Cooperation and Peace

Wonderful things continue to happen each and every day in Campus International's Kindergarten classes! Can you believe first grade is right around the corner?  Here is a glimpse of what has been happening at CIS:

Milk Rainbow Experiment

We wrapped up our Unit of Inquiry of How We Organize Ourselves by having our Explorers conduct a science experiment.  During this experiment, each member had a very important role.  It was important that each member listen to the instructions, cooperate with their group and perform their task for the experiment.  It was very exciting to hear the, "Ohhhs and ahhhs" as the experiment unfolded.

Sparkly Explosions

Studying the scientific method in Kindergarten is nothing short of exciting!  Here we conducted a sparkly explosion.  So much fun!  Not only did our Explorers enjoy the experiment throughly, but they were fabulous Thinkers and wanted to change the variables to see how that would impact the results.  We looked carefully at the words, hypothesis and procedure.  Our students were thrilled to add the word hypothesis to our 4 syllable word list that we have been keeping all year (their connection!).

 It's All Adding Up to Fun!!

Healthy snacks are so fun!

Our Current Unit of Inquiry: Sharing the Planet

We are wrapping up the year with this unit as we look closely at how our actions can promote a peaceful world.

Here are students document their Peaceful actions with tissue paper on our Peace Pole.  *You should see how full our Peace Pole is now!! 

We began our unit looking deeply into the Key Concept of Form and what PEACE is.  In doing so, we used the tools each of us possesses, our senses! Here are some of our thoughts...

Peace Salad was a joy to make (not all classes have completed this yet).  We talked about each ingredient and what it would represent in a peaceful world.  The connections our Explorers made were truly remarkable!

 Our Peace Table

Decoupaging fun!  Beautiful pictures were cut out of magazines that the students thought represented peace.  This small table set allows students a place to communicate with their friends any feelings they need to talk over or just a place to find peace within one's self.  

The title of our Unit of Inquiry, Sharing the Planet, has sparked a lot of interesting wonders.  Our students love to write about their wonders and present to the class.

Eco Explorers

Eco Explorers came for another visit this week.  Our Explorers understand that we share the planet with people, and animals and it is our responsibility to care for the environment.  We took a good look into our natural resource, water, and what we can do to help conserve and keep it clean.

 Happy Mother's Day!

It was a joy to see so many mothers, grandmothers and aunts at our Mother's Day Tea.  Thank you for coming and for all you do each and every day!  It was a true testament to hear your beautiful children sing, and express their sincere gratitude, in 3 different languages!

You are ALL so very caring!

A Month in Review...

I cannot even begin to express how quickly the last few weeks have gone.  Although, that seems to happen quite regularly.  It seems as though we are planning for the week and somehow, before we know it, the week is ending and we are saying goodbye for yet another weekend.  A student told me recently that the reason the days go so quickly is because, "Our learning is busy and fun" and of course we would not want it any other way!

Two classes were able to make it out to the zoo on one of our beautiful early spring days.  The other classes had gone in the fall and we were ready to share the experience!  We could not have asked for a more perfect day thanks to Mother Nature and of course our amazingly inquisitive explorers.

 Binoculars sure help us to see the world with a different persective!

Look at the HUGE elephant footprint!

You may hear our Explorers discussing how we sound like elephants as we walk through the halls and up and down the stairs.  This is a GOOD thing!  This was just one of many interesting facts we learned on our tour.  

I know our kiddos are anxious to go again.  We are so lucky to have such an amazing zoo and learning opportunity so close to our homes.  We are so glad they enjoyed themselves and were able to appreciate the zoo as a class family.

As you are well aware, we have been throughly enjoying our Unit of Inquiry, How We Organize Ourselves.  Through this unit we have investigated how cooperation and establishing roles helps to promote success.  When we cooperate we all succeed!  *Has your child sung our Teamwork song to you yet?  It is sure a favorite at school.  Hip Hop Harry incorporated a lot of great points throughout the song and it is exciting to sing!

We have found out that people aren't the only ones that cooperate. Meerkats, worms, ants and bees need to cooperate too.  We have even connected cooperation to music and how the parts of an instrument must all work together as well as the members in an orchestra or band!  The connections our Explorers make are wonderfully exciting!

We have been cooperating very nicely in our classrooms too.  It is something we know takes practice, hard work and patience.  When, as a group, we show cooperation we have been earning a piece of Mr. Potato Head.  This has been a fun way to celebrate our accomplishments.  When Mr. Potato Head is complete we earn a surprise.  Mrs. Snyder and Mrs. Grzelak's class have earned a pancake breakfast already.  Yummm!

