What happens to animals when it starts to get cold outside? How do they stay warm throughout the cold winter months? We began to explore these questions in kindergarten this week. Kids were VERY excited to share the bits and pieces about what they already know about this exciting topic. After sharing what they know, students came up with great questions around what they would like to learn more about. This prompted an amazing conversation between the students that went on for ages. We have some great inquiring minds!
"I wonder where sharks go when everything is frozen?"
"Yeah! What about dolphins! They like to jump. They need to jump out of the water so they can breathe!"
"How will the whales spray their water?"
"Maybe they swim south, like the birds do."
"Whales are strong. I think they could break the ice."
We focused in on hibernation this week and will continue our investigation of animals in winter throughout the next few weeks. Students read stories and watched video clips about animals that hibernate, where they hibernate, how they prepare for this big rest and some of the changes that happen to their bodies during this time. Afterwards, they drew pictures and wrote sentences in their journals. Check out this amazing work...we're writers now!!! WOW!
"I learned snakes hibernate. Bears hibernate in a cave."
"Bears sleep in a cave. Snakes sleep in a den. Squirrels sleep in a hole. Frogs bury themselves to sleep."
"The frogs hibernate deep under water. Chipmunks hibernate in trees. Bears hibernate in caves. Mice hibernate in burrows."
We learned a couple exciting new number games this week. These games help us to properly form our numbers, practice some early addition, and continually develop our intuition and understanding of numbers and how they relate to one another. Games are such a fun way to learn!
The afternoon class spent our Early Dismissal Friday finishing our number art. These turned out great!
Classroom Reminders:
Next week is Love of Reading Week at Briar Hill School. Information was sent home about this with afternoon students yesterday. Morning students will receive their information packets on Monday. Students are encouraged to participate in reading activities each day (being read to, reading themselves, reading as a family, etc.) and keep track of how many minutes they have spent reading. Please refer to the folder sent home for more information on this exciting initiative!
Miss Roberts
