This past Friday, our kindergarten and first grade students met for the last time with their enrichment clusters for this school year. During the 2011-2012 school year, Laurel Mountain had a total of 50 different enrichment clusters in grade kindergarten through fifth grade. That means that EVERY SINGLE one of our students, participated in an enrichment cluster of their choice where they had an opportunity to explore an area of interest. Our students had a chance during the school day to increase their knowledge in a topic that they are passionate about. We are creating life long learners.
Below are the summaries from the kindergarten and first grade enrichment clusters. Make sure to come to our Enrichment Cluster Showcase on Thursday, May 3. Our first graders will be touring from 88:45 am and our kindergartners will be touring from 9:15-9:45 am.
Continuing to develop the whole child...
Vets and Pets: Our honorary veterinarians of Laurel Mountain had a “grrrreat” time during the Vets and Pets cluster! We learned about becoming a veterinarian from Dr. Cassens, a real vet. She shared with us about what vets do, how to become a vet and what types of animals vets care for.
We also had the opportunity to practice some vet skills with our own furry friends. Using stuffed dogs and cats we practiced giving vaccinations to keep our pets healthy. We also practiced wrapping hurt legs, checking heart rates, looking in ears and taking temperatures.
The Vets also had a visit from Lumpi, a therapy dog. Lumpi’s owner taught us about service and therapy animals. We learned how to greet a dog we don’t know. We even practiced teaching dog tricks to each other.
During our three weeks we meet some other fun pets too. We were able to interact and care for Dr. Cassen’s pet skink, our class guinea pig Sebastian and Mrs. Hall’s dog Rosie! Using an interactive chart we graphed everyone's favorite pet and recreated our own graph using paw stamps. Can you guess which animal had the most votes? It was "doggone" close.
Finally we built upon what we learned by creating a pet care book. We researched different types of pets on the computer and in books. We included pictures and information about dogs, cats, rabbits and fish. These hands-on experiences tickled the vets’ interest in pets. We gained new knowledge about careers with animals, service dogs and training pets. It was a “purr-fect” cluster.
Out of This World!: During week one, we explored and discovered all kinds of interesting things about space. We went through four stations with books, games, toys and puzzles to get ourselves into the outer atmosphere!
The second week we constructed rockets and used the air from our lungs to "blast" them out into space. Then we made wooded gliders and a foam space shuttle to test our flying skills!
Our final week we made a rocket using a film canister to hold our fuel. We used water and Alka-Seltzer to power the engine and blast our rockets into the sky! We took extra fuel home to blast off our rockets over the weekend!
Our cluster was truly "out of this world"!
Origami Cluster: In the “Origami Cluster” we learned the basic steps of folding paper to create fun items including 3-D animals, boxes, fortune tellers, boats and a pinwheel. We learned the importance of precise folds, sharp creases and following directions carefully. We practiced problem-solving skills as we checked our folds and corrected mistakes. A great website for step-by-step animated origami directions is http://en.origami-club.com/ and the fortune-teller directions can be found at http://pbskids.org/arthur. We are excited to share our origami creations with others!
Clay Creations: The enrichment cluster started with a video of the coil method of making a pot. The children then used modeling clay to make coil pots. During the second meeting the children learned the method of pinch pots. Then, they made their own. During these two meetings there was much socializing and we also learned about each other’s favorite music. Mrs. Jackson put on Taylor Swift for us to listen to. On the last cluster day, we made baker’s clay and brought it home. Mrs. Jackson hopes the food coloring came off our hands by the weekend! The recipe for the baker’s clay is below. J
· Ingredients: 4 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 1 ¾ cups warm water
· Knead for 5 -10 minutes. Model objects. Bake at 300 degrees for 1-3 hours, or air dry for several days.
Dino Hunters: Kindergarten and first grade students had a DINOmite time in the “Dino Hunters” enrichment cluster over the past three weeks. Students explored and shared their knowledge of dinosaurs. They dug for "fossils" to reconstruct a model and even searched LME's very own preserve to find fossils of plants and animals that were in this area over 100 million years ago!
The Creative Card Making: The “Creative Card Making” enrichment cluster enjoyed creating original greeting cards. We learned several card making techniques such as: stamping, die cuts, layering, “pop out” cards, yarn embellishments, punches and MORE! Our enrichment cluster made many cards for friends and family. On the last day, we made a card making kit. Now we are prepared to make a new card for any upcoming occasion!
Lion Cub Book Club: The Lion Cub Book Club had a very busy three weeks! Each week, we explored the works of a different author including Steven Kellogg, Kevin Henkes, and Margaret & H.A. Rey.
After reading a selected story, we enjoyed a group discussion. During these, we made connections and shared our thoughts.
We also had a crafts activity each time, writing notes and cards and designing hats. We look forward to sharing these with you at the showcase.
Everyone had a great time and enjoyed sharing our love of reading!
Music Cluster: Classical music was playing as the students walked in, to remind them what it sounded like so they could hear the difference between the 2 different styles of music and connect from last week's lesson on Classical Studies.
We told the students we were going to introduce them to a new type of music called jazz. We played a piece, they closed their eyes and visualized what they thought was happening in the song.
They drew a picture of what they thought the jazz piece was about and we discussed the piece of music and how it has been used in movies and on TV.
We learned what jazz music was and the 5 instrument parts used to make up a jazz band. The students each chose an instrument and played along with the lead part to form our own classroom jazz band.
We learned about jive talk and studied the life of Duke Ellington. We then made Duke Ellington Hats. While the students were working on their Duke Ellington top hats, we also watched a short clip of Buddy Rich (one of the best jazz drummers of all time) and Animal (from the Muppets) have a drum battle. It was good for the kids to see the precision and speed and coordination that go into playing drums well.
