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 400 kernels, 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:
In reading, we were introduced to 2 new secret stories. The first story was about how t and h can not be next to each other or else they will stick out their tongues at each other and make noise. Our second story was all about mommy e. When mommy e is at the end of the word or right next to a vowel, she makes the vowel say their name. It she is not at the end of the word or too far away, the vowel is short and lazy. Next we were introduced to our new sight word, like. We noticed right away that mommy e is at the end of the word, so i says it’s name. After reviewing all of our sight words, we read through 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. Finally, we were introduced to a new letter sound and letter, Oo. After watching our O video, we practiced writing capital or lowercase o’s. Then we worked on identifying if “o” in a given word was in its short and lazy disguise or its superhero disguise. Ms. Torborg would write down a word and help us sound it out. We would make are “o” action for short or long.
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.
After lunch, we jumped right into 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 of 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.
Tuesday:
In reading, we were introduced to a new letter sound and letter, Aa. After watching our A video, we practiced writing capital or lowercase a’s. Then we worked on identifying if “a” in a given word was in its short and lazy disguise or its superhero disguise. Ms. Torborg would write down a word and help us sound it out. We would make are “a” action for short or long. 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.
We continued our corn exploration by learning about the life cycle of corn. 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.
In religion, we were introduced to St. Pope John Paul II. His feast day is October 22nd. He thought it was so important to make sure the young people especially teenagers connected with the Catholic church. He is the patron saint of World Youth Day. We watched a short video as we colored his picture in our Saint Book.
Wednesday:
In reading, we were introduced to a new letter sound and letter, Dd. After watching our D video, we practiced writing capital or lowercase D’s. Then we worked on identifying words that begins with the /d/.
We continued our exploration of corn. Today we talked about popcorn. We found out that popcorn grows on a cob just like other corn. 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 started an experiment. We filled a cup of popcorn with water. Then we marked the water and corn level and set it aside. Next we combined our math lesson with snack. We taste tested different popcorn toppings and graphed the results. We tried popcorn 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 our favorite.
In religion, we talked about the importance of prayer. We listened to the story of a women asking a judge over and over for a fair judgement. Finally the judge granted her a decision. Just like the woman asked over and over, Jesus told us to continue to ask God for the things we need. We also need to remember that God gives us the things we need not always the things we want. Then we made a little prayer book. We also talked about emotions. Today we talked about how our emotions can change and how we can have two emotions at the same time. We started with the story, I’m Happy Sad Today. As we listened to the story, we talked about the different emotions of the little girl had. We were also able to identify different times when we had the same feelings. Next we partnered up and each group received a picture card. Our job was to determine some of the feelings that they might be experiencing.
We started our afternoon 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 earlier 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 have a little extra water. We tried popping some full kernels. We found out that the kernels just burst and didn’t pop.
Next 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.
Thursday:
No School-MEA
Friday:
No School-MEA