Making Connections With The 4 Winds Program!

Creating A Forest!

During our 4 Winds programs we have been learning about a lot of living things in nature.  In our classroom we are creating a forest habitat and doing lots of interesting things with our art work and writing.  The children each have a special 4 Winds journal that they can reflect in about the programs we have had so far this year.  This past week the children having been writing about worms and their habitat.   We discovered many interesting facts about  worms and decided to write and create illustrations about the connections we made with the 4 Winds program and our discoveries about the forest.  We even created a pond!

Examples of How We Illustrate, Write and Share Our Scientifc Understanding

The children have really done an amazing job of illustrating and writing about their observations of scientific ideas that we have explored. In the photos you will see how young children can illustrate an idea by illustrating. The children do an amazing job at sharing what they understand. As a teacher this is a great way for me to see what they comprehend about our topic of study. The technology tools available also help enhance our understanding as well. In the photos you see a child sharing a Maple leaf that she found. A few weeks ago we had a 4 Winds program about "Leafeaters". This child remembered what she had experienced and brought in a leaf with something living inside, a folded leaf! The SMARTboard and the document camera help the child to show us the details that are important to her. We were even able to use our MHOM(Math Habits of Mind) while she was sharing the leaf! We counted the points, noticed the features, color, etc.

Some Videos Taken With An iPad of Our Adventure In The Corn Maze!

Looking For Clues!

The Land of Pumpkins!

This morning we enjoyed a wonderful trip to the pumpkin patch.  We learned all about the different types of pumpkins, how big a pumpkin can get, how a pumpkin grows and what pumpkins are used for.  Later we traveled through the corn maze.  It was lots of fun traveling through the maze and noticing the tall columns of corn.

Visiting The Apple Orchard!

We had a wonderful afternoon at Adam's Orchard. We were able to learn about the different types of apples, take a ride on a wagon pulled by a tractor, pick apples and we even learned about how apple cider was made! Thanks so much to everyone who helped us out!

Scientific Drawings Inspired By Gail Gibbons!

This week we have been reading stories about how apples grow and examining apples. The children are learning about the life cycle of an apple tree as well as how it provides food for us, animals and even home to some creatures.

When we create scientific drawings they are drawn with a pencil first and then we shade in the colors. We discovered that labels are also very helpful as it tells information about what we have drawn. We learned about this in a book called,"Apples" by, Gail Gibbons.

Another tool we use when we create scientific drawings is a magnifying glass. This helps us observe and examine carefully whatever we are drawing.

After we created our drawings we were able to use our document camera and our SMARTboard to explain what we drew! This was a nice way to share our ideas. The drawings are wonderful!

Fun Hands On Activites About Frogs and Polliwogs!

Frogs and Polliwogs!

On Thursday we had our last 4 Winds presentation for the year. The focus was on frogs and polliwogs!
We learned that:
frogs are born in the water frogs live on land frogs camouflage themselves to hide from predators frogs jump frogs are great swimmers
An interesting facts about frogs!
The bigger the frog, the deeper their voice is!
Some frogs can lay up to 20,000 eggs!

Taking Care Mural!

This morning we began creating and designing a mural of how we take care of ourselves, our community, our school and our world. The children are working collaboratively together to create a colorful mural that represents what we do to take care of our planet. The photographs were taken by the children.

Listen To What We Discovered

Wow!

Bubbles! Bubbles! Bubbles!

This morning we had a great opportunity to create and design bubbles! The children had fun playing with the mixture to see what happens when you blow through a straw, touch other bubbles and add more of the mixture with water.

Breakfast With The Birds!

Breakfast With The Birds!

The children had so much fun thinking of food to serve at our breakfast that would be similar to some of the things that we learned about this interesting living creature during our study.



This was a great culminating activity to do! I had great parents who voluntereered their time, energy and enthusiasim to help this celebration become a success!

What is a solid and a liquid?

This morning we listened to a wonderful story, Oobleck! Afterwards the children had an opportunity to share their ideas and connections about the story. Afterwards we created oobleck! What fun! Ms. Chelsea from UVM helped lead us through a great science investigation about solids and liquids! We learned about the difference between the two. Be sure to ask your child about the experience!

Why Ducks Don't Get Wet

This morning we conducted an experiment to prove why ducks don't get wet. We discovered through our observations and predictions made that ducks must preen their feathers throughout the day to keep their feathers covered in oil. While we were making observations we noticed how the water rolled right off the oily feathers! Then we came to the conclusion that that is why ducks don't get wet!
This is a great book series if you are looking for science books. I always find a great experiment to do at the end of the story!

Owls In The Night!

We had a great presentation about owls yesterday. We learned that owls are able to see in the dark of night! They are also nocturnal which means we only see them at night. That is when they hunt for their food. They like small birds and small animals. It is easy for them to hunt because they have a sharp beak and sharp claws.

Scientific Drawings Inspired By Gail Gibbons!

The slide show displays each child's own creation of their bird that they choose to learn about. The children did an amazing job illustarting their work as well as labeling parts of their drawing that they wanted to share. Labeling is a great technique that some authors use to explain their thinking.

Some Of Our Drawing Enteries For The Secretary Of States Office Poster Contest!

Some of the children decided to create small posters with some of the common things that you see in our state, Vermont. The children were inspired to use labels in their writing too, just like Gail Gibbons who is a very famous author and illustrator for children.

Birds! Birds! Birds!

This afternoon we had a great program called, beaks, feathers and Feet! The children learned about some of the specail features that birds have. We learned that all birds have a beak, feet, eyes, a neck, wings and feathers or fur.

Stations That Teach Us How Different Birds Eat Only Certain Types of Food

We did an amazing station this afternoon in 4 Winds. The children had to discover what scientific tools they could use to get food! This was a great activity as it showed us why certain types of birds can only eat certain types of food. This depends on the type of beak they have.

A Puppet Show About Birds!

The Seltzer and Raisin Experiment!

This morning the children worked in cooperative groups to discover what happened to raisins when they were put into seltzer water. It was exciting to listen to all of the observations and predictions that were made. Be sure to ask your child about what they observed!

One of the children made a great observation! " The raisins were floating because there were bubbles underneath them pushing them up. " Wonderful!

The Hot Chocolate Experiment!

This afternoon the children had an opportunity to be a scientist. Everyone was able to make predictions and observations about what they thought would happen and then what actually happened! The children had great observations about what happened to the hot coco when hot water and cold water were used. The hot water seemed to dissolve faster than the cold. Discussions were had about why this might happen.

*** The idea for this experiment is from another Kindergarten teacher(also a follower on this blog!) This is a great way to connect with others, reflect with your child about what you see and hear and to share/inspire other teachers. All it takes is an idea!*****