Planetary Exploration!

This year, I worked hard to squeeze in a unit we never get to touch... SPACE! I was SO EXCITED to teach (and learn) so many facts about mysterious space. Result was: definitely one of my absolute favorite units to teach!

Here's a look at our activities!

Galaxy Moon Sand!

I made it by mixing 

• 2 cups plain flour (all purpose)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
• Up to 1.5 cups boiling water (adding in increments until it feels just right)
• food coloring (black for the sky- this is supposed to look like the sky)
• star confetti from my local craft store

On the first day of our new unit, we learned about astronauts and why and how they explore space. They were then asked to think about the job of an astronaut and why they would want to be one. When they filled out their "applications" to be an astronaut, they created a self-portrait of them in space. How cute!

We also read the silly favorite, Aliens Love Underpants. We use this book to talk about reality versus fiction and author's purpose. AND to remember all the joy and fun reading can bring! When we finish, the bees create their very own underpants and describe what they would do if they ever met an alien! Definitely one of their favorite activities!

"I would give him a salami sandwich. Good boy Alien"

As we begin to learn about the solar system and the planets, the students make a space headband, with the sun in the center of their forehead... because it is central for all planets, and the planets in order following around the rest of the band. I used our NEW projector to show videos from Storybots about the order of planets and specific planets. Love this one We Are the Planets and this one The Planets Song. If you search Story bots and planets, you will discover a video for the sun and moon as well! 

 

During art, we used the shape of small paper plates to create our own solar system with Lakeshore's puffy paint. When it dries, it still looks wet and sticky but it is dry and puffy! Perfect for planets!

In our beloved, and MESSY, sensory table, I created some moon sand for the kids. What I love most about it is that it smells SO GOOD. And of course... that it is so easy to make. To make it you need to mix:

-as much flour as fills the container you are using
-one container of baby oil

Just slowly mix in the baby oil until the sand reaches the consistency you want.. I did it until it started to make small balls... so it was perfect for shaping.

Here we did a sight word project to go with a lesson on the sun and the moon and their movements. We learned that the sun does NOT move, but we move around it and that the moon only orbits our planet. 

We learned that we can only see the moon because it is reflecting the light from the sun. To demonstrate this effect, we shut off the lights and used two similarly proportioned balls, one moon and one Earth and a flashlight. We then tried the flashlight in different places to see what happens to the moon and what we could see from the big ball (Earth). Then we used tin foil (bring extra because they often rip it apart by accident) and glue and glitter to make the sun and the moon.

We also diverged a bit from the school writing curriculum (YAY) and worked on a 3-5 part story about space. FREEBIE in my freebie section! I left the prompt open and jogged their creative juices with ideas for fiction, nonfiction, informational and any other type of story I could think of. We worked so hard on the pictures and words over two weeks that they came out beautifully and were added to our library!

Here's a writing checklist I make available to the bees for when they are "all done" and need a little help editing their work

When learning about stars and constellation stories, we created our own constellation and stories. I used my three hole punch to create hundreds of white and yellow stars and instructed the kids to make a picture using the tiny circles. They were then to connect the stars with a white colored pencil to better show their constellation. After, they wrote a short story describing what the constellation is, how it is created, and the story behind it. 

"a tree"

As our final project, the kids created their own rocket ship from the Lakeshore kit. We first cut and spelled out our unit vocabulary on small squares and placed them aside. Then we TOOK OUR TIME to create rocket ships that were beautiful enough to fly to space. Finally we pieced the rocket together and glued back our vocabulary to create an art project with a purpose!

Our astronaut can have are chart... the kids laughed at my astronaut...

Some of the best books we used during our unit!

AND! I discovered the greatest thing on Earth. A sight word fluency and fitness video that gets the kids up and moving and excited to practice their sight words! A miracle! And its free right here.....Click to witness the miracle

Here's my kiddos doing it!

Two Big Words for Two Big Ideas: Patriotism and Hibernation!

By the time you are reading this (since I haven't posted in a month) yay testing and other life craziness, my kiddos are United States experts! We took four weeks to discuss what and where our country was, how it worked, and what the President is responsible for... and why he's SO COOL. Also, we did some science experiments and discovered how many American symbols there were! Here's a peek at the unit:

United States vocabulary search and find in the sensory table. YES! We got a sensory table! Sensory beads are WASHABLE and from Lakeshore.

I love this map. We use this very simple map (from the Dollar Store) just to see the size of the United States and how it is made of many different states all working together. I think the colors do a great job showing just how many parts work together. For the readers, there are also capitals labeled.. so it is great for everyone!  Its also a great model for our state collage below...

A look at the beginning of our KWL

State collage... they are so beautiful when finished.. and mounted on black paper. The kids also never seem to forget that the United States is made of many different parts after this opening project.

On one of the first days of the unit, we always "discover America." We get out the map, share things we notice and question, and then actually count the number of states together. A much different experience then just announcing the number to unexperienced minds.

