Worms Galore!

Science

This week we have had fun exploring and learning about our new classroom visitors - earthworms and red worms!  We had many opportunities for guided explorations and free learning time.  It has been very fun handling the little critters and observing their structure and behavior.  We also compared earthworms to red worms and looked at their many similarities and differences.   It has tied in nicely with our non-fiction reading and writing workshop.  We read lots of non-fiction books this week that taught us some interesting facts about worms.

We concluded our week with a visible thinking routine called, I used to think, now I think…Here is a list of the fun facts we came up with this week as we explored & learned about worms:

·         Worms lay eggs

·         Worms have segments on their bodies

·         Worms live in damp, dark places

·         Worms do not have teeth, eyes, arms or legs

·         Worms do have a mouth

·         Worms do have a head and tail

·         Worms move by stretching their bodies

·         Worms eat dirt, leaves, oats and paper

·         Worms are great for our garden

·         Worms make tunnels

·         Worms come out then it rains to get wet.

 

 

Reading and Writing Workshop

Hooray for Earth Day!

Reading and writing workshop revolved around Earth Day this week.  The kindergartners continue to explore the features of nonfiction and identifying what they can learn from non-fiction books.  They have also been using our comprehension strategies like MAKING CONNECTIONS to information the students already know, WONDERING about topics they read about and RETELLING.

We celebrated Earth Day by talking, reading and writing about ways we can take care of our planet.  We started our week with a visible thinking routine called, See, Think, Wonder, about a picture of a polluted lake.  We had many conversations about caring for our Earth and things we can do to keep our planet nice for everyone. The children learned the importance of clean water, clean air, and planting new trees.

 

We also talked extensively about recycling... what it means to recycle, what happens to garbage after we throw it away, what happens to our recyclables after they are picked up.... SO much discussion and SO many questions from those inquisitive little kindergartners!

 

 

 

Math

We continued our Earth Day theme during math centers.  We also spent time on number formation.  It continues to be a focus in kindergarten.  Please remind your child to start their numbers at the top and take their time.

 

Thank you TFEE for our classroom grant...BLOCK PLAY IS IMPORTANT!