Good evening blogging world! You'd think with no followers or traffic, I'd stop writing these silly posts...but it's so much fun! HA! This is my "adult" time. I LOVE being a Mommy, but I went to school to be a teacher and I truly enjoy that part of my life as well. Actually, I only have one more week on maternity leave and then it's back to the grind. I am actually looking forward to my return. I've been in every weekend and even during the week to get things ready so I figure...why not actually be there?! Oh well! I have enjoyed my time at home with my kiddos very much.
Anywho...I've been trying to look ahead and get some things around for when I will be the teacher again! The first two weeks I'm back, we're doing our apple unit. I'm SO excited that I haven't missed this part of the school year. One of the things we tried new last year was the apple/germ experiment. You probably do this activity...I found it online somewhere.
Here's a recap for this yucky experiment. Cut an apple in half. Then, take one half and let each of your students touch it with their hands. After students finish touching the first half of the apple, have every student wash their hands with warm water and soap. Pass the second half of the apple around and have students touch it with their clean hands. Put each apple half in a Ziploc bag. You should label each bag...we used "Clean :)" and "Dirty :(" **After a few days in the experiment, labels won't be necessary though!** It is actually really gross to see what the contaminated apple looks like at the end. It really makes the students think twice about washing their hands thoroughly!
Last year, I created a science journal to accompany this experiment. I remember I did it the day of our experiment so it wasn't anything great. Tonight, I revamped it with a new font and a cute border. Click here to check it out (and download it if you're out there!). My husband is taking me out for my birthday (27 on Monday!) this weekend...so who knows when I'll be back. (maybe tomorrow!?) Have a wonderful weekend!
Well today marks the end of our first week in Kindergarten! Here's the twist...I wasn't there! I am still on maternity so I've been enjoying my babies at home. It has been an interesting experience though not to be with my Kinder kiddos this week. My sub is doing a great job, but there are just so many things that happen that first week that you can't put into a lesson plan. Such is life!
I've heard many positive things about the first week though...and have been in to my classroom a few times (at night) to look things over. I just can't help it! Here are some highlights from our first week!
- We learned the Red Song and completed the Frog Street crayon book. Click here to see the song on video! We also completed the Red strip book found at Musings of Me! She has created wonderful little books for all of the colors. It's a great activity to work on writing and coloring...especially at the beginning of the year! Click here to visit her blog for the free downloads!
- The students made mosaic Rainbow Names by Deanna Jump...they turned out SO WELL! I've got my largest group yet this year with 24 students so I was super nervous about leaving this project for my sub...simply because I had never done it before! She did a fantastic job and they look great. I'm thinking I'll go in this weekend and hang them from the ceiling for a fun surprise on Tuesday.
- We kicked off our Science unit with the Coke and Mentos experiement. This was (again) inspired by Deanna Jump! Love her! The kids discussed the science signs from her FREE download "What do Scientists Do?" Click here to go over and get your copy of Deanna's awesome resource.
- We also did several name game activities on the Smartboard. Check out Peace, Love, and Kindergarten for their great resource on TPT! Only $3! I love Willoughby Wallaby Woo!
Well nap time is over...so blogging time is over too! Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