Next, we create our own American flag. I think it is SO important for the kids to have a strong understanding of the country they are living in, and many of them don't have much background at this age. Much like we did with the states project, this project helps us BUILD our understanding so it makes sense and won't be forgotten. 

We first count 13 stripes for 13 original "towns" or colonies. Then, we add the blue rectangle and count out as a class the 50 stars. We know these stars stand for the number of states we have NOW. They place stars, I glue. I end up laminating the final project and hanging it for the remainder of the year!

                                                                         

When we cover the Liberty Bell, we always do the penny experiment to discover how she turned green!

Here's a cute Eagle craft I place out for option at choice time. All you need is 1/3 of a paper towel tube, brown paint, white paper for tracing their hands, google eyes, and small orange triangles.

The last week, we explore what it means to be a president. We start with what we know....

then we discuss holidays and read a poem from The Kindergarten Smorgasbord covering all the responsibilities of a president..

And after reading Duck For President, and of course discussing its meaning and importance in great length, WE VOTE!

On the left, were writing the pros of both candidates (duck  and farmer) On the right, the kids flipped over their papers and discussed who they were going to vote for and why with their table mates. I heard some WONDERFUL things this year. Some kids were discussing language barriers (duck...), laziness, experience.. sounded way better than the debates on TV right now!

And we finally... VOTED! We made a BIG deal about setting up four different stations in the classroom and voting silently and independently. We even placed our folded ballot in a ballot box. 

At the end, we got an I VOTED sticker and tallied up the results. We discussed how anxious and excited, confident and sad we felt at different times throughout the activity. SO fun!

The very last project of the United States unit is to complete a culture flag at home. We discuss how America is a mix of cultures and languages and how being proud of and knowledgable about your own is important. The kids bring home a large white paper and a template and are asked to make a flag mimicking the design of the American flag but with their culture or families foods, songs, language, and pictures. They were all very excited to share and some even LEARNED their home language for the FIRST TIME. sigh. At least I sparked some interest!

As winter was attempting to wind down, the bees and I discussed hibernation in science. We learned how animals prepare for the winter months, whether they hibernate, migrate, or adapt. We discovered many animals that aren't strictly one or the other and that always sparks great discussion!

Here's our hibernation sensory table!

And another AWESOME science experiment. 

We filled one open and one sealed jar with half of a stick of butter each. We discussed how butter stands for the fat within an animal, or the energy they use to survive. The lesson is that if the bear hibernates, it will keep its food store for a longer period, since it does not need it for running, walking, hunting etc. The closed container holds the same amount of food and energy, but this bear does not hibernate. We pass around the jar and shake it, roll it, move it just as the bear would be doing in real life while looking for food, running, and playing. The children notice that the butter melts much faster when it is broken apart, signifying the burnt energy. Last, we discuss how this means that they need to find food and just how scarce that is in winter. Many bears, we decide, will die if they don't hibernate. 

As we went through the four week unit, we slowly filled in this velcro chart adding different animals and their hibernation or migration place for the winter. We left this chart up so we could take a look at our progress throughout the unit.

I LOVE flip books. Here we are completing a hibernation flip book about different animals that hibernate. 

At the end of the unit we did a compilation writing. We decided how the animals (and us) know when the winter season is approaching. Only if they keep their senses sharp will they be able to prepare!

And we read Bear Snores On. Which is the cutest book about a bear who misses a party held in his OWN DEN because he's hibernating. We use this book to decipher between real and fantasy things and practice our sequencing skills. 

Some New Math Centers!

We love BUMP! Here's addition bump, with higher numbers!

Whole group subtraction bingo

Shamrock addition boards (roll, add, and cover) The partner with the most chips covering the board by the end, wins!

I LOVE this. Tricky Teens bingo. So the caller picks a card, deciphers the teen number form either tens blocks representations or an addition sentence, and then everyone covers their boards. 

Mustache Measuring !

Beep beep subtraction, start with 8 and subtract the dice roll. 

Shamrock number parts fill and record

Leprechaun coin three part addition! Bought the gold coins at Dollar Tree! the addition was very difficult for my bees but the coins helped to keep them on task and accurate!

Flipping Frogs subtraction (with added subtraction cards for recording)

a rainbow of number building... numbers 1-100 are written on clouds and multicolored place value blocks are available. The bees pick a cloud and represent the number in block formation.

Some New Literacy Centers

Jelly bean jar blends

A Dollar Tree find. Sorting words by long or short vowels. I laminated the folder and the candies at school.

Sight word UNO

CVC four in a row

Love these as a quick table warm up.. four sound cards for wipe off markers.

Sorting nouns and verbs (with the aid of a picture)

A_E and ay Vowel pair sorts using sentences.

Read and draw simple sentences

Middle sound ID and record

rainbow writing our sight words

ay/ai word building

Who doesn't like Bingo in a new format.... shamrock sight word bingo!

Blends BUMP

Middle sound ID matching Go Fish game

Superhero E read, find and match memory game