Junk Production Activity

On January 29th, we had an "all-school" project.  The students were randomly put into 1 of 12 teams and then each team took turns selecting a piece of "junk".  Then each team had 20 minutes to take their 15 minutes of junk and build something.  Then they had time to make a commercial to sell their creation.  The students were able to be creative and learned to cooperate.  What they came up with really surprised me!  It was so interesting!  I didn't get many good photos unfortunately.  There will be some put up on the school website shortly as well as a video in a couple of months.  It seems that all of the students really enjoyed it!

South Dakota Mammals

I borrowed a "Discovery Crate" from the Outdoor Campus.  I believe that these crates are available because by the "SD Game, Fish and Parks" department.  This crate is about SD mammals.  It has the furs of local mammals, as well as photo cards with information on them.  The students were very excited about it!  They learned a lot about what animals live here, there preferred habitat and their needs. 

Bird Drawings in the Hallway

Here are some of the students favorite birds.  They have come a long ways on drawing pictures and writing sentences.  I thought that they did a great job on these!

Birding

On January 29th, we had nice weather, so I thought I'd take the kindergarteners for a walk at the local lake.  It was a good time to discuss the winter season and the changes that have taken place outdoors.  We had a real good discussion.  They also wanted to go birding, so we could do that at the same time.  We were fortunate to have a Red-tailed Hawk soaring quite low over the lake.  The kids held really still and were quiet.  They had big smiles on their faces!  We also were lucky to see a Hairy Woodpecker and some Dark-eyed Juncos. 

Preview of Our Bird Book

To order go to:  http://www.lulu.com/shop/kelly-preheim/favorite-birds/hardcover/product-20605239.html;jsessionid=88E0D3324D707AC638977C8F09AFCEF6

Snowman Art

To reinforce seeing shapes in our environment, I do this project.  I cut potatoes in half and then carve a basic shape in each one.  Then the children dip them in white paint and stamp them onto their paper to create a snowman and a snow scene.  Then they used Q-tips and other color paints to add some detail.  They enjoyed it!

We've Published a Book

The kindergarteners and I took on a big project that took about a month to complete.  We have illustrated and written a book titled, Our Favorite Backyard Birds.  This project used many of our content standards in science and language arts. 

First I chose a group of common backyard birds for our area and then the kids took turns choosing two that they would like to illustrate. 

Then we went to the Promethean Board and we would research each bird on the internet.  I would read about the bird and then they would tell me the important facts they wanted.  I think they learned a lot from this process.  At first they struggled with it, but then later it came quite easy to listen for detail.  I would type the it on a sheet of paper, so that they could copy it off later.  Little ones are not accustomed to writing on single lines, so I would sit by them and help or show them how to do it by writing it on my sheet of paper.  They learned a lot from that as well. 

Many of the kindergarteneres have been drawing birds since I first started teaching about birds, so it wasn't hard for them to do.  Some needed me to coach them through it one step at a time.  They had to pay close attention to detail and get the specific field marks on each bird. 

I thought they did a very good job!  I'm really proud of them!  Here is the link to order your very own hardcover book:  http://www.lulu.com/shop/kelly-preheim/favorite-birds/hardcover/product-20605239.html;jsessionid=88E0D3324D707AC638977C8F09AFCEF6