Describing Properties Freebie!

Hey Science Friends,

As part of our Science standards we describe properties of objects. Setting up this investigation can really be pretty simple. You do not need any expensive materials and you can keep this investigation going all year long. After some guided practice and a little gradual release, you will find that this can be one of the best independent investigations to have around. What I love is that a simple nature walk can provide enough materials for several investigations. Add in a hand lens and your kids will begin to discover their inner scientist.

After the investigation and inventory, your scientists will be ready to report their findings to the class. You can even have fun with this for Science Show and Tell! A perfect way for them to have some fun at home finding the perfect object to bring in and investigate. To set this up for independent investigations all you need is a box, hand lens, clipboard, copies of the inventory and objects. It just can't get easier than that!

Grab Your Copy Here!

Love ROCKS!



Hey Science Friends,

We are gearing up for some investigations with rocks. Everybody needs a rock, right? Well this year we are diving right in to rocks so close to Valentine's day and although these two seem like an unlikely pair, we have made a little connection.

As I was planning for my classroom rock investigations, I was surprised to discover a few new resources to spice this Science focus up a bit. As I was searching on the Internet I discovered this new to me book and it caught my eye. I am patiently waiting for this little gem to arrive.

Love You When...

When we discuss rocks we describe properties of rocks by-

Color

Shape

Size

Texture

Mass

I usually spend time on each property and allow a lot of time to observe and describe different rocks to help develop or foster sensory language. With young children this can be challenging at times. I have learned that this takes time and multiple exposures. Books help me keep this area of focus alive interesting and ongoing. I will use this book as we talk about shape but what I am really excited to try is using this book for shared writing. And considering Valentine's day is approaching, I think it will offer a good opportunity to reread the text and discuss the pattern in the book.

I love you when...the sun shines bright.

Not only does this book lend itself to shared writing, the pictures support a discussion on rock shape but this book could also be integrated into the area of art. Linda Kranz is a popular "rock artist" and her painted rocks are vividly and creatively displayed along with natural rocks and stones.

Another treasure I have unearthed is Heart Stones. This book is a great lead in to some wonderful outdoor investigations because...everybody needs a rock! The children will be surprised to learn that heart stones are not all that rare and can be found.

I wonder who will find the first heart stone?

With our hand lens in hand, I know we will be ready to investigate our playground rocks and search to find one or two.

Along my journey I also discovered See A Heart Share A Heart. What speaks to me about this book is the photographic journey of hearts in nature.

Can we find heart shapes in nature?

This would be the perfect book to read as you head outside again and explore the great outdoors. I know those budding scientist will be able to capture this experience in their notebooks.

These three books should add some spice to your rock discussion and investigations. I have to admit, I am excited to give them all a try.

For more information on I Can Be A Scientist Exploring Rocks, click on the image above to take you to my store.



The Three Little Gators!

 

Hey Science Friends,

I was really excited to open up my mailbox and find this book inside. I had a feeling that it might be a book that could help me with some serious integration this time of year. The setting of the is adorable book is an east Texas swamp and this time of year that really caught my attention because in Social Studies all things Texas are heating up to be a lot of fun this time of year. And who could resist a little compare/contrast with The Three Little Pigs and The Three Little Gators? I knew my kids would just jump at the chance with this new book. But the science teacher in me was also drawn to the mention of the usefulness of...rocks! Yep, rocks! And since we are wrapping up are study on rocks, this is just perfect for us. The first gator builds his house of rocks but the other gators think rocks are too heavy and too much work. The second gator builds a house of sticks. And the third gator builds a house of sand because it is the easiest one to build. When the big, bottomed boar shows up, which house is strong enough to stand up to the bump, bump, bump of his rump? I guess we will all have to read it to find out!

 

What objectives can we cover with this book?

 

Science-give examples of ways rocks, soil, and water are useful.

Math-compare two objects according to weight/mass (heavier than, lighter than or equal to) using rocks! 

Reading Comprehension-retell a main event from a story read aloud and describe characters in a story and the reasons for their actions and identify elements of a story including setting, character, and key events.

As you can see this is a book worth reading for so many different reasons!

 

 



Rocks ROCK!

 

Hey Science Friends,

We have been having tons of fun investigating the natural world. I think the highlight this week was a visit from Mr. V from Real School Gardens. We always look forward to his visits with us. We were excited this time around because we knew we were going to talk...ROCKS! And we have been waiting several months to kick off this unit and we were lucky enough to kick it off with Mr. V.

