Kinder Thinks Like a Scientist

The Kinder students started learning about “Scientist Thinking” today.  We talked about what a scientist does, and two students are already determined to be scientists when they grow up (one wants to be a rocket scientist and one wants to be a geneticist).  We also watched a fun YouTube rap about how to be a scientist.

We are learning about ladybugs.  My hope was to have the kids find some in our field this morning to look at more closely, but it was a bit too wet.  Instead, we worked on our Activboard, and learned some interesting facts about ladybugs that most of us didn’t know.  My plan is to try our ladybug hunt on Monday.

Kinder Tracks Down a Pot of Gold

Well, apparently our leprechaun traps were good at attracting a leprechaun to our classroom, but not good enough to trap him!  He managed to get away with most of our jewels, but he was kind enough to leave some clues to the pot of gold he couldn’t carry.  The students used their Detective Thinking to find the pot of gold, and each took a piece of “gold” home – along with their clever traps.

The students worked some more on their Inventor Thinking by making some doodles into pictures.  (One student turned a couple of squiggles into DNA!) Then we turned our attention to an iPad app called Pettson’s Inventions.  This app is actually more Detective Thinking than Inventor because Pettson has already devised the inventions; the students have to problem solve to put them back together.  It’s a bit like reconstructing a “Rube Goldberg” contraption.  The students were able to complete all of the levels in the “Lite” version of Pettson’s Inventions 1, but parents might want to download the free version of Pettson’s Inventions 2 – or invest $1.99 in the full version of either one of those.  Also, here’s a fun PBS site that follows along that idea:  http://pbskids.org/zoom/games/goldburgertogo/rubegame.html

 

Kinder Designs Leprechaun Traps!

This is the first time I have tried this project, and it was a big success!  I loved listening to the planning and logic the students used for creating their leprechaun traps.  (There was even a short ethical discussion about how humane the traps should be, and one child stated that she did not want to come back to school to find a “bloody leprechaun”.)  We used all kinds of materials – from buttons to plastic eggs – but the biggest hit were the “jewels” I had left over from 4th grade’s Faberge Egg project.

The morning was a whirlwind, so I did not get a chance to have each child explain how his or her trap works.  I am going to videotape them after Spring Break, so you can hear their ideas.

Thank you to all of the parents who helped us out!  I don’t often have adult assistants in the classroom, and today it was definitely appreciated!

Kinder Brainstorms

We dug a bit deeper into “Inventor” thinking in Kinder GT today. The students learned about brainstorming (as opposed to brain drizzling!), and we practiced coming up with ideas as a group using the Popplet app on the iPad, and projecting it on our big screen. They were trying to find new uses for the object below (a staple remover).

Then the students did their own brainstorming by coming up with as many ideas as they could for what each of the circles on the sheet below could be. I wrote next to some of the pictures that I thought were particularly unique ideas. (You can click on each thumbnail to see a larger version.)

Next class (Friday), we are going to use our Inventor thinking to design some leprechaun traps. If you have any objects that are about to go into the recycling bin (such as paper towel rolls or empty boxes), feel free to send them to school on Friday to be used in our leprechaun traps!

Kinder Solves Sudoku

The Kinder students continued to work on Sudoku puzzles today.  We did one together on the interactive board, then they worked on some St. Patrick’s Day Sudoku on paper, and then they moved to the iPads.  I had them try out a new Sudoku app, as the one I previously mentioned, “Sticker Sudoku”, is no longer available in the app store.  This time, we tried “Lola’s Fruit Stand.”  Unfortunately, the trial was short, because the free version does not have all of the levels.  You may want to ask your child if they think they would like to continue playing that game to see if it is worth getting the full version at home.  In the meantime, I will keep looking!

One interesting outcome today was to see the students choosing different Sudoku apps based on difficulty.  I had one student who tried the one I have on my iPad, which is harder, and he struggled through, so I really praised him for his hard work.  Some of the others felt more comfortable sticking with the easy ones.  I would recommend to parents to watch this video about mindsets (this for the parents only – not the kids) to see what you can do to encourage your child to embrace challenges.  I try to incorporate what I learned from that video into my classroom.

Kinder Works on Inventor and Detective Thinking

The Kinder class began today with using “Inventor” thinking to try to imagine something new that could be found at the end of the rainbow.  They also practiced their presentation skills by sharing their drawings under the document camera, and making sure to face the audience as they talked about their creations.

To continue the work on “Detective” thinking that we began on Friday, the students did some logic puzzles.  Then I introduced them to Sudoku.  They are still learning that you have to use the clues to solve Sudoku puzzles, and you can’t “jump to conclusions”.  They practiced using the app “Sticker Sudoku” on the iPads.  This is a free app in case any of you would like to download it at home.