It's Just Dirt...

Have you heard your children talking about recycling, our composter, or lizards?  These are things we talk about and observe pretty much on a daily basis at HO4K.  Lately we've been learning about the science of plant life and the need for water, soil, sun, and air. We've been sorting different types of soil.

SCIENCE
N.PK.3 Use tools safely to observe and explore different objects/environments.
E.PK.4 Identify and sort different natural objects (rocks, soils, etc.)
L.PK.5 Identify the basic need for air, water, and food.
L.PK.4 Use the five senses to explore and investigate the natural world.
L.2.C.1 Students know plants and animals need certain resources for energy and growth.
L.2.D.1 Students know plants and animals can be sorted by observable characteristics and behaviors.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

6.PK.2 Demonstrate the muscle strength, dexterity, and control needed to manipulate items (scissors, writing utensil, paint brushes, play dough, buttons/snaps, etc.)

6.PK.3 Use fingered or tripod grasp with drawing, paint or writing instruments.

At this point the compost is in the "baking" process. This student is observing a shovel full that was dumped under the composter. We have learned:
1- plastic spoons and craft sticks have not changed or decomposed
2- food does; some slower than others
3- paper does; slower than some food
4- there are worms in it that help the process
5- lizards and birds like the worms
6- we like watching the lizards and birds
7- 4 lizards have set up their habitat under the composter and are getting very brave near us when we observe them calm and quiet

The students have loved watching the lizards in their habitats!
SCIENCE
L.PK.2 Explore and identify a variety of animals and plants.
L.PK.6 Identify animals and their homes.
L.2.C.2 Students know a habitat includes food, water, shelter, and space.
L.PK.8 Observe living and non-living things on Earth.

Taking Fun out of Learning

Joy Out of Learning
April 26, 2013

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.
-Dalai Lama

In her TedTalk, "When Education Goes Wrong: Taking the Creativity and Play out of Learning", Nancy Carlsson-Paige from Lesley University shares this message:

"When we watch children play, we understand how central play is to healthy development — to children’s emotional, social, and cognitive health and learning. Through play and hands-on activity, children build ideas and relationships that become the foundation for success in school and life. Today’s overemphasis in schools across the country on standards and testing is pushing down to younger children and resulting in more and more direct instruction at the expense of play and active learning.

"When we drill and grill children, we cut out the powerful natural capacities they bring to the learning experience — their creativity, original thinking, capacity to problem solve and invent new ideas, their natural ability to cooperate, initiate, and persevere. When we take these amazing capabilities children have out of the education experience, we take the love out of learning. We take the joy out of learning. What we have to do is figure out: How do we create an education system in this country that nurtures and develops and builds onto the magnificent capacities children bring with them when they come to school?"

Butterfly Life Cycle

We were busy busy last week working on our life cycle of a butterfly project.  The project is a great example of scaffolding our learning.... or emergent curriculum.  While you won't find "make a caterpillar" on our curriculum guide it does list noticing change of season.  After reading Eric Carle's, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" we talked about changes that are happening around us.  Changes in season from winter to spring we see more insects, changes from night to day, days change from Sunday-Saturday, caterpillars and people change in size by how much we eat, caterpillars change into butterflies.  Loads of Pre-K Standards were met during this fun project! 

LANGUAGE
7.PK.2 Listen and respond appropriately to stories and group discussion.
SCIENCE
L.PK.2  Explore and identify a variety of animals and plants.
L.2.A.2 Students know differences exist among individuals of the same kind of plant or animal.
L.2.B  Students understand that living things have identifiable characteristics.
L.PK.6 Identify animals and their homes.
E.2.A.3 Students know weather changes from day to day and seasonally.

 One student described the change of a caterpillar as magic. Thus, we introduce the huge word "metamorphosis" then start of our metamorphosis project.

SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL
G8.K.1 Recognize weather changes with the seasons and how people adapt to those changes.
Ec10.PK.1 Decide between two choices involving classroom resources.
6.PK.1d Demonstrate ability to delay gratification to complete a larger task (Waiting for paint to dry!)
6.PK.1a Attend to a task for at least 10 minutes.
2.PK.3a Use toys and materials with care.
2.PK.3b Clean up or put away toys and materials when finished.