 



 

So here we go getting ready for our scientists meeting. We always start with a meeting and we love it when we are outside. With our Science Notebooks in hand and pencils sharpened we are ready to go!

 

 

 

 

We sure knew what we were in for when we saw this. Yep, we are going to sort rocks by properties and I just bet we can add a few more categories to that. We are kind of good at that if I say so myself. I think we are super sorters by now.

 

 

We start our lesson with three simple rocks. Just playground rocks. At first glance nothing really that special...until you take a closer look! Scientists look and look again and discuss what they find. And when we discuss our findings and take a closer look, we begin to see the differences in even playground rocks.

 

 

We begin sorting and I think even Mr. V was impressed at how fast we can sort. We decided to sort big and small rocks.

 

 

I wonder how many rocks we sorted?

 

 

Great idea... we needed an organized method for counting our rocks. I guess our counting strategy worked and it helped make counting easier and accurate.

 

 

And we found more ways to sort our playground rocks.

 

 

And we start to realize that someone is not adding to our sort... It's ok, we know everybody needs a rock and sometimes, just sometimes, it is hard to let go of that special rock if even for a minute...

 

 

You sure didn't see me letting go of my tiger stripe rock!  

 

 

We add lots to our Science Notebooks for our rock sort. And then we were off for more investigations.

 

 

 

 

We found some pretty big, rough rocks and we had to get a good feel of those. And then we realize it is time for our field investigations to end. It is amazing how time passes by so quickly when you are in the moment and we all sure were. We learned that rocks can be sorted by their properties and we learned that even playground rocks have different properties when you take a closer look. And some of us learned that it is hard to let go of a favorite rock. I am like that too! I even bet Mr. V has a favorite rock in his pocket!

 

 

So Mr. V we wanted to post this video for you. We thank you for teaching us to be better scientists and how to explore the natural world and for teaching us to see the beauty in our world in our garden. Best wishes to you as you continue to inspire science teachers and help develop young scientists...especially the small ones.

 

 



Why I Love Rocks!

Hello Science Friends,

I have to confess. I like rocks. I bet you do too. There was a time when teaching young children about rocks seemed less than fun. Maybe you have been there too. I decided a few years ago I had to take matters into my own hands because kids just like rocks! And now I don't just like rocks, I think I love rocks! With a little preparation and just a little effort, I bet you will love teaching rocks as much as I do. One of the biggest problems I faced was not having rocks in order to teach with. But the truth is that one of my most successful rock years was a unit centered around playground rocks.

 

I will admit you might have to get real close to see some of the differences in those rocks but they are there. If you challenge a Kinder kid to find interesting rocks they always do. And if you need some more rocks ask your kids to search at home too!

 

 

Rock collecting can be fun. It can also be an excuse to use a hand lens and get outside and investigate the natural world. And isn't that accomplishing on of those field investigation objectives at the same time? Isn't it sounding a lot easier already?

 

 





If you just can't find enough rocks while hopping through the fields investigating then I have the best kept secret for you. Dollar Tree has the best rocks in great big bags for a dollar each. And don't be fooled, there are some cool rocks in each bag. At most stores they carry three different types of rocks. You are going to want one of each bag. Yep, they are that good.

 

 Three bags will get you a good amount of rocks and probably get you through some serious rock investigations. You may even find a tiger striped one like we did. If so, just expect it will be a popular rock.


 

 

Now if you are getting excited about rocks and you feel like reading Everybody Needs A Rock just go with it. And then you might realize that you are feeling so generous that everybody really needs their own rock...just one more bag of rocks will do! You know you can't read it without giving a special rock! You see, rocks are starting to be kind of fun. I told you.

 

 

If you are like me then now you are probably going to want to pick up this rock alphabet book. Ahhh, some integration don't we just love it? Rocks are fun. And if you get this book, I swear you will start thinking of making a rock alphabet with a cool silver Sharpie and yet another bag of rocks! Are you going to make an uppercase set without a lowercase set? I bet not. I wouldn't either. Oh my, what about numbers too? What the heck, just about three more bags of rocks and you are now gearing up for some real science fun investigating rocks!

 

 

 You know once you get into it the kids are going to ask for just one more rock book! Under One Rock is the answer. I bet your library will have all of these for your great rock explorations. And who would want to have a rock unit without some great books?