The next week, Mr. Peacock made a guest appearance at our enrichment cluster in order to teach the students about Rock and Roll. He showed them an electric guitar, an amplifier and a distortion pedal and showed them how they all worked. Students got a chance to strum the guitar while Mr. Peacock changed the chords for them. He then showed them the kick drum and snare drum and talked about how they were made and how they worked. The students were allowed to take turns playing the kick drum and snare drum at the same time. They were encouraged to keep a steady rhythm and work together with their partner. After introducing the students to various instruments, Mr. Peacock did a presentation on The Beatles and their contribution to Rock and Roll Music.
Amazing Animals: We had an AMAZING time in our enrichment cluster. First we explored remarkable reptiles. Cleo the corn snake shared her slither as she moved on the floor, through our hands and over our heads. We learned about the hundreds of ribs in a snake. If one were to break the snake might starve as they help move its food to the stomach. We also met the bearded dragons Snap and Linder. They ran across the floor, bobbed their heads and flicked their tongues. We even saw Snap’s beard go from white to black when he saw his brother Linder. We used sculpty clay and made a replica of our favorite reptile.
Next, we explored brilliant birds. Homer, the African Grey parrot, strutted his stuff as we beat-boxed. He even perched on our arm so we could get a closer look at his bright red tail feathers and grey body. We made a treat for our outdoor feathered friends so they can have tasty seeds in our mini bird feeders.
Finally we enjoyed marvelous mammals. We learned that mammals are warm- blooded, feed their young milk and have hair on their bodies. We saw and held baby rats, a fury hamster and two guinea pigs. We noticed how the mammals were the same and different. We discovered how AMAZING animals really are!
Wild About Animals: In this enrichment cluster we learned about the many classifications animals fall under. We learned characteristics of each classification and chose a class as out "favorite." Once our favorite was chosen we then researched a few animals from that class. We chose one animal to make an artistic representation of. We listed some interesting facts about our animal of choice and then used watercolor paints and step-by-step directions to paint a realistic image of our animal of choice.
Games and Puzzles: The “Games and Puzzles” enrichment cluster had a great time getting to know each other through games. We played paddle ball, beach ball, made tangram pictures, played Simon Says, Who Am I? and lots of board games. We were practicing our skills of being on a team, taking turns and being a good sport, whether we won or lost!
Instantaneous Experiments: We have truly been Junior Scientists these past three weeks! We have created soap volcanoes with peroxide and yeast, lava lamps made from oil and Alka-Seltzer and did a lot of fun stuff with our favorite thing - dry Ice! All of these cool experiments can be done at home with ease and very little cost.
Sports Fan'atics: The “Sports Fan'atics” finished off a great three week enrichment cluster this past Thursday. During the time in our enrichment cluster the teammates played and worked on drills in soccer, volleyball and basketball. It was a lot of fun to watch everyone pick up the sports so quickly. We enjoyed watching them as much as they enjoyed playing the games. A big part of the focus for the enrichment cluster was to be a good sport, teammate and leader. The students had really great input on this and which allowed us to be successful during this enrichment cluster. Great job teammates!
Amazing Castles: In the “Amazing Castles” enrichment cluster we spent three sessions constructing, painting, and adding details to shoebox castles. The students enjoyed engineering their drawbridges to close quickly with a "rope" at another end of their castle. We also read and learned some facts about castles and their architecture.
Create a Reading Garden: The “Create a Reading Garden” enrichment cluster was a big success. Week one, we made water bottle "flowers" to plant in our new garden. Week two, we painted rocks with reading quotes or garden pictures. Week three, we made a lovely wind chime out of plastic drinking glasses. We can't wait for the garden to be finished so we can add our finishing touches. We will have a new place to read outside at school!
Snappy Snapshots: The “Snappy Snapshots” enrichment cluster began with an introduction into photography—why we take pictures, what we take pictures of, and how to take pictures. Students were able to walk around the room with framing mats to practice how they would frame a picture before we learned how to use a digital camera. Full of excitement and anticipation, we ventured to the kindergarten and 1st grade playground to take our very own pictures! During the second and third weeks, we learned how to "zoom in" on subjects and to think about the background as we took pictures. We also learned how to download the pictures onto the computer and we picked the ones that we wanted to put in our portfolios! We hope to see you at the Showcase on May 3rd!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Here we go again...
This past Friday, our kindergarten and first grade students begun their second round of enrichment clusters. These clusters, like the first one, will last for three weeks. There will be a Showcase for all of the enrichment clusters on Thursday, May 3, 2012. More details will be coming soon. Here is a summary of all the wonderful and engaging activities that took place during the enrichment clusters.
Origami and Paper Crafts: At the first Origami cluster we met everyone in our group and told about our experience with origami. We found out that Mrs. York was the expert in our group--she's created origami since she was a little girl! We saw a power point about origami made by a former LME student named Jugal. We followed step-by-step directions on a website, http://en.origami-club.com/ to create a few origami pieces. We had some special origami surprises from Mrs. York! At our next meeting we'll have more time to create origami.
Out of This World: We set up four stations so that everyone got a chance to explore space, planets, and rockets through books, puzzles, games and sticker pictures. We talked about how we will be making our rockets in the next two weeks and brainstormed ideas for what kinds of fuel we could use!
