Exploring Motion

 The last few weeks we have discovered how fascinated the children are by motion and things that move. We have explored a variety of different kinds of motion and so far our favorite is marbles! Here are some of the motion explorations we have been trying! 

Building ramps using the slats.

Spinning Tops

Moving golf balls through the Tilt-a-hole tray

Using magnet balls on old gutters

Following the same idea of motion, we have noticed the children build different kinds of ramps using the wood blocks. This is something they come back to day after day. We take pictures of each ramp and print out the picture so they can recreate it another day. Here are a few of the different ramps we have seen so far: 

This is Alex's ramp. He stacked the blocks to be like a staircase. He would drop the marble from the top stair and watch as it bounced off each step. He noticed the sound the marble made as it hit each level.

This is Matthew's ramp. He built it in front of the block shelf. He built the blocks on the side to stop the marble from bouncing off the ramp. He noticed how the marble bounced off the shelf and came back to him. This brought up the discussion of the angle in which it bounced back at. 

This is Mohammed's ramp. He said it is like the Mackinaw Bridge. He used the blocks to make the "supports" then the slats to make the pathway for the marble to move on. 

This ramp was collectively made by a few students. They wanted to make a tall ramp. They use the large block for the base then the small blocks for the ramp on top. 

Creating a Classroom Cumminuty

 As a way to create a classroom community and a sense of responsibility in the classroom, the children are given a classroom job each week. We rotate the jobs so that every child gets a chance to be every job!

Here are some of the kids completing the tasks of their job this week! 

Morning Meeting

During our Morning Meeting we welcome the children to school as well as say good morning to each other. A big part of this meeting is doing our calendar. We talk about the day of the week, the month and the year. We also find the next number and look at the pattern that the different shapes are making. So far the children have noticed that the pattern for this month is red apple, red apple, green apple, green apple. The patterns will get more difficult each month. 

We also keep track of how many days we have been in school. This is exciting for the children because we have already talked about how when we get to 100 days we get to have a special celebration! 

At the end of each month the children will be given a blank calendar to fill out using all of the skills they have learned by completing the calendar together each morning! 

  

These are the some of the Kindergarten Standards the children are learning while we complete this task every morning: 

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.1.A Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others and taking turns speaking about the topics and texts under discussion).

K-ESS2-1 Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.

K-ESS3-2 Ask questions to obtain information about the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for, and respond to, severe weather.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.A.1 Count to 100 by ones and by tens.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.A.3  Identify numbers from 0 to 20. Represent a number of objects with a written numeral 0-20 (with 0 representing a count of no objects).

K – H2.0.1 Distinguish among yesterday, today, tomorrow.

Loose Parts

An Introduction into Loose Parts 

A large part of the Reggio philosophy is the exploration of loose parts. Loose parts include both natural and manufactured materials that can be moves, combined, and taken apart in a variety of ways. There are a abundance of natural and manufactured materials for children to play with and manipulate.

Loose parts give children the freedom to arrange and rearrange, essentially using the parts to create their own designs, which allows the focus of the experience to be on the process rather than the product.

Below you will find ways we use loose parts in the classroom: 

Making the Surface of the moon using white rocks, yarn,
cotton balls and aluminum foil balls

Building with bottle caps

Using tree and blocks to create a forest 

Making animal habitats with bricks, sticks, gems and rocks

Outer Space

Our investigation into outer space has really taken off this month. We are noticing a strong interest in astronauts and spaceships as well as come curiosity about the different planets. For this reason, the children have started to design their own rocket ships. We asked them to sit down and draw out their plans. We wanted them to think about what materials they could use to create a 3D model of their design. They have really enjoyed this and we have been seeing a variety of different ideas. This week the children will get to share their drawings with the class. After that is done as a group we will come up with one final design for our rocket. We have been collecting boxes and other materials to recreate it We are excited to see where this project will take us!

We have also been taking a closer look at the different planets in the solar system. The children were given pictures of the planets and loose parts. They were asked to see how they can represent each planet. Below you will see their work on the planet mercury and earth. 

