Super scientists

We had a blast last week conducting our very first science experiment! Science is one of Mrs. Viall's favorite things to teach, because it's all about trying new things and learning from our experiences! Plus, it's just fun to get our hands wet or messy sometimes! The purpose of our first lesson was to teach the students about making a prediction and then conducting tests to see if our predictions were correct. Behold, our float/sink test!

First the students were shown a series of everyday objects -- paper clips, pencils, pennies, etc. We filled out scientific "logs" showing whether we thought the object would sink or float, and we discussed one of the most important aspects of making a prediction: Our prediction may be different from our friend's ... and that's OK!

Raise your hand if you think the eraser will float.

Next came the fun part. We headed outside to test each object and record the results, noting that in this case our results would all be the same since we were watching the same experiment. Each student got a turn dropping one item into the water.

The results ...

Finally, I gave the students three minutes to run around the playground and find one object from nature. We conducted a final experiment to see if our rocks, branches, pinecones, and leaves would sink or float. 

Some of us just couldn't contain our excitement (or our disappointment) when our predictions were right or wrong.

A correct prediction ...

... and an incorrect one!

Science -- and kindergarten -- is SO MUCH FUN!

Self-portraits

One of the fun things we do at the beginning of kindergarten is to draw self-portraits. At this age, art skills are all over the place, which is fine, but we really encourage the students to make their portrait look as similar to themselves as they can -- we even give them little mirrors to look at!  This ties in with our Bible lessons on how God made each of us unique and special, and if we try to be anyone but ourselves, we're doing Him (and us!) a disservice!

At the end of the day, after our pictures are complete, we play a fun game. The teacher holds up one picture, and the class tries to guess who drew it. There were lots of laughs as we revealed each child's self-portrait. What do you think?

"Millions of people all over the place, but I'm the only one with my special face!"

Friday Fun

Most Fridays I (Mrs. Viall) won't be working, but last Friday--which was the first Friday we were all together--I filled in for Mrs. Shepard so she could go out of town with her daughters. We had a lot of fun playing with play-dough.

And because we had just a hint of cooler temperatures, we enjoyed our snack outside!

Say "We love Fridays!"

We had a little adventure on the playground when two of the first-grade boys caught a lizard! Everyone crowded around to see, and when I finally convinced them to let Mr. Lizard go, we were surprised to see his tail still in the boy's hand!! The teachers may or may not have screamed and shrieked at the sight of a body-less, wiggling tail. Gross! 

First week fun!

Our first full week of kindergarten has been a lot of fun! We've been focused on getting to know each other and practicing the routines and procedures that will help our year run smoothly.

Most afternoons we have Sharing Time, when each child gets two minutes in the Sharing Chair to talk about whatever they like. We've heard some interesting -- and possibly embellished -- stories about summer vacations, pets, and new homes. 😆 Not everyone is comfortable sharing, and that's totally OK. Hopefully before too long they'll all be ready.

One of our classroom jobs is timekeeper; she monitors the timer and alerts each student when the two minutes are up.

We also read the story "Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten" and imagined ourselves in the various animal roles.

Writing our letters and numbers is fun ... and it lets our teachers know where we may need a little more help.

The Teacher's Helper is another classroom job -- the helper gets to sit at a special desk!

We worked on A-B patterns!

We LOVE puzzles!

We even had a silly soap mishap one day in the bathroom!

We made Friendship Salad on Thursday. The big red bowl represented our classroom, and the different ingredients (peaches, pears, pineapples, cherries, marshmallows, and gummy bears) represented qualities of good students --  helpful, polite, kind, etc. 

We added a little vanilla yogurt to hold everything together, and each student got a chance to stir the bowl.

Before we scooped out individual servings, we brought out a surprise ingredient -- a rotten banana. The banana represented students who don't listen, obey, or treat others kindly. Do we want rotten bananas in our friendship salad or in our classroom? NO WAY! 😊

Cheers to a fun first week!