Lion Cub Book Club: The first meeting of the “Lion Cub Book Club” enrichment cluster was a roaring success! We spent our hour exploring two of the original Curious George Adventures by Margret & HA Rey: Curious George Rides a Bike and Curious George Goes to the Hospital. We spent some time discussing the books, and decided that poor George needed a "Get Well Soon" card to help him feel better after his trip to the hospital! So each child created one and we look forward to sharing those with you at the showcase. In the next two weeks, we'll be spotlighting other authors such as Kevin Henkes and Steven Kellogg.
Clay Creations: This week we learned the coil method of making pottery. The children used the medium of modeling clay to construct coil structures. If they finished before the hour was up, they were able to make whatever they chose out of the modeling clay.
Creative Card Making: The “Creative Card Making” enrichment cluster is off to a great start! Mrs. Lee brought a huge basket of greeting cards in all shapes, sizes and categories. These are keepsakes she has saved through the years. As we looked at each card, we talked about the reasons for sending cards and the many techniques used to make cards. Then we researched ideas and technique tips in several card making books. We learned two techniques: layering and stamping. We also had just enough time to decorate a special bag to help keep our cards organized and ready for just that special occasion. Next week, we'll try two more techniques and add even more cards to our bags! Be on the lookout, you just might be the recipient of a very special greeting card, made with lots of love!
Snappy Snapshots: The “Snappy Snapshots” enrichment cluster began with an introduction into photography—why we take pictures, what we take pictures of, and how to take pictures. Students were able to walk around the room with framing mats to practice how they would frame a picture before we learned how to use a digital camera. Full of excitement and anticipation, we ventured to the kindergarten and 1st grade playground to take our very own pictures! We look forward to building our portfolios over the next two weeks, and hope to see you at the Showcase on May 3rd.
Vets and Pets: Welcome our new honorary veterinarians of Laurel Mountain from the “Vets and Pets” enrichment cluster! This week we learned about becoming a veterinarian. Dr. Cassens, a real vet, shared with us about what vets do, how to become a vet and what types of animals vets care for. She shared pictures of the animals she has helped and showed us x-rays and skeletons. We also got to meet her pet skink!
After we learned from Dr. Cassens we also had the opportunity to practice some vet skills with our own furry friends. Using stuffed dogs and cats we practiced giving vaccinations to keep them healthy, wrapping hurt legs, checking their heart rates, looking in their ears and taking their temperature. Did you know that a human's temperature is normally 98.6 but a dog or cat's normal temperature is 101?
In addition to learning about vets we will be making a pet care book about all the animals we learn about during the next few weeks. We began our book today by researching different types of pets and drawing these animals in our book. We ended our time together by polling the group to see what their favorite pet was. Using an interactive chart we graphed everyone's favorite pet and recreated our own graph using paw stamps. Can you guess which animal had the most votes? It was "doggone" close. The vets say they can't wait to touch the real animals as we continue learning about pets, vets and meet other people who work with animals.
Sports Fan'atics: The “Sports Fan'atics” had a sporty first day of their enrichment meeting. The students learned about sportsmanship and what it takes to be a good sport and team player. We played a name learning game and talked about our favorite sports to play. The students did soccer drills and were even helped out by some of our fifth grade buddies. After our skills drills, we broke into teams and played soccer games. The students did great and had a lot of fun today. We can't wait for next week to start our next sport.
INSTANTANEOUS EXPERIMENTS: What fun we had today as scientists experimenting with dry ice. We made a dry ice crystal ball bubble, played with dry ice in the sink, and learned there are so many more things to do with dry ice than we thought.
Dino Hunters: On Friday, our “Dino Hunters” traveled millions of years back in time to explore dinosaurs! We put together 2D and 3D puzzles, looked through books, played dinosaur monopoly and searched pebblego.com to learn more about dinosaurs. We watched a clip from “Reading Rainbow” to see real fossils being dug up and studied at Dinosaur National Monument in Utah. Next week we will get a chance to dig for fossils on our own!
Wild About Animals: In our first enrichment cluster meeting we discussed the various classifications that animals fit into. We found that most people in our group have an interest in learning more about various mammals. After sorting animals by their classification we used the computers to explore the characteristics of each animal classification. Next week, we will each choose an animal and begin research to find out that animal's habitat, food and life cycle.
Create a Reading Garden: Let's create a Reading Garden at Laurel Mountain. The garden will be a change of "pace and place" for classrooms to enjoy the outside and find a comfy spot to sit and read. During our enrichment cluster students will be making "flowers" for the garden out of water bottles. We will also be painting the alphabet on rocks and more. Our goal is to help create a cozy atmosphere for all to enjoy.
Amazing Castles: Our castle enrichment cluster talked about what is neat about castles, read a book about castles, and looked at some pictures of shoebox castles kids made a few years ago. Then kids chose from four activities - putting together floor puzzles, building with castle blocks, looking at castle books and making castle drawings. Finally, we started constructing castles using shoe boxes, cardboard rolls and other materials. Kids drew in where they wanted their drawbridge to be and Ms. Sen cut them out for them. Three fifth grade helpers helped with taping and assembling. We were very busy!
Games and Puzzles: The “Games and Puzzles” enrichment cluster first got to know each other's names by throwing a squishy ball to each other. When someone caught the ball they would introduce themselves. The next game we played was, "Guess Who I Am?" Each K and 1 student had the name of an animal taped on their back. They then had to ask each other questions until they were able to guess correctly. Then it was time for Simon Says! Finally, we played Freeze Dance! At the end of the cluster we brainstormed what we would like to do next week. It was agreed that we would have six stations of board games.
