Let's Fly! Bat Conversations and Research

 In October, we spent time learning how to learn or research a new topic. I love this activity because it's inclusive.

We're using the pictures and illustrations to open up a lot of questions, concerns, and discoveries. We used our new knowledge to write about bats. 

One of our favorite counting books is Five Little Bats Flying in The Night by Steve Metzger.

Who Loves to Learn? Bunny Do!

      Last Fall, we spent time learning about owls and pumpkins. One of their challenges was to engineer an owl nest that could hold an owl and an egg. The Bunnies are free to choose how to accomplish this task with their supplies (pipe-cleaners, plastic egg, and an owl puppet from Ikea). Open-ended projects help little brains build new connections, build relationships, and teach patience. They can either work alone, in teams, or with partners, but either way, this activity makes them think. The feeling of success is felt as soon as someone shares their work, and then others realize that they'll have the same success with a bit of perseverance. 

Another one of our favorite fall experiences is dissecting owl pellets. Usually, this is something that fifth graders engage in, but Kinder Bunnies are scientists who are hungry for knowledge. 

After reading and watching videos about owls, we spent time dissecting pellets. They were overjoyed to find various bones, fur, and other parts. They quickly connected that if an owl catches sick prey, then they'll get sick. It's our job to keep our habitats safe and clean. 

We also learned about pumpkins. Our last activity was inspired by reading Dianne Ochiltree's book Sixteen Runaway Pumpkins.   We took our pumpkins to the playground to test force and motion. In fact, pumpkins roll and quickly. 

                                                           You're STEM-Tastic!

We read Counting with Owl and Bird by Rebecca Purcell, Counting Numbers 1-20 with Owl for Toddlers by R. Rose, various owl poems and rhymes, Owls by Gail Gibbons, National Geographic Readers Owls by Laura Marsh, to name a few. 

Apples, Dice, and Math Mats, Are Nice!

Welcome back to our classroom. We've had a productive first semester that we'd love to share with you. One of the ways that we engage in math is by using art projects as math mats.

A math mat can be a coloring page, directed art project, or like the apple trees below. Each student designed their own apple tree, then used it for a dice game. Dice are fun and easy manipulative for little ones to manage. It helps them subsidize or see numbers quickly in groups, keep track of, and it's engaging. At the time, we were working on adding and subtracting to six. Students would roll their dice and add "apples"/cubes to their tree. Students could also use play dough apples or tiny apple cutouts. Once their tree was filled, they would roll again to "subtract" the apples. Some students decided to make this a partner game to see who could fill their trees up first. We played this game twice.

Another use for our math mats is to turn them into sound or letter sorting mats. Sorting is a life skill that is used in many subjects. Sorting pictures that begin with the letter A for apple or S for seed or T for the tree is one way to practice. We will add a writing piece about apples by the end of the week.

The week was also spent reading books about the life cycle of the apple along with excellent apple counting books. Ten Little Apples by Dial Books, Child's Play, Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins, Ten Apples Up On Top! by Dr. Seuss, Apple Countdown by Joan Holub, and Mr. Bear's Apple Tree are a few of our favorites. No week would be complete without apple engineering.

You're Math-Tastic!