CREATIVE EXPRESSION
5.PK.1 Recognize their own and others' artwork.
5.PK.2 Demonstrate respect for the artwork of others.

  We learned a moth makes a cocoon and a butterfly makes a chrysalis.

Using droppers and small motor skills of pinching, the students their choice of colors of paint, then fold, (another developmental skill) rub, and open.....ta da!
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
6.PK.2 Demonstrate the muscle strength, dexterity, and control needed to manipulate items (scissors, writing utensil, paint brushes, play dough, buttons/snaps, etc.)
6.PK.3 Use fingered or tripod grasp with drawing, painting, or writing instruments.
Look at that satisfaction!
CREATIVE EXPRESSION
2.PK.2b Express satisfaction when accomplishing a task and achieving a goal.
2.PK.3 Demonstrate persistence by trying again when faced with challenges.
5.PK.3 Use language arts, math, science, and other disciplines in dramatic play (finger plays, counting, grocery store, life cycles!)
2.PK.4 Identify color, shape, and texture through art experiences.

The finished product!  What's hiding inside that chrysalis?  A caterpillar!  And when the "chrysalis" is unfolded it's a butterfly!

 

Texture Painting

At HO4K our students do lots of painting.  Each week we focus on a color, and of course paint with that color.  Not only do we paint with brushes, but we have several different tools to use to make different textures with the paint as it dries. 

Notice how this student is closely checking out the painting tool demonstrating a Pre-K Science standard N.PK.3 Use tools to safely observe and explore different objects/environments, another in Creative Expression 2.PK.4 Identify color, shape, and texture through art experiences, and some in Physical Development 6.PK.2 Demonstrate the muscle strength, dexterity, and control needed to manipulate items, 6.PK.3 Use finered or tripod grasp with drawing, painting or writing instruments.

Tt, Trucks, Tractor, Tracks

This week we focused on the letter Tt and the color brown. 

LANGUAGE

1.K.3  Recognize and name upper and lower case letters of the alphabet

CREATIVE EXPRESSION

2.PK.4  Identify color, shape, and texture through art experiences.

The students got to experiment with different types of Tires on Trucks and Tractors and see what kinds of Tracks each one made in Brown paint! 

SCIENCE

P.PK.2  Explore and demonstrate how objects move

SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL

G5.PK.1  Identify direction and location (up/down and above/below).

LANGUAGE

6.PK.1 Experiment with writing tools and materials to communicate.

5.PK.2b Trace and progress to copying basic shapes (horizontal line, vertical line, X. plus sign, circle, etc.)

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

3.PK.1  Demonstrate locomotor movements such as up, down, forward, and backward.

What a fun educational mess!

SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL

2.PK.3b  Clean up or put away toys and materials when finished.

Chocolate Moose

We just LOVE a good book! What fun we have when we learn after reading a book that motivates us to explore and play!

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This sweet children's book is about a chocoholic moose who accidentally misreads a help-wanted sign for a mouse job at a bakery! In such a small mouse-sized bakery, this large moose runs into problems, making many mistakes and plenty of messes! But his sweet boss Mrs. Mouse, is patient and clever in helping him to feel useful! This wonderfully illustrated book helps children learn more about friendship and even the importance of reading!

After reading the story Chocolate Moose we were inspired to use our 5 senses in creating a project! First we ate chocolate "mousse" pudding. Boy, was it yummy! Next we used our fingers and the left overs to finger-paint brown paper to be used in the future! This was messy, delicious, and most of all FUN!

Throughout the story, the author uses colorful onomatopoeia (“Slurp, gulp, burp!”). We had fun coming up with our own sounds as we tasted our pudding.  This story really was silly!

Look at those sweet messy faces!  

                            After tasting and painting, we made moose antlers with our brown paper!

What a great story and what great fun we had making our very own moose antlers! This story is now one of our favorites!