Kindergarten Kindergarten

Rock and Roll: A Kindergarten Science Unit on Rocks and Soil

My students' fascination with rocks is evident from the first day of school, when they start presenting me with the pebbles they collect out on the playground. These are no ordinary pebbles--they are treasures! Soon, their cubbies are full of these "treasures" and I find little rocks stowed away all over the room. 

You can download all of the free printables for my Kindergarten Rocks and Soil Unit here:

Download Kindergarten Rock Unit

I introduce this unit by reading a simple and sweet book about rocks:

If You Find a Rock by Peggy Christian

Then I present the kids with my own rock collection. Some of these rocks are just everyday, ordinary rocks that I've picked up in my yard or alongside the road. Some are special rocks I've either purchased or inherited--pieces of crystals, fools gold, pumice, volcanic glass, etc. I am also a sucker for those tourist traps alongside the highway that let you purchase polished rocks by the scoopful. 

I let the kids explore--touch, feel, use hand lenses, sort, and just play with the rocks. Then I send a letter home to families asking the kids to bring in one or two (which usually ends up being 20) rocks from home. Some kids bring in very fancy crystals or brightly colored minerals. Others bring in dirty chunks of limestone. Either way, they think their rock is the most priceless treasure in the world!

After the kids have explored for a while, they fill out rock reports on their rocks and glue them into their science journals. (They also like to do reports on their friends' rocks, as well--so they usually end up with several reports in their journals).

We put all of the rocks together on a shelf and create a Rock Museum. The museum stays up throughout the unit. I leave some hand lenses out and the kids will go explore in the museum whenever they have some free time.

By this time, I have already read several books on rocks. One of my favorites is Let's Go Rock Collecting by Roma Gans. It's simple enough for the kids to understand, but has a lot of good science, as well.

 

Our kindergartners are not required to know the different kinds of rocks--as in igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic. If it's in a book and simple enough for the kids to understand, I'll present the information--but I do not dwell on it.

Here is a page we complete for our science journals--

Here is a picture of our Kindergarten Rock museum.

The kids colored the paper rocks and wrote rock facts (from books) on them.

In this picture, you can see my fancy geode, which I stole from my brother. I hope he doesn't read this blog!

Another fun activity we do is to see if rocks float or sink. I choose 6 rocks and label them with numbers. I make sure the rocks are different sizes, shapes and colors. Most importantly, I make sure I have a piece of pumice. The kids predict whether or not the rocks will float or sink (and they usually have enough of an understanding of the concept to correctly predict that they will sink). 

I save the pumice for last. Because the other five rocks have sunk, most kids predict that this one will, as well. They are very surprised when it floats!

You can see in this picture that the other 2 rocks have sunk, but the pumice is floating on top. 

Give the kids a piece of pumice to explore and see what they notice about it. How is it different from the other rocks? Hopefully, they will notice that it has lots of holes. Pumice is formed by volcanoes and the holes are little gas bubbles. You can decide at this point how much of a discussion you want to have about buoyancy and density and why things float (the mass of the water displaced is greater than the mass of the object). It's hard for even me to wrap my mind around! But they can understand that rocks are different!

Warning--if pumice gets soaked with water enough, it will sink. Which will spoil the point you are trying to make. Spoken from experience! Make sure your pumice is very dry when you begin.

Our kindergartners are required to know how we use rocks and soil in everyday life. So we take a walk around the school and campus to look for things made of rock. The kids are very literal and usually only point out things that are very obviously made from rock (like--say--rocks). 

We go back to the room and make a list (usually very short at this point). Then I show a PowerPoint that shows the different ways rocks can be used. 

  Download What Do We Use Rocks For

We add to the list we have started and the kids record the ways we can use rocks in their science journals.

 

After we have explored rocks for a while, we head outside to explore dirt. Do not attempt this activity with a new French manicure. Again--spoken from experience.

We take scoops and shovels and buckets outside and head for a nice, dirty spot. And we dig! We have these nifty sifters that came in one of our science kits--they are different sizes and will sift the dirt into smaller and smaller pieces. 

We scoop and we shake...

We shake and we scoop...

We look with our hand lenses...

We find fossils...

and seeds...

and bugs (but thankfully, no snakes!)