Amazing Animals: On Friday, we explored the wonder of reptiles. Cleo the corn snake shared her slither as she moved on the floor, through our hands and over our heads. We learned about the hundreds of ribs in a snake. If one were to break the snake might starve as they help move its food to the stomach. We also met the bearded dragons Snap and Linder. They ran across the floor, bobbed their heads and flicked their tongues. We even saw Snap’s beard go from white to black when he saw his brother Linder. We learned that bearded dragons do this as they protect their territory. All in all, we had an AMAZING time!
Music Cluster: We started “Music Cluster” by warming up our bodies and getting our "brain juices" flowing. We learned that a beat is the pulse of a song. Without it, music would just be jumbled up mess! We practiced marching to the beat of some familiar songs. We then learned that tempo is how fast or slow the music is played. We tried to dance to the beat of the song at various tempos. There was a lot of giggling when we started to get really fast or really slow. After a brief introduction to beat, rhythm, and tempo, we began learning about Classical music and all of the instruments that make up an orchestra. We read Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin and listened to all of the sounds of the instruments named in that book. Mrs. Peacock then asked us if we could name any classical composers. Mrs. Peacock and Ms. Lewis performed a puppet show about the life of Mozart. After we were finished, we made powdered wigs to represent the time when Mozart lived.
Continuing to develop the whole child...
Origami and Paper Crafts: At the first Origami cluster we met everyone in our group and told about our experience with origami. We found out that Mrs. York was the expert in our group--she's created origami since she was a little girl! We saw a power point about origami made by a former LME student named Jugal. We followed step-by-step directions on a website, http://en.origami-club.com/ to create a few origami pieces. We had some special origami surprises from Mrs. York! At our next meeting we'll have more time to create origami.
Out of This World: We set up four stations so that everyone got a chance to explore space, planets, and rockets through books, puzzles, games and sticker pictures. We talked about how we will be making our rockets in the next two weeks and brainstormed ideas for what kinds of fuel we could use!
Lion Cub Book Club: The first meeting of the “Lion Cub Book Club” enrichment cluster was a roaring success! We spent our hour exploring two of the original Curious George Adventures by Margret & HA Rey: Curious George Rides a Bike and Curious George Goes to the Hospital. We spent some time discussing the books, and decided that poor George needed a "Get Well Soon" card to help him feel better after his trip to the hospital! So each child created one and we look forward to sharing those with you at the showcase. In the next two weeks, we'll be spotlighting other authors such as Kevin Henkes and Steven Kellogg.
Clay Creations: This week we learned the coil method of making pottery. The children used the medium of modeling clay to construct coil structures. If they finished before the hour was up, they were able to make whatever they chose out of the modeling clay.
Creative Card Making: The “Creative Card Making” enrichment cluster is off to a great start! Mrs. Lee brought a huge basket of greeting cards in all shapes, sizes and categories. These are keepsakes she has saved through the years. As we looked at each card, we talked about the reasons for sending cards and the many techniques used to make cards. Then we researched ideas and technique tips in several card making books. We learned two techniques: layering and stamping. We also had just enough time to decorate a special bag to help keep our cards organized and ready for just that special occasion. Next week, we'll try two more techniques and add even more cards to our bags! Be on the lookout, you just might be the recipient of a very special greeting card, made with lots of love!
Snappy Snapshots: The “Snappy Snapshots” enrichment cluster began with an introduction into photography—why we take pictures, what we take pictures of, and how to take pictures. Students were able to walk around the room with framing mats to practice how they would frame a picture before we learned how to use a digital camera. Full of excitement and anticipation, we ventured to the kindergarten and 1st grade playground to take our very own pictures! We look forward to building our portfolios over the next two weeks, and hope to see you at the Showcase on May 3rd.
Vets and Pets: Welcome our new honorary veterinarians of Laurel Mountain from the “Vets and Pets” enrichment cluster! This week we learned about becoming a veterinarian. Dr. Cassens, a real vet, shared with us about what vets do, how to become a vet and what types of animals vets care for. She shared pictures of the animals she has helped and showed us x-rays and skeletons. We also got to meet her pet skink!
After we learned from Dr. Cassens we also had the opportunity to practice some vet skills with our own furry friends. Using stuffed dogs and cats we practiced giving vaccinations to keep them healthy, wrapping hurt legs, checking their heart rates, looking in their ears and taking their temperature. Did you know that a human's temperature is normally 98.6 but a dog or cat's normal temperature is 101?
In addition to learning about vets we will be making a pet care book about all the animals we learn about during the next few weeks. We began our book today by researching different types of pets and drawing these animals in our book. We ended our time together by polling the group to see what their favorite pet was. Using an interactive chart we graphed everyone's favorite pet and recreated our own graph using paw stamps. Can you guess which animal had the most votes? It was "doggone" close. The vets say they can't wait to touch the real animals as we continue learning about pets, vets and meet other people who work with animals.
Sports Fan'atics: The “Sports Fan'atics” had a sporty first day of their enrichment meeting. The students learned about sportsmanship and what it takes to be a good sport and team player. We played a name learning game and talked about our favorite sports to play. The students did soccer drills and were even helped out by some of our fifth grade buddies. After our skills drills, we broke into teams and played soccer games. The students did great and had a lot of fun today. We can't wait for next week to start our next sport.
INSTANTANEOUS EXPERIMENTS: What fun we had today as scientists experimenting with dry ice. We made a dry ice crystal ball bubble, played with dry ice in the sink, and learned there are so many more things to do with dry ice than we thought.
Dino Hunters: On Friday, our “Dino Hunters” traveled millions of years back in time to explore dinosaurs! We put together 2D and 3D puzzles, looked through books, played dinosaur monopoly and searched pebblego.com to learn more about dinosaurs. We watched a clip from “Reading Rainbow” to see real fossils being dug up and studied at Dinosaur National Monument in Utah. Next week we will get a chance to dig for fossils on our own!
