipad to show them our current temperature and discuss what forecast is using the Weather Channel app. We defined forecast then. I gave them examples of climate (it usually is cold in winter vs. it is snowing) We can predict the weather for tomorrow by looking at what is coming our way. Show them Wausau by using them the radar really helps them see what is happening in our area. I then zoom out to see the hurricanes in the ocean and discuss weather in other parts of the US. I then as them to think about the 4 seasons and as them to then think about the climate based on the weather changes in each season. I send them back to cut out the orange weather and climate sheet. We finish up by cutting and pasting our climate and weather cards in our notebooks. If time we work on the forecast side of the worksheet.
3rd graders will be focusing on rocks and minerals...specifically mock rocks. I set up little buckets on my back table that have what they need to get the job done. We will focus on the three ways we separate our mock rocks: with a pick and picking the parts apart...adding water to a vial and letting the solid separate in layers, and evaporation to see what crystals are present. Pages 4-6 in their FOSS packet allows them to show what they know. Guessing what the ingredients are in the mock rocks is fun, too. Using our hand lenses are fun when we hold up the evaporation dish to the light. We can clearly see after handing out the earth materials pack that the page showing crystal identification shows one type of crystal. We look at that crystal under the microscope and see it is kosher salt. We once again draw what we see.
5th graders are taking a test based on the lifeboat experiments. First, we review the pages in our packet, get the test, then onto the variable activity of the day. Running out of beans has us using noodles to paste on our paper...how? by creating our own glue. The group must come up with a recipe using corn starch, baking soda, salt, and/or flour. They must measure the solid first, record the amounts in metrics not standard unit then add water. They can't add any more solid once they add the water. They can share their ratios of solids on the board as they place the glue on the notecard and then the noodles. What ingredients are the best and worst? What team made the best recipe? Cleaning up takes time, but it is fun to see them work together.
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Once again, it is a new month and Farley over at 