The kids record their findings in their science journals.

And then we bring some dirt in for a more formal investigation the next day. We methodically use the sifters and divide the particles into different bowls according to their sizes. When we're done, the kids can clearly see that soil is made up of tiny, little rocks. The kids record their findings in their science journals. 

There are a couple of great books I like to read about dirt and soil...

Jump Into Science: Dirt by Steve "The Dirtmeister" Tomecek

Dirt: The Scoop on Soil by Natalie M. Rosinski

We make a big poster listing the different things in soil--the kids LOVE that there's worm poop and animal poop in soil. Poop...Poop...Poop. Why do they love bathroom humor so much?

They record what they've learned in their science journals. Mostly, they've learned that soil contains worm poop.

But we also talk about how soil is essential to life. Without soil, we'd have no plants. Without plants, we'd have no fruits or vegetables. Animals would have no food to eat. So people would have no food to eat. Which brings us to their second favorite subject (after bathroom humor)...death. Ahhh....kindergarten.

The next day, we explore sand. I give the kids a tray full of sand and a hand lens and let them explore.

They record what they see in their science journals (tiny little rocks). I got the awesome poem off of Chalk Talk. We actually glue sand in our journal by spreading a little white glue on, dumping on some sand, shaking off the excess and letting it dry overnight.

Finally, I do a fun fossil activity. Fossils are not actually in our standards, but we live in Texas, and we have fossils everywhere. As a matter of fact, we have them all over our playground (especially these little shell fossils--my kids can find 15 or 20 of them a day!)

I read the book

Fossils Tell of Long Ago by Aliki.

I gather up objects like small shells, plastic bugs, plastic dinosaurs (this one has toes which make a great fossil) and sturdy, waxy leaves. I like to use Model Magic (which is pricey--but use a 50% off coupon at Michael's and it's not so bad). This year, I found this tan/peachy color, which was perfect (I guess it's actually called "Bisque." Fancy.)

I give each kid a small ball of clay and they gently press the object of their choice down to make an instant fossil! 

I make them wait a full day before they take them home--otherwise, their fossil gets smashed. They don't like to wait, but I remind them that real fossils takes thousands and thousands of years to form. They can wait a day!

Long after we have moved on from rocks and soil, my kids are still bringing in rocks that they find! 

I hope you have as much fun teaching this unit as I do!

Kindergarten Teachers ROCK!

Reality Check...

For those of you that think I am a super-organized, perfect teacher that has it all together all of the time (my teamates would crack up at that thought), take a look at a picture of my teacher table...taken 5 minutes ago. 

Those are live ladybugs sitting on top of conference papers on top of our all-about books on top of science journals waiting to be graded. I think my badge is on there somewhere. Don't know for sure. Haven't seen it in a few hours. It's been one of those days weeks. 

I will not go home until it is cleaned off. I will not go home until it is cleaned off. I will not go home until it is cleaned off. ..

Ms. Warner...I think there's a snake in my cubby...

This is what one of my little boys said to me on Friday as we were packing up to go home. Not panicked, not excited...just very mellow... "Ms. Warner, I think there's a snake in my cubby."

Me: Very funny, J, now get packed up. We're running late.

J: No seriously, it's really a snake.

Me: J--it's not a snake. It's a string...or a stick...or some other random thing you've brought in from the playground.

Then 6 other kids jump up to see the "snake" and all start squealing... "A snake! A snake!" So I run next door (without stopping to look) and scream to my neighbor..."There's a snake in J's cubby!"

Brave Neighbor Teacher: Ha, Ha. Tell your kids that it's a little late for an April Fool's joke.

Me: No...I think there is. Please come look.

Brave Neighbor Teacher: Fine...I'll be the Super Hero Teacher. So Brave Neighbor Teacher walks in with confidence, takes one look and screams like a 5 year-old "Ahhhh.....a snake!" So much for the "Super Hero."

Finally, tiny, little sweet Ms. C comes in and rescues us all from the big bad snake by carrying it down to the office. In my defense, she said it was really much bigger when it uncoiled and started squirming. So a tiny little snake had me abandoning my poor defenseless children and running for the hills. I'm a terrible teacher! And I will never live this down (Yes, KE, I'm talking about YOU.)

