Field trip and November

So... I got behind and didn't update our November provocations, 

I also forgot to snap photos of many of the choices students were offered.

 "I love using the clay.  I pick this one lots of times."-Lilly

She loves using her creative side!

 Can you make a fall tree?  Students used scented (cinnamon and nutmug) play-doh.  There were pinecones, fall colored buttons and acorns on the try.  Brown pipe cleaners were twisted together to make the tree.

Students dug in the dirt to find the hidden farm animals.

We also had some interesting gourds in the classroom to sketch and make observational drawings.

Our kindergarten field trip to Russell Farms on October 31st.

What do you notice about the silo?  

 "I pretended to help with the chores."- Nick

"I learned the difference between hay and straw. 

 Pigs lay in straw BUT eat hay!"-Finley

Allison was the helper for the story, Spookley the Square Pumpkin.

 Students enjoyed the hayride to pick out a small pumpkin to keep.

After the trip, students collaborated to put together a farm scene puzzle.

Farm stamps were used to make sentences and pictures.

Math Shapes

Math Shapes

 "I created 2D shapes!"-Allison

"I made a square.  It has four sides and four vertics," said Max.  Mrs. Duros asked, "What do you know about the four sides?"  Max replied, "They are all the same size!"

Students used popsicle sticks to design shapes. "Mrs. Duros come see the hexagon we made!  We know it has six sides and six points."-Isaiah

"I did a shape puzzle. I learned about a rhombus."-Alexis

A box full of various size sticks and pieces.  Students looked a pictures of shapes to replicate. This was a class favorite.

A basket full of rocks with painted lines.  Some lines were straight and other rocks had two lines to create corners.  What shapes can you make using rocks?

"We made squares and triangles!" -Morgan

Ruth said, "Triangles have three sides and three corners."

 Students were provided a variety of colored construction paper cut into different size strips.  The question: "What shapes can you make?"  Some used multiple shapes to create pictures, like a house.  They were challenged to write about what they designed.

Students used toothpicks and clay to make 3D shapes. "I made a cube.  It took me several tries because it kept falling down."-Josh

"I made a rectangle on the lego wall."-Isaiah

Isaiah wrote about the number of pieces that he used to build his shape.

 These are some of the books that were used to enhance studing shapes in class.  Many students love to be authors and illustrators of math books during free choice math time.  These books were used in the brainstorming process.

October

We love exploration time in the mornings!

A sensory bin filled with oatmeal, acorns, glitter, and pumpkin spice!  Can you pinch and collect the glitter leaves?

 "It's slimy!  I like getting my hands in it!"-Noah

 "It smells yucky! I wonder what we are going to do with all these seeds?"-Reese

Fall scented play-doh.  We created leaves for various trees.

We used nature to create a large circle pattern.

Can you use fall ribbon to weave a pattern?

"Look Mrs. Duros, the ribbon is even a pattern of yellow and organge!"-Nick

Molding clay was fun to experience in our hands!  We displayed the trees in the showcase outside of our classroom.

"Mrs. Duros do you think this is a maple or oak tree?"-Max

We found a leaf, glued it down, and turned it into something else with our fine tip black Sharpie markers.

Nature Walks

Students went on nature walks with their families to collect materials to make oberservations and I wonder statements."

We are authors of books about fall and leaves.

We ended the month of October by visiting 

Russell Farms with the kindergarten classes at FCE.

 "I had fun doing the chores with hay."-Finley

 "I was the book helper while she read about the square pumpkin. 

I learned there are different sizes and shapes."-Allison

"I cleaned and put the eggs away from the hens."-Morgan

 "Milking the cow was funny.  It was water and not real milk."

We enjoyed the hayride (we learned was actually straw) to pick our pumpkins.

 "I picked one with a very very long stem."-Dean

"After the trip I did a 48 piece farm puzzle. 

 It was hard but I did it with Drew's help."-Isaiah

What we learned....

Students created math story problems...

Sentences to document our learning

 Pumpkin experiements...

Can't wait for the students to cook a variety of flavored seeds tomorrow!