Volcanoes!

The kids LOVED learning about and making a volcano in Kindergarten!  First, they needed to learn why there are volcanoes and how volcanoes are formed.  They learned the different types of volcanoes and the different parts of a volcano.  With information in hand, the K-kids began constructing a volcano.  They helped make the salt dough and formed the dough around the "central vent" (a water bottle).  They helped make the rounded slope and left the hole open in the top.  As a class, the K-kids decided the volcano would be on an island with houses around the volcano.  Together they painted the volcano, the ocean around the island, and made houses, people, swing sets, and other creative items to place around the volcano.  On Friday, we put in the baking soda, counted down from five, and added the vinegar to cause the chemical reaction and "eruption!"


A big thank you to Ben's family for buying three really cool fossils/rocks to compliment our unit!  The kids loved looking at the trilobite and fish fossil.  They are investigating the fossil under the magnifying glass and admiring the old fossils.  We are excited to begin our bubble rock next week.  The bubble rock is a rock that reacts to vinegar and crystals form.  The kids will help keep an observation journal of the changes.

The Kindergarten Kids reviewed time and were introduced to telling time on the half hour.  They also started number scrolls and were encouraged to write numbers on an 100 chart.  Many kids chose to write and count much higher to 100 and are still working on their number scrolls and are over 1000!  The K-Kids also learned how to write symbolic movement symbols and read the movement symbols.  Next week, they will make their own patterns and see if their friends can read the patterns!

The K-kids also constructed construction paper volcanoes and wrote facts on them.  During one Writer's Workshop this week, the K-kids wrote fiction and non-fiction books about volcanoes.  It was a lot of fun to read their stories about volcanoes in Pompeii, Hawaii, and fictional places!

Next week we will begin to learn about dinosaurs!  It will be a perfect transition from rocks and volcanoes and equally as interesting for the kids :)