Outdoor Science

When possible, we enjoy doing Science outside.  On Friday, September 27th, students were practicing being scientists.  
We went to our Outdoor Learning Area, where students were asked to observe something, noticing at least three details.  
Mrs. Doiron's example was the flag pole: 1) It is tall, 2) It is metal and gray colored, and 3) It does not have a flag on it, since it had been raining and the flag had been brought in.  
Students each chose something to observe and draw in their Interactive Science Journals, making certain to draw all three things that were observed.  

Then we moved to the playground, where students had to choose another thing to observe and draw.  Mrs. Doiron's example was the slide: 1) It is plastic, 2) It is green, and 
3) It is a spiral shape.  Here are photos of our students practicing Science on the playground on a Friday afternoon.

Common Board Configuration

We thought you might like to see some photos of our Common Board Configuration.  These boards state our date, objective, essential questions, and home learning (homework).  Mrs. Doiron and Mrs. Tremble (Intern) also use these as a place to chart our learning and provide "I do" examples for the students.

Math Centers

We have definitely gotten into the routine here at school, and have finally started Math Centers for a short time each day.  
Here are a few photos of Math Centers.  

Practicing the correct formation of numerals 0-10 

with Mrs. Tremble, FSCJ Intern.

Practicing one-to-one counting with 

plastic teddy bears in "caves".

Please note that our students are suppose to be using a computer program for Math called "i-Ready", but there seems to be some type of district level  problem with that.  This is the reason that they are practicing letters and letter sounds during Math Centers.  Yes, Mrs. Doiron does realize that letters and letter sounds aren't part of Math!

What's In The Kitchen?

While learning about our five senses, students did an exploration about four white powders we probably all have in our kitchens.  (On their paper plates, they had flour, powdered sugar, salt, and sugar.)  Students used their senses to look at these powders, and even used the magnifying glasses (hand lenses) to look at them even closer.  

When they realized that their sight alone wouldn't help them to identify the substances, they thought about which other senses they could use.  They smelled the powders - no help.  They listened to the powders - no help, They touched the powders, which helped somewhat.  Two of them felt the same (salt and sugar) but the other two felt more powdery.  Finally, students determined that they would have to taste the substances.  Mrs. Doiron had assured them that these things are in our kitchens and they are safe to taste.

 

After tasting the powders, students were able to identify them as flour, salt, and sugar.  The powdered sugar was harder to identify - Some of our students thought it was frosting, so Mrs. Doiron explained that frosting is made out of powdered sugar.  The children glued pictures in their Interactive Science Journals to show this exploration.

Our Tasting Party

In Science, we have been learning about our five senses - sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste.  On Friday, September 13th, Mrs. Doiron read The Tasting Party by Jane Belk Moncure, then we had our own tasting party!  Students tasted sweet (raisins and strawberries), salty (popcorn and potato chips), sour (lemon), flowers (broccoli), leaves (lettuce and parsley), seeds (sunflower seeds and peanuts), roots (radish), fruit (banana, orange, and pineapple), dairy foods (milk, cheese, and yogurt), and meat (turkey and ham).  By the way, Mrs. Doiron never makes a student try food, since she is a picky eater, too!

We Recycle

At Merrill Road Elementary School we recycle!  Each classroom should have two recycling buckets - one for paper and the other for all other recycling.  In Mrs. Doiron's classroom, every student has a "Helper" job each week.  Two of our helpers are "Recycling Managers".  These students take our recycling buckets out into the hallway to empty them in the big bins.  

Have we mentioned that Mrs. Doiron is Merrill Road Elementary School's "Green Champion" and represents our school in the effort to save Duval County Public Schools money through recycling and other "green" practices?

Retelling Familiar Stories

Three important Common Core State Standards are listed below.  To this end, we spend a great deal of time reading stories and talking about them.  You are helping your youngster with these skills when you read that Homework Book to him/her each week, and discuss the story with him/her.  On September 6th, our students listened to the story of "The Three Little Pigs".  After identifying the characters in the story, we used picture cards to retell the story, putting the picture cards in order.  First we did it together, then students were sent to their tables to work on this skill with a partner or two.

• With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text
• With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details.
• With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story. 

  

Please note that the Goldfish crackers were on the table because they were a reward for being such great listeners when Mrs. Doiron was reading the story.  This class really knows how to listen and focus on a book being read aloud!

We love the playground!

We thought you might like to see these photos of your children enjoying our school playground.  We are usually outside on the playground everyday from about 10:30-10:50.  By going outside before lunch, we have seen several advantages within the last few years:

• The playground is not as crowded as it is in the afternoon, and our students are generally playing with other kindergarten students, and not the older children.
• The temperature is a bit cooler than afternoon.
• Because the children have used energy running, jumping, climbing, sliding, and swinging, they are more hungry at lunch.  They drink more of their milk or juice, and eat more of their food.
• Our students are more calm after lunch and are ready to begin their afternoon lessons.

Individual White Boards

We are so fortunate to have Individual White Boards for our students to use.  These boards are kept in the students' Seat Pockets, so they can use them often.  Guess what we use for erasers?  Black socks!  Don't worry, they have never been worn and are washed on a regular basis.  The sock also serves as storage for the marker.  Isn't that clever?  
(Mrs. Doiron did not think of that!)

Please note that the little "scribbles" you may see on photos of the children, tables, or journals are Mrs. Doiron's attempts to cover up name tag stickers, which preserves our students' privacy on the Internet.

Number One Listener Star

One of our favorite books is Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen by Howard Binkow.  In the story, the main character, who is a rabbit, learns to use his self-control and listen to his teacher, and earns a "Number One Listener Star".  Students in Mrs. Doiron's class also have an opportunity to earn a "Number One Listener Star".  Here are just a few of the students who have earned this award.

Counting Fun

In kindergarten, we enjoy using Math Toys and food for our counting activities.  Here are some photos of our students using teddy bear counters and Goldfish crackers for counting.  

Isn't Math fun?

Using our sense of sight

On Wednesday, August 28th, we went outside to our Outdoor Learning Area to practice using our sense of sight.  While working in our Interactive Science Journals, students drew pictures of things they saw inside of our classroom.  This was the "We do" portion of our journals, and we worked together.  Then we went outside and students drew pictures of things they could see outside.  They worked by themselves on the "You do" portion of our journals.

The Ned Show

On Friday, August 30th, our students saw "The Ned Show" during a morning assembly in the cafeteria.  Students learned to:

1) Never give up. 

2) Encourage others.

3) Do your best.

There are many fun activities and things to talk about at http://www.thenedshow.com/.