Fawn Friends Journey Through Kindergarten: April 2019

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Some good 'ol kindergarten fun!

Fawn Friends just love to play :-)

These friends were so proud of their work they asked me to photograph and send them to all of you :-)

Thinking and Learning Centers Week of April 22

Building reading skills with Lexia. Your readers will start bringing home certificates to show they have moved to a new level. The certificates tell you a little about what your learner has been up to while using this classroom app!

These thinkers are working with compound words! There are two sheets. Your learner should have at least one sheet completed. If the second isn't done, please do it at home with your child :-)

These friends are working on sequencing events and recording a description of each picture.

Earth Day Books

Ask your reader to read this book to you and tell you what he or she recorded on the last two pages!

Math Centers Week of April 22

Mathematicians are studying place value! We started with a focus on teen numbers and are moving into higher digits. These learners are building double digit numbers with tens and ones cubes. Ask your thinker to show you how to represent this at home with drawings!

Below you see mathematicians studying money. We are learning to differentiate coins by matching, sorting and graphing!

Ask your mathematicians to teach you our money song...

I like money to buy things at the store

Money money money I always want more!

A penny's worth one cent

A nickle's worth five

A dime is worth ten cents

A quarter's twenty five!

I like money to buy things at the store

Money mony money I always want more!

The mathematicians below are using a number line to solve addition and subtraction problems.

Go over this work with your child when it comes home :-)

The mathematicians below are working with teen numbers. The pink sheet enforces one to one counting with teen number recognition. The golden rod sheet builds on learners understanding of teens being made up of ten and some more. When they come home ask your learner to explain this work to you!

What great work!!

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

How can we build a slide for a toy bear that has a barrier to stop the bear from hitting the ground?

Today we completed the culminating activity for our push/pull science unit! Remember we started with our big question:
How do different pushes and pulls affect the motion of an object?
After gathering data to answer this question we asked:
How does the design of an object affect the speed or direction of an object?
After experimenting to answer this question we combined all we learned to meet this challenge head on!
We became safety engineers challenged with the task of designing safe playground equipment...
So...
How can we build a slide for a toy bear that has a barrier to stop the bear from hitting the ground?
First, we took a trip to the design studio to gather materials.
Next, each group took a look at what they had collected and, after some thinking and careful observation, chose additional objects from the classroom to aid in building their structure.
After that...they got to work!!
First...planning and discussing ideas based on the materials they collected:

Next they got to work on the building:

Then these designers presented their structures to the class:

After the presentations, these engineers made some observations...

When the barrier was heavier and sturdier, it worked better. For example, two large blocks were a much better barrier that smaller blocks taped together.

They also noticed that having barriers along the sides of the slide helped to keep the bear safe as well!

Another discovery was the importance of texture. Two rough objects did not slide as easily as when an object was smooth.

Soooo... they got back to work to make changes:

This group added sides to keep their bear from falling off

This group added some smooth patches to help their bear slide easier

This group added some padding to their barrier to keep their bear safe

Then, of course, these designers recorded their structures as drawings. We all know that we must record our discoveries in order to build and make new ones!