S.T.E.M. Stations

S.T.E.M. Stations

Hi parents! Kindergarteners worked in S.T.E.M. stations today! (S-science, T-technology, E-engineering, M-mathematics) Check out, all that in each station. 

Station #1- Tree investigation

In this station we worked as scientist to draw what we observed. We have been studying trees, and today we got to observe with hand lenses a real evergreen tree. We all were able to touch the tree, look at the branches where the needles (leaves) had fallen out, as well as tape real needles to our paper. As we were drawing what we saw we used our ABCD's of drawing. (A-accurate, B-big, C-colorful, D-detailed). Once we were finished drawing we wrote sentences about what we have learned about evergreen trees. (Here is where the idea stemmed from!)

Station #2- Sphero Ornament Painting

In this station we worked on our coding skills! We were able to program the Sphero to move in the directions that we were drawing. Some of us drew detailed pictures, some of us made the Sphero go back and forth and some of us tried to draw lines like a "map" for the Sphero. 

Station #3- Osmo Coding

In this station, we were able to work with a partner to guide the "snowman" through the forest. We had to use our directionality as well as our number sense. We had to assess what steps needed to be taken to get the fruit and prizes as well as what steps need to be taken to avoid set obstacles. 

 

Station #4- Code-A-Pillar

In this station, we had to program the Code-A-Pillar to follow the "trail" the gingerbread man left.

Station #5- Dot and Dash Challenge

In this station, we were able to go through the engineering design process to build a sleigh! Then we used Dash to see if our sleigh would work. If it worked we got to drive our sleigh around! If it did not work, we went back to change our design so that it would work! 

Station #6- I Spy

In this station we worked on finding similar Christmas trees. We then wrote down how many of each tree we found and made a graph out of our information! (Here is where we found the print off pages)

Kindergarten News: December 12th - December 16th

What we’re      

Workin’ on this week..

Language Arts / Social Studies

Next week in Language Arts we will continue our Author / Illustrator study on Jan Brett!  We are having fun learning about her and her stories in our rotations!  We will also review our 1^st 20 Word Wall Words and do a little assessment to see how many we know! Look for this to come home!  Book bags and reading homework will resume after the winter holidays as we are assessing the students to check for progress and understanding!  Thanks so much!  P.S.  If you have any Jan Brett books at home that your child would like to bring in to share with the class feel free to send them in! We can read them and return them back to you! Thanks!

Math

Next week we will continue working on learning about personal financial literacy! We will continue learning all about needs vs. wants, goods and services, earning money, saving money and receiving money as a gift. 

We will also be assessing learners for report cards that will be coming home the week after we get back from our winter holiday. Here are the things that each learner will be tested on. Please ask your child at home if they know each of the items and practice with them on the things that they are unsure of. :) 
*Reads, writes and represents numbers to 20
*Collect, sort and organize data into 3 groups
*Counts backwards from 20
*Instantly recognizes groups of objects 
 *Counts by 1's to at least 50 
*Counts by 10's to at least 50
*State or represent the number before and after a given number up to 20
*Compose and decompose (using a number bond) numbers up to 10
*Identify coins 
*Identify how to earn money as an income
*State the differences between earning money and receiving it as a gift
*List skills needed for a job
*Distinguish between needs and wants

Extending your Learning at Home:

Thank you to those who have sent in a video counting in a different language! We hope to get more videos in!! Click on the hotspot circle links on the map below! 

 

If you would still like to participate in our counting challenge, have your mom or dad tape you and send it to either Mrs. McKinney or Mrs. Brehm. Please include the region of where your language is from, as we are making a link to that place in the world!
***Example: Hi my name is _______. I am going to count to 10 in Chinese. (Then you would count slowly so others will be able to learn from you!)
We cannot wait to get in the videos, put them on our world map and learn from you!

Science

We will continue our study on trees. We will be looking at all the parts of a tree and how they differ from other plants, doing leaf rubbings and learning the difference between evergreen and deciduous

*Trees are different from most other plants because they are the only plant with bark. 

Important Dates... 

December 15th- Winter Party ( @ 2:00)
December 16th- Early Release! (@12:50)
Decmber 19th- January 4th- Winter Break (no school)
January 6th- Spirit Rally (@ 8:15)
January 16th- No school- Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Texans of the week!
k1- Ismail
k2- Eli
k3- Whitley
k4- William

Early Release @ 12:50 on 12/16

Parents, please be sure that you have made arrangements to pick your child up from school on Friday, December 16th at 12:50. This is an early release day, so it is very important that you either make arrangements for someone to pick your child up. Thank you in advance for being on time! 

Calling all cooks!! 

Art From the Sky with Daniel Dancer

Thank you again to everyone who was able to help us with sending your child in a white tshirt! We loved this project! Kindergarteners are surrounding the heart and at the tip of Texas! If you have time, please check out the video by clicking on the link below! It is truly amazing how much went into making this awesome outcome! We loved getting to see so many familar faces in the video!

Art from the sky- TCE

The Giving Tree

When: November 30th-December 15th

Where: Place new, unwrapped toys under the Christmas Tree by the front office

What: Town Center first graders are collecting new, unwrapped toys for children in need. We will be donating the toys to the Lions Club. When you place your toy under the Christmas Tree, please sign your name on an ornament and hang it on the tree!

Thanks so much!!

1^st grade

Class Winter Party

Class Winter parties are on December 15th at 2:00. More information will be coming home soon from your class room moms! Everyone is welcome to come and enjoy the fun activities that are planned for the afternoon!