This week the kindergarteners explored the world of corn, popcorn, Indian corn, sweet corn, and more. We started with learning about the life cycle of corn. We did a couple of experiments with an ear of dent “feed” corn. We found out that our ear of corn floated in water, weighed about 18 blocks, contained around 500 kernels of corn, and the inside looked like a flower when it was cut in half. We also experimented with popcorn. We found out that popcorn is created when the water inside the corn is heated. The steam (pressure) makes the kernel turn inside out. After watching popcorn pop from an air popper with the lid off, we taste tested different kinds of popcorn toppings. We decided that our favorite topping was cinnamon and sugar. We also wrote a story about eating popcorn while watching our favorite movie. We finished the week with Indian Corn. We noticed Indian corn has lots of different colored kernels. We created our own Indian Corn out of tissue paper squares.
Monday:
Happy All Saints Day! Today we talked about All Saints Day. We took time to learn about some of the Saints in Heaven and to remember our friends and family members who have passed away. We spent some time in quiet prayer as we sang the Litany of Saints asking them to pray for us.
Friday was the end of the quarter. Since we worked so hard last quarter, we were able to participate in the Reading Counts (a reading program for the older kids) party. We received an extra 40 minutes of recess outside today!
In reading, we were introduced to our new letter sound and letter Cc. We reviewed our letters and letter sounds, sang a letter C song, and created a list of words that started with the /c/. Then we completed our letter sorting worksheet.
This week is corn week- popcorn, Indian corn, sweet corn, feed corn. We started by talking about the different kinds of corn and their uses. We found out that corn grow grows from a little seed or kernels. The kernel is the thing we eat. We watch a short video of corn growing over the summer. To help us remember the process, we created the corn life cycle in pictures. We had to cut out all of the pictures and glue them in order around a paper plate. Then Ms. Torborg helped us draw the arrows, so we could see the circle. If we had time, we could color the pictures.
After completing our calendar binders, we worked on identifying things in a group. Ms. Torborg put 5 counters on the mat, we talked about the different things we noticed. They were in a group of 4 and 1 more, the group of 4 made a square, there were 5 counters total, etc.
Tuesday:
Happy All Souls Day! Today we talked about how to get to heaven and why we want to go to heaven. Then we spent some time praying for those who have past away with a Litany of Saints.
In reading, we reviewed our sight words. After we identified it, Ms. Torborg used it in a sentence. Then we were introduced to our new sight word, like, and our new emergent reader, I Like Corn. The first time we read through the story, we counted the number of words in each sentence. We also worked together to identify some of the hard words by looking at the picture and using the beginning and ending sounds. After reading it quietly our own, we completed our sight word like worksheet.
We started our morning out by reviewing the corn life cycle. Then we did a few math and science experiments with an ear of corn. Ms. Torborg asked us four questions: Will it sink or float?, How many blocks does it weigh? How many kernels are on the cob, and what does it look like inside? We started by making and recording some predictions. After that we tested out our theories. First we did it as a whole class. Then we completed each station on our own. There were stations set up throughout the classroom. After completing a station, we had to record the results on our worksheet. We found out that an ear of corn floats on top of the water. An ear of corn weights about 20 blocks and is about 6 links long. The inside of the corn cob looked like a flower with petals. To figure out How many kernels are on a cob we had to do some work. First we had to take the corn off the cob. Once it was off, we
put the kernels onto hundreds charts (just like the pumpkin seeds). We had a choice to work with a partner if we wanted to. Once all of the seeds were in place, Ms. Torborg helped us count the seeds. Our corn averaged about 400 kernels per ear of corn.
In religion, we talked about how God created each one of us. We are each unique and special. On our worksheet, we had to identify some of our unique characteristics like our hair and eye color. Then we had to draw a picture of ourself.