                                                   

                                                                                                               

Cooperation is everywhere!

Young Audiences have come to share various performances with us.  We have enjoyed hearing a variety of music and have been able to see beautiful dances.  We have connected that just as the performers work together, our school does as well when we use our audience behaviors to enjoy these special performances.


Last week we were able to enjoy another fabulous trip to the Art Museum.  What a treat!  Our focus was to study animals in many art pieces (sculptures, paintings, fabrics...).  The Explorers were very inquisitive and knowledgeable as we toured around.  We were even lucky enough to be able to create our own elephant masterpiece before leaving.

The Art Museum provided the fanciest bus for our program and that was truly the icing on the cake!  We certainly appreciated their generosity.

We are READING!!!!!

We cannot conclude without celebrating all of our fantastic readers!!!!!!  Your children have been working incredibly hard to develop their reading skills.  Not only are their sight words coming along fabulously, but their fluency and comprehension skills are most impressive.  We know they are very proud of their hard work and practice, just as you are.  Keep reading together. They are truly growing by leaps and bounds!

We are Caring!

This month we are reemphasizing the Learner Profile of Caring.  We are celebrating all kinds of ways we show that we care about others and ourselves.  That being said, as we celebrate our friendships with others on February 14, we are asking that we also look inward at how we show caring for our bodies.   We would like to have each child bring in a  RED HEALTHY snack to share.  Look for a letter coming home tonight with more information.

If your child would like to share a card for others in their class on this day, that is encouraged as well.

We have the following number of caring Explorers in each class:

Mrs. Dailey-16

Ms. Wightman-17

Mrs. Grzelak-18

Mrs. Snyder-19

We Are Off and Running in 2012

We have spent a great deal of time preparing for the Spring Festival and of course studying about the Dragon.  The differences between the perceived American dragon and the Chinese Dragon are quite fascinating!

While at Playhouse Square to see the Eric Carle plays, the students noticed the dragon on the wall of the foyer.  They wanted me to capture the picture so we could show our Mandarin teachers.  What great observers!

Upon returning from our winter vacation, we spent quite a bit of time comparing two different versions of the classic book The Mitten. As authors ourselves, we are seeing how everyone's ideas are just a little bit different and the power we each have in expressing our unique ideas just as these two authors did.

Our writing skills are growing by leaps and bounds!!!

Despite our lack of snow around Cleveland, we are studying it in class and having so much fun!  The Wonders listed above provided a great starting point to begin our lessons. We have answered all these questions through conducting our own research at this point, except the wonder about where chickens go.  We are looking for a reliable source on that one.  

During our research we were introduced to Snowflake (Wilson) Bentley.  What an amazing story of determination.  It has definitely become a class favorite.  It also provided a great connection to our Unit of Inquiry of Where We Are in Place and Time.  Wilson Bentley's timeline is fascinating!

We GREW our own snowflake as a way to emphasize Change and Causation (two of the Key Concepts we have been focusing on during our Unit of Inquiry).


This project left us with a lot of wonders to test when all was said and done.  It sure looked like ice, but we didn't make it cold and no matter how long we left it out it just would not melt.  How did soap (Borax) and hot water create such a beautiful object?

Many of our Explorers asked if they could complete this at home.  Here is the link if you are interested:
SNOWFLAKE CRYSTAL EXPERIMENT

Because an objective of our Unit of Inquiry (Where We Are in Place and Time) is for our students to understand their personal journey (Key Concepts- Change, Causation and Reflection)we are also trying to help them connect this to animals and plants.

Dr. Ausherman, from CSU, dropped off these fascinating bulbs for each classroom.  Without telling the children what they were, we began studying their properties and making a list of ideas.  Onion was the most popular!  We have since observed it daily, noted the changes and taken pictures creating a visual timeline that we reflect on each day.  Seeing the changes over time has been a lot of fun.  Most of the Explorers have agreed that it must be some kind of seed/flower based on how it is changing and not an onion.  Our Explorers are so much fun!

Our Ambassadors of the Day are doing an amazing job brining in their artifacts and creating a personal timeline of their histories.  It is so cute to see their "lightbulb moments" as they realize how much they have truly grown and changed. 

              Teachers are getting on board too! 

        

This is a fabulous story about a rabbit who takes a journey all over the world.  Tracking his journey and creating his timeline using the world map was a lot of fun!

A HUGE thank you to CSU and Dr. Perry for donating 30 iPads for our school to use.  We love them and sure do appreciate the generosity!!!