We had a fun day in preschool today!
Check out what we did!
We started the day going to chapel. We brought so many non-perishable food items for the families of the Seminary that our basket was overflowing! Praise God! Each child was able to put two items on the altar. We enjoyed chapel with the whole school and the Student Council put on a play about the ten lepers. We loved it!
When we returned to the classroom, we continued to work on our handprint turkeys. We had fun decorating and creating!
We found another spider in our classroom! We collected the spider and put him in the jar. Oliver brought in a fly for the spider to eat, so we put the fly in the jar too. (Thank you Oliver!) The children observed the differences between spiders and bugs! They are not only practicing to distinguish between two creatures, but they are also practicing classifying, logical thinking, reasoning, and thinking scientifically.
The spider.
The fly.
Observing the spider and the fly.
We made a graph of what we should name the spider. We each voted for a name. We compared the graph to see which name had the most votes so far. Through this activity, the children are exchanging mathematical ideas, thinking mathematically, and learning important foundational math skills such as comparing.
We also worked on writing words on our Venn Diagram comparing bugs and spiders. The children not only worked on their fine motor skills, but they also practiced sounding out words, and continued to verbalize the differences between spiders and bugs.
During small group time, we noticed that the spider had already made a web in the jar! We observed the web, and hypothesized why the spider made the web.
"He wanted to make a home."
"He wanted to catch the fly."
"Maybe he really likes that corner."
After much discussion, we decided that the spider made the web to catch the fly. We will see soon enough! Allowing the children the express their ideas and promote discussion with one another enables the children to not only practice their communication skills, but it also allows the children to learn from one another as they exchange scientific ideas.
The children were excited to see the differences between a spider and a bug firsthand! We discussed the differences between spiders and bugs and created a representation of each. Allowing the children to create a representation of information collected is not only one way to assess the children's mastery of the information presented, but also allows the children an opportunity to discuss with others and develop scientific reasoning.
"Discussion and representation are both critical to science learning and an important part of the inquiry process and the development of science reasoning. Both in small groups and in large ones, discussion encourages children to think about what they have experienced, listen to the experiences of others, and reflect on their ideas. Similarly, representation using a variety of media—including drawing, writing, and collage—encourages children to observe closely and reflect on their experiences over time as well as build vocabulary and language structures."
(Source: http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/beyond/seed/worth.html)
Emily made a bug. "It's a bug because it has three body parts and six legs."
Brian made a bug. "It's a bug because it has antennae. Spiders don't have antennae."
Abby worked hard on her bug. "It has wings so it's a bug."
Alivia made a bug too! "I made a grouchy bug with six legs and antennae."
Arianna made her bug. "It has six legs. It's a bug."
Stephanie worked hard on making three body parts for her bug. "My bug has three body parts!"
Some children made a spider too. "It's a spider because it has two body parts and eight legs."
Bella worked on a spider. "I'm making an arachnid."
Leah made a bug. "Three body parts, six legs, yep it's a bug!"
Alma worked hard to make wings for her bug. "My bug has wings like a butterfly. Spiders don't have wings."
Andrew worked with a friend to make a bug.
"How do you know it is a bug and not a spider?" I asked
"Because it has antennae!" Andrew replied
Oliver made two body parts and eight legs for his spider. "It's a spider. Spider's don't have wings!"
Ethan made a bug. "I made a bug with two antennae and six legs."
Chase made a spider. I asked him if he was sure it was a spider.
He replied, "Yes! Do you see the eight legs? That's a spider!"
No comments:
Post a Comment