Today we began working on our sustainability inquiry by exploring children's books on various topics. We were very fortunate to have many kindergarten-leveled texts provided through grants from donorschoose.org and Boundless Readers. Students explored book bins filled with texts related to natural resources, energy, water, recycling, reusing, and garbage. Each student used sticky notes to record what they were learning and wondering about the environment. Based on the book Reality Checks by Tony Stead, students began by recording some information that they think they know about the environment. Throughout the unit, students will be moving sticky notes from What I Think I Know to either a page labeled, Yes, I Was Right! or a page labeled Misconceptions. This will allow our young environmentalists to begin to look for confirmation of what they know, and will help them to make sense of new information that doesn't align to what they already "knew." Students will also be recording new information on a page labeled New Learning and will be writing down new questions on a page labeled Wonders. For the next several weeks, we will be working to build background knowledge about the environment, which will in turn allow students to ask more questions. After we have built our background knowledge about the environment, each student will be selecting a sustainability topic for further exploration.
|
Mrs. McGrane
I love teaching kindergarten literacy at STEM! It is amazing to be a part of the reading and writing growth of a kindergarten student. You get to see kids move from knowing some letters and sounds to being enthusiastic readers and young authors. Archives
March 2016
Categories |