Wild About Animals: In our first enrichment cluster meeting we discussed the various classifications that animals fit into. We found that most people in our group have an interest in learning more about various mammals. After sorting animals by their classification we used the computers to explore the characteristics of each animal classification. Next week, we will each choose an animal and begin research to find out that animal's habitat, food and life cycle.
Create a Reading Garden: Let's create a Reading Garden at Laurel Mountain. The garden will be a change of "pace and place" for classrooms to enjoy the outside and find a comfy spot to sit and read. During our enrichment cluster students will be making "flowers" for the garden out of water bottles. We will also be painting the alphabet on rocks and more. Our goal is to help create a cozy atmosphere for all to enjoy.
Amazing Castles: Our castle enrichment cluster talked about what is neat about castles, read a book about castles, and looked at some pictures of shoebox castles kids made a few years ago. Then kids chose from four activities - putting together floor puzzles, building with castle blocks, looking at castle books and making castle drawings. Finally, we started constructing castles using shoe boxes, cardboard rolls and other materials. Kids drew in where they wanted their drawbridge to be and Ms. Sen cut them out for them. Three fifth grade helpers helped with taping and assembling. We were very busy!
Games and Puzzles: The “Games and Puzzles” enrichment cluster first got to know each other's names by throwing a squishy ball to each other. When someone caught the ball they would introduce themselves. The next game we played was, "Guess Who I Am?" Each K and 1 student had the name of an animal taped on their back. They then had to ask each other questions until they were able to guess correctly. Then it was time for Simon Says! Finally, we played Freeze Dance! At the end of the cluster we brainstormed what we would like to do next week. It was agreed that we would have six stations of board games.
Amazing Animals: On Friday, we explored the wonder of reptiles. Cleo the corn snake shared her slither as she moved on the floor, through our hands and over our heads. We learned about the hundreds of ribs in a snake. If one were to break the snake might starve as they help move its food to the stomach. We also met the bearded dragons Snap and Linder. They ran across the floor, bobbed their heads and flicked their tongues. We even saw Snap’s beard go from white to black when he saw his brother Linder. We learned that bearded dragons do this as they protect their territory. All in all, we had an AMAZING time!
Music Cluster: We started “Music Cluster” by warming up our bodies and getting our "brain juices" flowing. We learned that a beat is the pulse of a song. Without it, music would just be jumbled up mess! We practiced marching to the beat of some familiar songs. We then learned that tempo is how fast or slow the music is played. We tried to dance to the beat of the song at various tempos. There was a lot of giggling when we started to get really fast or really slow. After a brief introduction to beat, rhythm, and tempo, we began learning about Classical music and all of the instruments that make up an orchestra. We read Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin and listened to all of the sounds of the instruments named in that book. Mrs. Peacock then asked us if we could name any classical composers. Mrs. Peacock and Ms. Lewis performed a puppet show about the life of Mozart. After we were finished, we made powdered wigs to represent the time when Mozart lived.
Continuing to develop the whole child...
Monday, April 16, 2012
Have you seen this?
A second grade teacher at Laurel Mountain sent this short video to the staff last week. It is about eleven minutes long and totally worth watching. It will make you smile, make you laugh and even tear up a little. It has every aspect of a great story. It will make you happier, so take the eleven minutes and watch.
The video about Caine and his arcade is a perfect illustration of what happens when we allow our children to follow their interests, passions and use their talents. The possibilities are limitless.
I hope you watch and enjoy Caine's story as much as I did.
Continuing to develop the whole child...
The video about Caine and his arcade is a perfect illustration of what happens when we allow our children to follow their interests, passions and use their talents. The possibilities are limitless.
I hope you watch and enjoy Caine's story as much as I did.
Continuing to develop the whole child...
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Kindergarten and First Grade Enrichment Cluster Summaries - Week 3
This past Friday, was our third and final meeting for the first round of our kindergarten and first grade enrichment clusters. This Friday, the students will get to participate in another enrichment cluster of their choice for three more weeks. Here are the summaries from the first round of enrichment clusters.
Vets and Pets - Our honorary veterinarians of Laurel Mountain had a “grrrreat” time during the Vets and Pets cluster! We learned about becoming a veterinarian from Dr. Cassens, a real vet. She shared with us about what vets do, how to become a vet and what types of animals vets care for.
We also had the opportunity to practice some vet skills with our own furry friends. Using stuffed dogs and cats we practiced giving vaccinations to keep our pets healthy. We also practiced wrapping hurt legs, checking heart rates, looking in ears and taking temperatures.
The Vets also had a visit from Lumpi, a therapy dog. Lumpi’s owner taught us about service and therapy animals. We learned how to greet a dog we don’t know. We even practiced teaching dog tricks to each other.
During our three weeks we meet some other fun pets too. We were able to interact and care for Dr. Cassen’s pet skink, our class guinea pig Sebastian and Mrs. Hall’s dog Rosie! Using an interactive chart we graphed everyone's favorite pet and recreated our own graph using paw stamps. Can you guess which animal had the most votes? It was "doggone" close.
Finally we built upon what we learned by creating a pet care book. We researched different types of pets on the computer and in books. We included pictures and information about dogs, cats, rabbits and fish. These hands-on experiences tickled the vets’ interest in pets. We gained new knowledge about careers with animals, service dogs and training pets. It was a “purr-fect” cluster.
Out of This World! - During week one, we explored and discovered all kinds of interesting things about space. We went through four stations with books, games, toys and puzzles to get ourselves into the outer atmosphere!