 

 

 Even Martha Stewart knows rocks are cool. Don't you love the letter rocks? I want to get my hands on those now...

So what do kinder kids really look like when investigating rocks? I get that question a lot. Well, I will tell you they are quiet and both hands are busy with a hand lens and a rock! They like to look close and see every little detail and they get good at it. And they get good at describing rocks by their properties.

And when I see and hear Kinder kids observing, describing and recording the properties of a rock, it makes me want to smile a big nature loving girl smile. It was worth all those trips to the store for more rocks and all those rock hopping trips through nature for those special rocks because they are... developing young scientists.

 

Ok, so where is the Science? The Science is in the ability to describe the properties of an object and our object is a rock! Now this can take some serious work on your part. At first, this is difficult for young children and second language learners and that is why we created this anchor chart. We use it to help us remember how we can describe a rock. It looks simple but this is one of the best teaching tools. And you will be amazed that children begin to do this naturally. I am serious. But the trick is multiple hands-on investigations and after each investigation we follow up with a Scientist meeting. These meetings give us a chance to hear each other describe the properties of a rock and it gives all of us a chance to use these descriptions.

 

 

 Not the best picture I will admit but this is an example of what we knew just after two investigations. Now you see how exciting rocks can really be!

 

Feel free to grab your Rock Parent Letter and Describing Properties of an Object poster and get started investigating. I think that the rock bag total was about seven bags if you want to do everything mentioned here. So that is about seven bucks of rock fun!

 

If you previously purchased my Developing Young Scientists Rock Unit please look for your notification for the new download. Have fun investigating the natural world!

 

 

 

Playful Learning Science!

Hello friends,

 I was so excited to be able to participate in Chapter 4 on Science. I have always enjoyed teaching Science in the classroom with young children. In fact, Science has always been a favorite part of our day in Kindergarten. Before the book study I was unfamiliar with Playful Learning and all of the wonderful resources that they have to offer. The book is full of practical ideas for in depth hands on exploration that is perfect for home learning or extensions and it can be easily adapted to the classroom.

Earlier this summer I was able to take part in the Playful Learning Ecademy and I participated in the Theory+Practice miniCourse. I really took a lot from this course. I did not know what to expect because I had not participated in a course like this before. I thought it was very helpful and informative after reading through the book. I really liked the pace of the course and the interaction with the author. If you are working through this book and working on the learning experiences with children I really encourage you to give one of these courses a try. I do not think you will be disappointed. Before you decide to take a course jot some questions down so that you can ask them in the after share session.

Seeing the natural world through the eyes of a child is an enlightening phenomenon. Their innate appreciation of and fascination for all living things are qualities that can lead to many fulfilling learning experiences. Playful Learning

In chapter 4 Scientific Investigation we start off with a developmental overview just like in all the other chapters. I think this is extremely helpful and serves as a good reference when working through the learning experiences. Young children are natural explorers each day they are exploring to make sense of the world around them. Due to this natural curiosity, scientific exploration is natural to a young child.

As I was reading one of the previous chapters, Playful Learning Spaces, I really connected with Playful Learning Spaces large and small. As I was reading, it made me feel that I could achieve a Playful Learning space with ease.

As a Kindergarten teacher in a school you would think I would not have to worry about space but that is simply not true. Every inch of space is used and planned for. And when I was trying to make a dedicated space for Science Exploration, it seemed overwhelming with everything else to consider. I now realize an actual space of Science can be inviting and it can be...small. So much of our investigation takes place outside so an indoor large space is not necessary. We do however need a dedicated space for our Science tools and notebooks. We can explore, investigate and discover just about anywhere. So, that is why the picture of The Rock Invitation makes sense to me as an educator. Starting off small is a great way to get your feet wet. To me the Invitation is what invites the child to explore and the act of exploring is the engagement. In the picture above you can see that starting off small seems simple. It just makes you feel like anyone can achieve this. Looking at the bigger picture, maybe a few invitations in an area could be possible too. I will admit, I had fun thinking of the materials that would go into my Rock Invitation and it got me thinking of so many more invitations to create. It is these invitations that invite us to explore and be engaged in Science. Before we take a look at the learning experiences for the Scientific Investigation, I will leave you with this video.

Due to the amount of information in this chapter, it has been divided into a few different posts. I can't wait to share more with you!

To see what other teachers are sharing about Scientific Investigation hop on over to Teaching My 3 for more book study fun!