Sharin' a Little Sunshine: Spring is in the Air!

I am linking up with Hello Sunshine for a blog post about SPRING! We have had quite the long cold winter here in Indiana and I am so glad to finally have some warmer temperatures :) Plus only 26 more days of school (not that I'm counting or anything). 

We spent the last week talking about earth day and planting our very own seeds. We had previously planted seeds for a science experiment and my kiddos were very disappointed that they were not going to be able to take those plants home. So I surprised them on Friday by letting each of them plant a seed that they will get to take home for Mother's Day :) They were ecstatic! 

We will also be spending some time talking about weather. They are very interested in the temperature these days since I explained to them that the temperature determines whether we can go outside for recess or not. Haha! 

Earlier in the year we did an experiment about creating a cloud in a jar. We talked about the water cycle and where rain comes from. I am kind of wishing we would have saved that experiment for spring because it would fit perfectly with all the rainy weather we have been having lately. 

Check out my post about making a cloud in a jar here. 

Head over to my TPT Store to see my other spring resources. 

Have a Great Day :)

Mrs. Daleo

Countless Smart Cookies Giveaway

I am participating in a giveaway in celebration of Countless Smart Cookies 500th follower on TPT. Sign up for the giveaway below and head on over to her blog to sign up for the other giveaways she is hosting.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mrs. Daleo

Build A House

As a STEM school even the kindergarteners get to spend time learning about engineering, which is so much fun! This year my kids got to learn about engineering while we were learning about Fairy Tales. We spent 3 weeks learning about The Three Little Pigs and the different types of houses they built.

Week 1

Each student got to work with a partner to build a house of straw. We definitely made a mess but it was well worth it! Before we got started each student worked with their partner to draw a picture in their science notebook of what they wanted their house of straw to look like and what materials they were going to use. Obviously they all used straw but they got to choose if they wanted to use tape, glue, or both. They recorded their materials in their science notebook and then we got started on our experiment. I gave them about 15 minutes to work with their partner before the Big Bad Wolf showed up. We made sure everyone had their pig in their house and we took turns seeing if the Big Bad Wolf (Blow Dryer) could blow down their house. Amazingly I had a group build a house that did not blow down even on the highest setting of my blow dryer! They used SO much tape and the kids all thought it was so awesome :) 

Week 2

This week it was time for us to build stick houses. I would love to use real twigs next time I try this experiment but for the sake of time I just used popsicle stick. Once again the students designed their houses in their science notebooks. They also had a choice of materials again. They could once again choose tape, glue, or both and they had to record their choice in their science notebook. We really talked about what the structure of a house looks like this time. (It is kind of hard for 5yr olds to build a true structure out of straw. It mostly turned out like big piles last week! haha) We talked about a roof and how it doesn't touch our heads so we had to make sure our pigs would fit inside our houses. We talked about building walls and what would work best to hold it all together. Once again they had about 15 minutes to work on their houses and then we all took turns blowing down the houses. This time there were a couple of houses that stood but even if the house stayed standing most of the pigs blew away.

Week 3

Lastly it was time to build brick houses. This one was definitely the most interesting experience for me. Before we started building we talked about bricks and we looked up some pictures online. We talked about people using mortar to hold brick together when they build things. We talked about the pattern that bricks are in when we look at the outside of a house. I also reminded them of what we had talked about last week with the structure of a house. The students once again worked with their partner to draw their design in their science notebooks. They did not have a choice materials this week because everyone was using clay and rocks. These houses mostly turned out in the shape of an igloo but they stood up to the Big Bad Wolf very well. The only problem the kids had was that if they didn't build up all the walls the blow dryer would just blow the pigs out of the house. 

I hope you decide to try this experiment and enjoy it as much as we did! I have created a TPT Product  that includes the pages we use in our science notebooks for this experiment. It also includes an emergent reader and some math, writing, and literacy activities. Please check it out if you decide to give this experiment a try! 

The Three Little Pigs Unit

Material List

Note: Some of the links in this list are affiliate links. Read my disclosure here.

Science Notebook

Bale of Hay

Foil Trays

Little Pigs

Blow Dryer

Popsicle Sticks

Clay

Rocks

Have A Great Day :)

Mrs. Daleo

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Cloud In A Jar

Since becoming a STEM school this year, I have gained a lot of experience in what works and what doesn't work when it comes to kindergarteners and science experiments. One experiment that worked really well for the students and for me was creating a rain cloud in a jar. I liked this experiment for several reasons. One of the reasons is because the materials are very easy to gather and very easy for kindergarteners to use. 

Materials:

Clear Jar or Beaker

Water

Shaving Cream

Blue Food Coloring

Dropper or Straw

Another reason I like this experiment is because it is quick and easy to set up. 

Set Up:

1. Fill the jars about 3/4 of the way full with water. 

2. Add shaving cream to the top. The more shaving cream you add the more water students will have to add before it starts to "rain". 

3. Fill a container full of water for each group and add blue food coloring. 

And the set up is done! How easy is that? 

Now it's time for the students to begin experimenting. I found that some students had a hard time understanding how to squeeze the dropper at the right time to get the water in it. So you might want to do a quick mini-lesson on how to use the dropper or just walk around and help students as needed. This also becomes a lesson in patience because the kids can't see the rain immediately. They have to wait until the "cloud" is full before it will start raining. 

This can get a little messy so I would suggest putting down some paper towels or setting the jar in an aluminum tray so the table does not get stained. 

I have created a TPT product that includes some of the graphic organizers we use in our science notebooks to go along with this experiment. Please check it out if you decide to try this experiment with your kids! 

Cloud In A Jar

Have a Great Day :)

Mrs. Daleo

Assessments

I have spent the last couple of weeks working hard and assessing my kiddos like crazy to get ready for report cards. I noticed that I needed an assessment for one of the things on our report card so I decided to create a freebie to share with everyone. Yay! 

We have to assess whether students can match a set of objects to the correct numeral that represents it. This nine weeks students must be able to do this up to 15. Always before I have done this as a one on one assessment calling each student back one at a time, showing them a set of objects, and asking them to choose the correct number card.  In order to save some of my valuable assessment time I decided this could be done just as easily independently by the students at their seats. That brings us to the wonderful new product I created. 

Matching Sets of Objects and Numerals to 20

There are 4 different pages included offering you the choice to assess numbers 0-5, 5-10, 10-15, or 15-20. I hope this helps you as it has helped me make my assessments quicker and easier but still effective. Please click the link above the images to head over to my TeachersPayTeachers Store to download this product. While you are there be sure to check out my other awesome products!

Mrs. Daleo

TeachersPayTeachers

I am now selling things on TeachersPayTeachers!! I am so excited about this. I have been spending so much time working on some great new math products that I now have listed on my store. You can see them and download a Freebie by visiting my store here
 Mrs. Daleo's TPT Store

My Bug Addition Game is free right now. Please go check it out and take a look at the other great products I have available.


Mrs. Daleo