In all honesty, I was a little bit 'scared and nervous' for school to start back up again after the two week holiday. I thought, "What if the kids cry ... What if they come back and aren't potty trained ... What if they don't like me anymore ... " Then, as they got off the bus and made their way down the hallways (picture them running, with their school bags bouncing up and down on their backs) and I saw their little smiles beaming at me, I realized that this 'fear/nervousness' that I thought I was experiencing wasn't fear at all. Instead, it was probably sadness from NOT seeing them every day! Now that we're back into the swing of things, I can truly say that I didn't realize how much I had missed them during the holidays.
What we've been up to ...
This week, we turned into scientists. I found an experiment for Borax Snow Crystals online (click here for the recipe) and we began our first 'science experiment' of the year.
I started our afternoon circle by asking, "What does SCIENCE mean? What is SCIENCE?" And these were there responses:
We brainstormed what we could be possibly making with "hot water, powder and pipe cleaners" and I took a few answers from them. I then asked students to go to a table, find a sticky note and draw what they thought would happen ... a teacher (myself, the ECE and the EA) in the room helped 'scribe' their answers.
Lots of 'explosion' predictions!
We then left it overnight and had a discussion the next day about what happened. Students sat in a circle while I walked around slowly with it, they put on gloves and got to feel it, then they were asked to draw (again on sticky notes) what did happen. So cute ... some of them said that it turned into diamonds.
One says "road salt" and the other says, "it turned into ice cubes and glass"
Later, students used magnifying glasses to get a closer look, they compared it to real snowflakes and they put it on the overhead projector to see the light shine though it... From this little 'spark,' we continued with a snow inquiry for the rest of the week. We brought snow inside and made a snowman (of course they had to wear their gloves - they were quick to realize that just because they were inside didn't mean that the snow wasn't cold!), we made observations about how long it would take the snow to melt. In addition, we made pattern block snowflakes, read a book titled "Le plus beau des bonhommes," sang "La neige tombe" (lyrics are posted under songs and chants and we also sent it home in their blue duotangs) and we continued with the literacy and sequencing that we started before the holidays with this cute little poem:
Une boule de neige.
Deux boules de neige.
Trois boules de neige.
Un nez et deux bras.
Un chapeau et un balai.
Voici, mon bonhomme de neige.
Here, you see students working at 'making a snowman' ... carrot and all!
Tada! Although the carrot nose just wouldn't stay on! We also made predictions about how long it would take to melt:
Next week, we're planning more 'winter sports' and 'winter clothing' activities ... With the NHL back up and running, I'm sure the kids will hear lots of 'hockey talk' at home. We live in a BIG hockey community where the most used excuse for uncompleted homework is "I had hockey last night" and it's a perfectly acceptable excuse. Anyways ... I'll start them with a question: "Aimes-tu jouer au hockey?" and see where it takes us. I had my boyfriend (bless his soul, honestly) make little hockey nets. So, I'm hoping that the kinders are at least a LITTLE interested in it. Otherwise, I'll have to lie to Mitch ...
TTFN,
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