Sight Word Practice Pages

Here are some packets I made for my kindergarten class this year to practice reading and writing their sight words.

Download Week 1_look at the my see

Download Week 2_the is it my can

Download Week 3_he she is can said

Download Week 4_we like to go went

Download Week 5_on in are you am

On the first page, they read the sentences and color the sight words different colors (I color the boxes beforehand so they will know what colors to use).

On the second page, they rainbow write the words to practice spelling.

On the third page, they cut and paste the letters to make the words.

The next pages are my favorites. They are flashcards that they can play games with (like Memory) or they can build sentences with the cards. The cards in each packet build on each other from week to week, so it's important that the kids do not lose them! (For example, you can combine words from packets 1 and 2 to make new sentences).

The last page is a page to practice writing sentences.

Even though the packets are labeled week 1 and week 2, etc., I do not necessarily use them that way. I do not give a child a new packet until she/he has mastered the previous one.

These are the first 5 packets, but I will post more soon.

I hope you can use these in your own classroom.

Enjoy! 

 

Random Kindergarten Teacher Tip #1

What do you do when one of your kids comes to you with shoelaces tied in a hundred little knots that you cannot undo? And you're tired of breaking nails trying to?

You get out the Jaws of Life...otherwise known as a staple remover. Works like a charm!

A Science Mini-Unit: Living and Non-Living

This is a quick little unit that teaches children about living and non-living things. I find that most kindergartners can almost always tell you what things are living and what things are non-living, but they cannot tell you why. And there are definitely some tricky ones--for example, most of my kids think that a tree is non-living.

And then there is always the discussion of non-living versus dead. They will sometimes say things like, "The rock is dead." So I explain that in order to be "dead," something had to be alive first. And then, most likely, one of you little angels will shout out, "My grandpa is dead." Don't you just love kindergarten!

Even after we have completed this unit, we continue to discuss living and non-living things and the differences between them. Every time we start a new unit on animals, plants, insects or even rocks--we ask: Are they living or non-living? How do you know?

Day 1

I start this mini-unit by showing the Is it Living? powerpoint.

Download Is it living

It's just a bunch of pictures--of both living and non-living things. I simply show the pictures and ask the kids if each object is living or non-living. I do not correct them right away. I just let them discuss their answers. The kids can pretty easily tell you which ones are living and which are not, but there are a few tricky ones (i.e. the rock and the tree). It's fun to listen to the reasoning behind their answers--the debate can become quite heated at times!

Stop at the slide with the stop sign! Lead your students in a discussion with the following questions:

How can you tell if something is living or non-living?

What are some things that all living things have in common?

Resist the urge to correct any misconceptions they have. I know it's hard, but you can do it! Write down all of their ideas on a big chart. This is the list my class made this year. Yours may be different.

Now, choose an object that all of the kids can agree is absolutely, without a doubt, living--like a puppy! Go through each of the ideas on the chart. If it is true for the puppy, put a check. If it is not true, cross it out:

It has a face. Check! It grows. Check! It can move. Check! It talks. No! Cross it out. Now we know this is not true for all living things. It has a heart. Check! They have ears. Check! They have hands. Debatable...depends on whether or not your definition of hands includes paws!

Now choose another living thing, but this time, choose an object you know will get a few more misconceptions crossed off that list. Butterfly got They have ears crossed off. A sunflower got It has a face and It has a heart crossed off. Keep going until you have all of the misconceptions crossed off and you will have the beginnings of a list of what all living things have in common.

Note: Your kids will most likely want to cross off It can move or It can breathe (or a few others) for a plant or a tree. After all, they do not obviously move or breathe. So you will probably have to have a quick discussion about how plants move and breathe at this point.

Your class will probably not think of all the things living things have in common. You can see we only had It grows and It can move. Finish the rest of the Is it Living PowerPoint. Now you can add the other criteria to your list.

Day 2

Time for some reading. My favorite books about living/non-living things are:

Are You Living? A Song About Living and Non-Living Things by Laura Purdie Salas

What’s Alive? By Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

As you read the books, make an anchor chart listing all of the things living things have in common.