Teaching Strategies Gold

11. Demonstrates positive approaches to learning 

a. Attends and engages 

b. Persist 

c. Solves problems 

d. Shows curiosity and motivation

e. Shows flexibility and inventiveness in thinking

19. Demonstrates emergent writing skills

 b. Writes to convey meaning

24. Uses scientific inquiry skills

26. Demonstrates knowledge of the physical properties of objects and materials 

27. Demonstrates knowledge of Earth’s environment 

28. Uses tools and other technology to perform tasks

Next Generation Science Standards
K-PS2-1  Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object.

What are the interests of the kids in room 8?

Emotions

As we explore different emotions, the children have been drawing what their face looks like when they are feeling sad, angry or happy. We introduced emotion stones to the children. They picked a stone, identified how they though the person was feeling then drew their own representation of it on their paper. It was interesting to see how the children made connections to when they felt a certain emotion and why they were feeling that way. We will continue to identify and describe our emotions and we study how the face changes with each feeling.

Here are some of our happy, sad and angry faces!

 

Teaching Strategies Gold

Social–Emotional

1. Regulates own emotions and behaviors 
a. Manages feelings

b. Responds to emotional cues 

Outer Space

We have discovered a huge interest in outer space in our classroom. We borrowed space suits from another classroom and the children were pretending to go into outer space. They traveled from planet to planet in their rocket ship. To continue this new interest we are going to build our own rocket ship, read books for research and explore the different planets and what they are like! We are looking forward to finding out and learning more!

Teaching Strategies Gold

11. Demonstrates positive approaches to learning 

a. Attends and engages 

b. Persist 

c. Solves problems 

d. Shows curiosity and motivation

e. Shows flexibility and inventiveness in thinking

24. Uses scientific inquiry skills

26. Demonstrates knowledge of the physical properties of objects and materials 

27. Demonstrates knowledge of Earth’s environment 

28. Uses tools and other technology to perform tasks

Next Generation Science Standards
K-PS2-1  Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object.

Board Games

As a class, we have been very interested in board games over the last month. Some of our favorites have been Candyland, Trouble and Sorry. We have been introducing other games to the children as well. These games help the children to develop skills in taking turns, following rules and learning that it's okay not to be the winner every time. In past years, Room 8 has taken part in Game days where the children rotate from table to table playing games with a small group of children. This is something what we plan on introducing to the children come January!

Teaching Strategies Gold

Social–Emotional

1. Regulates own emotions and behaviors 

a. Manages feelings

2. Establishes and sustains positive relationships

a. Forms relationship with adults

c. interacts with peers

8. Listens to and understands increasingly complex language 

a. Comprehends language 

b. Follows directions

Our Friends From Around the World

This year we are participating in a preschool post card exchange with classes from around the world! In our group are classes from Ireland, Scotland, England, New Zealand, Australia, California, Rhode Island and Colorado! The children worked together to write a letter as well as make a postcard of Michigan using our hands.

California

The first one was from a school in California called the Early Childhood Learning Center ECLC. We looked at the map to see how far away it was from us and how we would have to travel in order to get there. We learned we could travel either by airplane or by car. It would take longer to get there by car. The children were also very interested in that fact that California does not get snow. They were very curious as to why. Some answers that we heard were "The snow can't make it from Michigan." "It rains a lot in California and it's too hot."

Ireland

The second post card came from Ireland. The school's name is Dandelion's Montessori. We learned how to say hello Dia dhuit (dee ah gwit) and goodbye slan ( slawn) in Irish as well as what their flag looks like. Some children realized that their flag looks different than ours. We extended this country's exploration by making "spuds" (potatoes). We also looked at pictures of them dancing and did our Irish dancing with tap shoes, skirts and the stage while listening to Celtic music.

     
                

Colorado

The third postcard we received was from Colorado. It was from Children's Mini College in Glenwood Springs. The children looked at brochures and discovered that in Colorado they have hot springs, mountains and can ski. The children also saw that there was an amusement park in the mountains. 

            

Kindergarten Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.2 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing 

to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with 

diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults 

in small and larger groups.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with 

diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in 

small and larger groups.

K – G1.0.1 Recognize that maps and globes represent places.

K – P4.2.2 Participate in projects to help or inform others.

Teaching Strategies Gold Standards

3. Participates cooperatively and constructively in group situations

9. Uses language to express thoughts and needs

10. Uses appropriate conversational and other communication skills

11. Demonstrates positive approaches to learning 

25. Demonstrates knowledge of characteristics of living things