The second week we constructed rockets and used the air from our lungs to "blast" them out into space. Then we made wooded gliders and a foam space shuttle to test our flying skills!
Our final week we made a rocket using a film canister to hold our fuel. We used water and Alka-Seltzer to power the engine and blast our rockets into the sky! We took extra fuel home to blast off our rockets over the weekend!
Our cluster was truly "out of this world"!
Origami Cluster - In the “Origami Cluster” we learned the basic steps of folding paper to create fun items including 3-D animals, boxes, fortune tellers, boats and a pinwheel. We learned the importance of precise folds, sharp creases and following directions carefully. We practiced problem-solving skills as we checked our folds and corrected mistakes. A great website for step-by-step animated origami directions is http://en.origami-club.com/ and the fortune-teller directions can be found at http://pbskids.org/arthur. We are excited to share our origami creations with others!
Clay Creations - The enrichment cluster started with a video of the coil method of making a pot. The children then used modeling clay to make coil pots. During the second meeting the children learned the method of pinch pots. Then, they made their own. During these two meetings there was much socializing and we also learned about each other’s favorite music. Mrs. Jackson put on Taylor Swift for us to listen to. On the last cluster day, we made baker’s clay and brought it home. Mrs. Jackson hopes the food coloring came off our hands by the weekend! The recipe for the baker’s clay is below. J
· Ingredients: 4 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 1 ¾ cups warm water
· Knead for 5 -10 minutes. Model objects. Bake at 300 degrees for 1-3 hours, or air dry for several days.
Dino Hunters - Kindergarten and first grade students had a DINOmite time in the “Dino Hunters” enrichment cluster over the past three weeks. Students explored and shared their knowledge of dinosaurs. They dug for "fossils" to reconstruct a model and even searched LME's very own preserve to find fossils of plants and animals that were in this area over 100 million years ago!
The Creative Card Making - The “Creative Card Making” enrichment cluster enjoyed creating original greeting cards. We learned several card making techniques such as: stamping, die cuts, layering, “pop out” cards, yarn embellishments, punches and MORE! Our enrichment cluster made many cards for friends and family. On the last day, we made a card making kit. Now we are prepared to make a new card for any upcoming occasion!
Lion Cub Book Club - The Lion Cub Book Club had a very busy three weeks! Each week, we explored the works of a different author including Steven Kellogg, Kevin Henkes, and Margaret & H.A. Rey.
After reading a selected story, we enjoyed a group discussion. During these, we made connections and shared our thoughts.
We also had a crafts activity each time, writing notes and cards and designing hats. We look forward to sharing these with you at the showcase.
Everyone had a great time and enjoyed sharing our love of reading!
Music Cluster - Classical music was playing as the students walked in, to remind them what it sounded like so they could hear the difference between the 2 different styles of music and connect from last week's lesson on Classical Studies.
We told the students we were going to introduce them to a new type of music called jazz. We played a piece, they closed their eyes and visualized what they thought was happening in the song.
They drew a picture of what they thought the jazz piece was about and we discussed the piece of music and how it has been used in movies and on TV.
We learned what jazz music was and the 5 instrument parts used to make up a jazz band. The students each chose an instrument and played along with the lead part to form our own classroom jazz band.
We learned about jive talk and studied the life of Duke Ellington. We then made Duke Ellington Hats. While the students were working on their Duke Ellington top hats, we also watched a short clip of Buddy Rich (one of the best jazz drummers of all time) and Animal (from the Muppets) have a drum battle. It was good for the kids to see the precision and speed and coordination that go into playing drums well.
The next week, Mr. Peacock made a guest appearance at our enrichment cluster in order to teach the students about Rock and Roll. He showed them an electric guitar, an amplifier and a distortion pedal and showed them how they all worked. Students got a chance to strum the guitar while Mr. Peacock changed the chords for them. He then showed them the kick drum and snare drum and talked about how they were made and how they worked. The students were allowed to take turns playing the kick drum and snare drum at the same time. They were encouraged to keep a steady rhythm and work together with their partner. After introducing the students to various instruments, Mr. Peacock did a presentation on The Beatles and their contribution to Rock and Roll Music.
Amazing Animals - We had an AMAZING time in our enrichment cluster. First we explored remarkable reptiles. Cleo the corn snake shared her slither as she moved on the floor, through our hands and over our heads. We learned about the hundreds of ribs in a snake. If one were to break the snake might starve as they help move its food to the stomach. We also met the bearded dragons Snap and Linder. They ran across the floor, bobbed their heads and flicked their tongues. We even saw Snap’s beard go from white to black when he saw his brother Linder. We used sculpty clay and made a replica of our favorite reptile.
Next, we explored brilliant birds. Homer, the African Grey parrot, strutted his stuff as we beat-boxed. He even perched on our arm so we could get a closer look at his bright red tail feathers and grey body. We made a treat for our outdoor feathered friends so they can have tasty seeds in our mini bird feeders.
Finally we enjoyed marvelous mammals. We learned that mammals are warm- blooded, feed their young milk and have hair on their bodies. We saw and held baby rats, a fury hamster and two guinea pigs. We noticed how the mammals were the same and different. We discovered how AMAZING animals really are!
Wild About Animals - In this enrichment cluster we learned about the many classifications animals fall under. We learned characteristics of each classification and chose a class as out "favorite." Once our favorite was chosen we then researched a few animals from that class. We chose one animal to make an artistic representation of. We listed some interesting facts about our animal of choice and then used watercolor paints and step-by-step directions to paint a realistic image of our animal of choice.
