Our week started on Tuesday (hope everyone had a fabulous Labor Day!) with a sweet second grader delivering two Monarch caterpillars to our classroom. Talk about EXCITEMENT! I was so impressed with all of the prior knowledge the kiddos had about caterpillars and the life cycle of a butterfly!
In reading we had lots of practice reviewing how good readers read books three different ways. We LOVED Mrs. Roeschley retelling a familiar story- Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes. During reading we also reviewed how books are like shoes: you must have a good-fit book that had a purpose (P), interests (I) you, that you comprehend (C), and that you know (K) some of the words (or letters!). We call it I PICK. Although we didn't all make our stamina goal of 4 minutes, as a whole class we did read to self for 2 minutes without distractions. Pretty good after a long weekend and tiring first two weeks of kindergarten behind us.
My favorite part of the day was SCIENCE! First we had a discussion and made a list of what we thought we knew about living things. Then we got to visit a very special place on our school- the science courtyard! We actually have a door that leads right into the courtyard. How cool! We learned that scientists make lots of observations with their eyes, talk about what they see, then record (write down) their observations. So, we set out with our brains ready, clipboards, recording sheets, and pencils to see if we could find four living things in nature. I was absolutely amazed at all of our observations and inquiry out in the courtyard. My kindergarten scientists also did an excellent job recording their observations. We came inside and finished up our learning by agreeing that of all the things on our original list, living things definitely need a place to live, food, water, and air (all of the things right off the curriculum framework! They discovered it all on their own ;)).
Take a peek at our fun in the science courtyard.