You can also go back and discuss the Challenge questions in the Is it Living PowerPoint. Are the the seeds, egg and an apple living or non-living? Get the students to justify their answers based on the things they learned. Here are my imperfect, but kindergarten appropriate answers:

Seeds are living if they are still viable--or if they can still grow into living things. If they are roasted or in your tummy, they are probably no longer living. The egg is living if it has a baby bird inside. Mommy birds have to take care off eggs that have baby birds inside. The eggs that are in your grocery store do not have baby birds inside and are no longer living. The apple is living if it is still attached to the tree and can still grow and change.

You can also have the kids do a living/non-living sort in their science journals.

Download Living_Non-Living Sort

Day 3

Make a chart like the one pictured below with all of the characteristics of living things across the top. Choose different objects and go through each of the characteristics for each one. Then have the kids determine whether that object is living or not.

We keep this chart up throughout the week and add to it whenever we have a few extra minutes.

Finally, have the students pick one (or more) objects and answer the questions on a recording sheet in their science journals. You can print pictures for them, have them cut pictures from a magazine or draw pictures.

Download Is it Living Recording Sheet

Bonus

 

Here are some cards you can have the kids sort into living and non-living groups (whole-group or as a center activity).

Download Living-NonLiving Flashcards

Have Fun!

One More 3-D Shape Anchor Chart (or Woops! I forgot to show you this...)

Here is the anchor chart I made with my kindergarten class after we did the 3-D Shape movement activity here: 3-D Shape Problem Solving. You can see some of the language my kids used when discussing whether or not 3D shapes could roll, slide or stack and how it relates to the attributes of those shapes.

Better late than never, right?

Shapes...Shapes...Everywhere!

Here's a quick PowerPoint I made for 3-D shapes. I use it as a warm-up by showing a few slides per day and having the kids discuss what shapes they see. Super easy!

You can download the slideshow here: Download Shapes, Shapes, Everywhere!

Enjoy!

Wanna follow me?

Pinterest is, like, the best thing EVER! Here is a link to my boards, if you would like to check them out. Like everything else in my life, I need to organize them better! I'll get to it. I have several education-related boards, and a lot of other artsy-crafty-foody type boards.

Wanna Pin me? Please feel free to pin anything from my blog! Thanks!

Math Problem-Solving: 3-D Shapes

So here are some 3-D Shape Problems. Make sure you do lots of exploring with 3-D shapes before you even think about doing these problems! (Click here for ideas). Some of these problems are very challenging. You know your class best! You determine which problems are appropriate and which ones aren't. (And you can always do them whole-group. Just make sure the kids are doing the thinking and you're not telling them how to solve it!)  

Day 1

This is a fun activity that really encourages kids to think about the attributes of 3-D shapes.It also integrates science and makes kids think about how the shape of an object affects how it moves.

It's super easy. Just prop up a flat surface (we used dry erase boards), give the kids a variety of 3-D shapes and let them go!

I encourage the kids to make predictions and explain their thinking before they roll, slide or stack. For example, "I think the sphere will roll because it is round all over," or "I think the cube will slide but not roll because all of its sides are flat."

I also encourage the kids to try all sides of a shape out--i.e. a cylinder will roll on its sides, but slides on its ends. You can stack a cone on top of another shape, but because it has a point on top, you cannot stack another shape on top of it (although they sure try!)

After the kids have had lots of time to explore, they fill out a recording sheet for their journal. 

You can download the recording sheet here: Download 3D Shape Movement

Then we discuss! What different attributes helped or stopped the shapes from rolling/sliding/stacking? Would it be a good idea to make a car with cone-shaped wheels? What about a sphere-shaped soccer ball?

Day 2

Make sure you give kids actual shapes to manipulate when solving these problems. This one is pretty straight forward...

Day 3

This one is 2-steps...count and then compare.

Day 4

This one is fun...there could be multiple answers. A cube and a cylinder? Or a pyramid, a cylinder and a cone?

I love this one...can you read it? SALANDR (cylinder) AN (and) RAGELR RAZAM (rectangular prism...I think!).

Day 5

This one is very challenging. Again...it has more than one possible answer. Is it a cube and a cone? Or a pyramid and a cylinder?

 
Have fun!