Games and Puzzles - The “Games and Puzzles” enrichment cluster had a great time getting to know each other through games. We played paddle ball, beach ball, made tangram pictures, played Simon Says, Who Am I? and lots of board games. We were practicing our skills of being on a team, taking turns and being a good sport, whether we won or lost!
Instantaneous Experiments - We have truly been Junior Scientists these past three weeks! We have created soap volcanoes with peroxide and yeast, lava lamps made from oil and Alka-Seltzer and did a lot of fun stuff with our favorite thing - dry Ice! All of these cool experiments can be done at home with ease and very little cost.
Sports Fan'atics - The “Sports Fan'atics” finished off a great three week enrichment cluster this past Thursday. During the time in our enrichment cluster the teammates played and worked on drills in soccer, volleyball and basketball. It was a lot of fun to watch everyone pick up the sports so quickly. We enjoyed watching them as much as they enjoyed playing the games. A big part of the focus for the enrichment cluster was to be a good sport, teammate and leader. The students had really great input on this and which allowed us to be successful during this enrichment cluster. Great job teammates!
Amazing Castles - In the “Amazing Castles” enrichment cluster we spent three sessions constructing, painting, and adding details to shoebox castles. The students enjoyed engineering their drawbridges to close quickly with a "rope" at another end of their castle. We also read and learned some facts about castles and their architecture.
Create a Reading Garden - The “Create a Reading Garden” enrichment cluster was a big success. Week one, we made water bottle "flowers" to plant in our new garden. Week two, we painted rocks with reading quotes or garden pictures. Week three, we made a lovely wind chime out of plastic drinking glasses. We can't wait for the garden to be finished so we can add our finishing touches. We will have a new place to read outside at school!
Snappy Snapshots - The “Snappy Snapshots” enrichment cluster began with an introduction into photography—why we take pictures, what we take pictures of, and how to take pictures. Students were able to walk around the room with framing mats to practice how they would frame a picture before we learned how to use a digital camera. Full of excitement and anticipation, we ventured to the kindergarten and 1st grade playground to take our very own pictures! During the second and third weeks, we learned how to "zoom in" on subjects and to think about the background as we took pictures. We also learned how to download the pictures onto the computer and we picked the ones that we wanted to put in our portfolios! We hope to see you at the Showcase on May 3rd!
Vets and Pets - Our honorary veterinarians of Laurel Mountain had a “grrrreat” time during the Vets and Pets cluster! We learned about becoming a veterinarian from Dr. Cassens, a real vet. She shared with us about what vets do, how to become a vet and what types of animals vets care for.
We also had the opportunity to practice some vet skills with our own furry friends. Using stuffed dogs and cats we practiced giving vaccinations to keep our pets healthy. We also practiced wrapping hurt legs, checking heart rates, looking in ears and taking temperatures.
The Vets also had a visit from Lumpi, a therapy dog. Lumpi’s owner taught us about service and therapy animals. We learned how to greet a dog we don’t know. We even practiced teaching dog tricks to each other.
During our three weeks we meet some other fun pets too. We were able to interact and care for Dr. Cassen’s pet skink, our class guinea pig Sebastian and Mrs. Hall’s dog Rosie! Using an interactive chart we graphed everyone's favorite pet and recreated our own graph using paw stamps. Can you guess which animal had the most votes? It was "doggone" close.
Finally we built upon what we learned by creating a pet care book. We researched different types of pets on the computer and in books. We included pictures and information about dogs, cats, rabbits and fish. These hands-on experiences tickled the vets’ interest in pets. We gained new knowledge about careers with animals, service dogs and training pets. It was a “purr-fect” cluster.
Out of This World! - During week one, we explored and discovered all kinds of interesting things about space. We went through four stations with books, games, toys and puzzles to get ourselves into the outer atmosphere!
The second week we constructed rockets and used the air from our lungs to "blast" them out into space. Then we made wooded gliders and a foam space shuttle to test our flying skills!
Our final week we made a rocket using a film canister to hold our fuel. We used water and Alka-Seltzer to power the engine and blast our rockets into the sky! We took extra fuel home to blast off our rockets over the weekend!
Our cluster was truly "out of this world"!
Origami Cluster - In the “Origami Cluster” we learned the basic steps of folding paper to create fun items including 3-D animals, boxes, fortune tellers, boats and a pinwheel. We learned the importance of precise folds, sharp creases and following directions carefully. We practiced problem-solving skills as we checked our folds and corrected mistakes. A great website for step-by-step animated origami directions is http://en.origami-club.com/ and the fortune-teller directions can be found at http://pbskids.org/arthur. We are excited to share our origami creations with others!
Clay Creations - The enrichment cluster started with a video of the coil method of making a pot. The children then used modeling clay to make coil pots. During the second meeting the children learned the method of pinch pots. Then, they made their own. During these two meetings there was much socializing and we also learned about each other’s favorite music. Mrs. Jackson put on Taylor Swift for us to listen to. On the last cluster day, we made baker’s clay and brought it home. Mrs. Jackson hopes the food coloring came off our hands by the weekend! The recipe for the baker’s clay is below. J
· Ingredients: 4 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 1 ¾ cups warm water
· Knead for 5 -10 minutes. Model objects. Bake at 300 degrees for 1-3 hours, or air dry for several days.
Dino Hunters - Kindergarten and first grade students had a DINOmite time in the “Dino Hunters” enrichment cluster over the past three weeks. Students explored and shared their knowledge of dinosaurs. They dug for "fossils" to reconstruct a model and even searched LME's very own preserve to find fossils of plants and animals that were in this area over 100 million years ago!
