This week in Aspen it was all about seasons! The Aspen class began our Seasons Lesson by learning about day and night. We discovered that our earth rotates (spins) on its axis, and as a result, we get daytime and nighttime! We were amazed when we found out that when we have day time here, there are children in other parts of the world having night time; therefore, when we are at school, children in other places are having dinner or even sleeping!! Aspen then learned that as our Earth rotates, it tilts. This tilt affects how much direct sunlight different areas receive, and as a result, we get our seasons! The more direct sunlight the Earth receives, the warmer/hotter the weather. On the other hand, the less direct sunlight, the cooler/colder the weather! Finally, we discussed the differences between the seasons in Ohio! Did you know that some places don’t have four seasons? Some places have only two! Or they have mild climate changes!
Throughout our exploration of seasons, we got to experiment with our painted globe and a flashlight! With this activity, we got to observe our key words axis, rotation, and orbit first hand. Our flashlight acted as the sun, and we helped rotate the Earth (painted globe), experiencing day/night and the changing seasons. We also got to take turns being the Earth, orbiting around the sun and rotating and tilting to represent how old we are. It sure was a fun filled week in Aspen!
In Kindergarten lesson, the kindergarten students have been learning about the continents and the concept of direction. They have been learning the names and location of each continent as well as the cardinal directions: North, South, East, and West. During Readers Workshop we discussed that reading is actually a science and as “Sound Detectives,” it is our job to find the clues and experiment putting sounds together. Sometimes, we will create groupings of sounds that make sense when they are put together, and sometimes our groups of sounds will be nonsense or silly! It is up to the Sound Detectives to use their clues! Our Readers Workshop is split into two groups: the Cardinals and the Chickadees. This week the Chickadees read the books Alphabet City and The Alphabet’s Alphabets and practiced their detective skills sounding out letters. The Cardinals also read the book The Alphabet’s Alphabet and focused on the formation of how each sound (letter) is formed. The Cardinals also began combining sounds to form words and were introduced to the concept of phonograms. In Writers Workshop both group began creating their very own book and worked on proper letter formation, becoming writers! What a busy and fun week these kindergarteners had!
Next week the Aspen thematic topic is all about Continents! The Aspen class will be introduced to the Continent Puzzle Map, The Sandpaper Globe, The Painted Globe, The Geography Envelopes, and The Continent Boxes. Aspen will learn the names and location of continents, be introduced to the terms land, water, continent and Ocean, and will begin exploring the world and culture around them with the Geography Envelopes and Continent Boxes! See you next week!
Admiring a completed activity!