Wednesday:
We reviewed our letters and letter sounds, sang a letter C song, and created a list of words that started with the /c/ and a list that ended with the /c/. We also completed our letter C worksheet. We practiced writing capital and lowercase c’s, identifying the letter c from a group of letters, and discriminated between words that began with the /c/.
We continued our exploration of corn. Today we talked about popcorn. We found out that popcorn starts as corn on the cob. It starts as a seed and grows as an ear. When it is dry, it is taken off the cob. The kernels pop because there is a little bit of water inside it. The water heats up and makes the kernels turn inside out. After reviewing the life cycle, we watched a couple of video about how popcorn pops including a slow motion one. Then we made another class book. We determined we really like to eat popcorn when we watch a movie. We each had to write about what topping we like on our popcorn and what movie we like to watch. After we finished our sentence, (________ likes popcorn with _____________ while he/she watches _____________.), we drew a picture to match our sentence.
In religion, we listened to the story, There is Only One You. We continued our conversation about how God uniquely created each one of us. We each have different talents and things we can do. We can learn new things by watching others and practicing over and over.
We ended the day by starting a popcorn experiment. We put popcorn kernels in a cup. Then we drew a line to mark how fill the cup was. Next we filled the cup with enough water to cover the kernels of popcorn. Now we are watching to see what will happen.
Thursday:
In reading, we reviewed our letters and letters sounds. Then we worked with the -in word family. First, we watched a video. As we watched it we had to read the words along with “Jack”. Then we created a list of real and nonsense words in the -in word family. Finally we created our -in flip book. Once it was stapled together, we read each of the words. We also listened to the story, Popcorn by Frank Asch. Throughout the story, we made predictions about what might happen. We also were able to identify the main character and setting of the story.
We had an extra long snack today, popcorn. We started with some popcorn experiments. Ms. Torborg made a big bullseye on paper. We put a popcorn popper (an air popper) in the middle. We had to guess where we thought most of the kernels would fall it turned on without the cover. Ms. Torborg put kernels in it and turned it on. Most of the kernels fell in the closest circle. Our next experiment used the popcorn we put in water yesterday. First, we talked about what noticed, the kernels were above the line. We figured out that the kernels were soaking up the water. Then we tried popping the kernels in an air popcorn popper. We know that popcorn needs a little water inside in order for it to pop, but what happens when the kernels are full of water. We tried popping some full kernels. We found out that the kernels just burst and didn’t pop. There was no white fluffy part of the popcorn. Finally, we got to try some popcorn. We tried it 4 different ways, plain, with salt, with butter, and with cinnamon and sugar. After we tried each kind we graphed which kind we liked best. We decided that cinnamon and sugar was the winner.
In math, we worked on identifying rectangles. First, we determined the different characteristics of a rectangle. We found out that all rectangles have 4 sides and 4 vertices (or corners). rectangles can look many different ways. Then we went on a hunt. We looked through magazines to find examples of rectangles. When we found out, we cut it out and glued it on a big rectangle poster.
In religion, we talked about St. Kateri Tekakwitha. She was a Mohawk Indian who wanted to follow Jesus. The people around her didn’t want her to, so she escaped to Canada to live with a Christian Missionary. She is the patron saint of the environment and her feast day is July 14th.
Friday:
In reading, we reviewed our letters, letter sounds, and sight words. We sang about Herman the Worm. Today he could only eat things that started with the /c/. Next we reviewed syllables. Then we did a syllable sorting worksheet. We had to decide if the given word was 1 syllable or 2 and glue it in the correct box.
In the afternoon, we explored Indian corn. Indian corn can be many different colors. Ms. Torborg brought in a bunch of different samples for us to look at. Our art project was to make Indian corn. We had a pattern of a corn cob and husk. We started by coloring the husk. Then, we created the colored corn cob. We had to glue tissue paper in each of the little spots. We wrapped the tissue paper around a pencil end and dipped it in glue. If that was too tricky, we just made a little loose ball with our tissue paper before we dipped it in glue. Now they are drying on the drying rack.
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