The Creative Card Making - The “Creative Card Making” enrichment cluster enjoyed creating original greeting cards. We learned several card making techniques such as: stamping, die cuts, layering, “pop out” cards, yarn embellishments, punches and MORE! Our enrichment cluster made many cards for friends and family. On the last day, we made a card making kit. Now we are prepared to make a new card for any upcoming occasion!
Lion Cub Book Club - The Lion Cub Book Club had a very busy three weeks! Each week, we explored the works of a different author including Steven Kellogg, Kevin Henkes, and Margaret & H.A. Rey.
After reading a selected story, we enjoyed a group discussion. During these, we made connections and shared our thoughts.
We also had a crafts activity each time, writing notes and cards and designing hats. We look forward to sharing these with you at the showcase.
Everyone had a great time and enjoyed sharing our love of reading!
Music Cluster - Classical music was playing as the students walked in, to remind them what it sounded like so they could hear the difference between the 2 different styles of music and connect from last week's lesson on Classical Studies.
We told the students we were going to introduce them to a new type of music called jazz. We played a piece, they closed their eyes and visualized what they thought was happening in the song.
They drew a picture of what they thought the jazz piece was about and we discussed the piece of music and how it has been used in movies and on TV.
We learned what jazz music was and the 5 instrument parts used to make up a jazz band. The students each chose an instrument and played along with the lead part to form our own classroom jazz band.
We learned about jive talk and studied the life of Duke Ellington. We then made Duke Ellington Hats. While the students were working on their Duke Ellington top hats, we also watched a short clip of Buddy Rich (one of the best jazz drummers of all time) and Animal (from the Muppets) have a drum battle. It was good for the kids to see the precision and speed and coordination that go into playing drums well.
The next week, Mr. Peacock made a guest appearance at our enrichment cluster in order to teach the students about Rock and Roll. He showed them an electric guitar, an amplifier and a distortion pedal and showed them how they all worked. Students got a chance to strum the guitar while Mr. Peacock changed the chords for them. He then showed them the kick drum and snare drum and talked about how they were made and how they worked. The students were allowed to take turns playing the kick drum and snare drum at the same time. They were encouraged to keep a steady rhythm and work together with their partner. After introducing the students to various instruments, Mr. Peacock did a presentation on The Beatles and their contribution to Rock and Roll Music.
Amazing Animals - We had an AMAZING time in our enrichment cluster. First we explored remarkable reptiles. Cleo the corn snake shared her slither as she moved on the floor, through our hands and over our heads. We learned about the hundreds of ribs in a snake. If one were to break the snake might starve as they help move its food to the stomach. We also met the bearded dragons Snap and Linder. They ran across the floor, bobbed their heads and flicked their tongues. We even saw Snap’s beard go from white to black when he saw his brother Linder. We used sculpty clay and made a replica of our favorite reptile.
Next, we explored brilliant birds. Homer, the African Grey parrot, strutted his stuff as we beat-boxed. He even perched on our arm so we could get a closer look at his bright red tail feathers and grey body. We made a treat for our outdoor feathered friends so they can have tasty seeds in our mini bird feeders.
Finally we enjoyed marvelous mammals. We learned that mammals are warm- blooded, feed their young milk and have hair on their bodies. We saw and held baby rats, a fury hamster and two guinea pigs. We noticed how the mammals were the same and different. We discovered how AMAZING animals really are!
Games and Puzzles - The “Games and Puzzles” enrichment cluster had a great time getting to know each other through games. We played paddle ball, beach ball, made tangram pictures, played Simon Says, Who Am I? and lots of board games. We were practicing our skills of being on a team, taking turns and being a good sport, whether we won or lost!
Instantaneous Experiments - We have truly been Junior Scientists these past three weeks! We have created soap volcanoes with peroxide and yeast, lava lamps made from oil and Alka-Seltzer and did a lot of fun stuff with our favorite thing - dry Ice! All of these cool experiments can be done at home with ease and very little cost.
Sports Fan'atics - The “Sports Fan'atics” finished off a great three week enrichment cluster this past Thursday. During the time in our enrichment cluster the teammates played and worked on drills in soccer, volleyball and basketball. It was a lot of fun to watch everyone pick up the sports so quickly. We enjoyed watching them as much as they enjoyed playing the games. A big part of the focus for the enrichment cluster was to be a good sport, teammate and leader. The students had really great input on this and which allowed us to be successful during this enrichment cluster. Great job teammates!
Amazing Castles - In the “Amazing Castles” enrichment cluster we spent three sessions constructing, painting, and adding details to shoebox castles. The students enjoyed engineering their drawbridges to close quickly with a "rope" at another end of their castle. We also read and learned some facts about castles and their architecture.
Create a Reading Garden - The “Create a Reading Garden” enrichment cluster was a big success. Week one, we made water bottle "flowers" to plant in our new garden. Week two, we painted rocks with reading quotes or garden pictures. Week three, we made a lovely wind chime out of plastic drinking glasses. We can't wait for the garden to be finished so we can add our finishing touches. We will have a new place to read outside at school!
Snappy Snapshots - The “Snappy Snapshots” enrichment cluster began with an introduction into photography—why we take pictures, what we take pictures of, and how to take pictures. Students were able to walk around the room with framing mats to practice how they would frame a picture before we learned how to use a digital camera. Full of excitement and anticipation, we ventured to the kindergarten and 1st grade playground to take our very own pictures! During the second and third weeks, we learned how to "zoom in" on subjects and to think about the background as we took pictures. We also learned how to download the pictures onto the computer and we picked the ones that we wanted to put in our portfolios! We hope to see you at the Showcase on May 3rd!
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