Researching in Kindergarten | Part 2
April 17, 2024
Welcome to part two! In this post I'm going to share with you how the researching stage of this unit looks like in my classroom. If you haven't already, be sure to check out my last post where I discuss how I introduce the research unit to my class.
For this part of our unit my class will begin their research to answer the following questions:
- what does my animal look like (diagram)
- where does my animal live?
- what does my animal eat?
- what is an interesting fact about my animal?
Diagrams
Student-Made Diagrams
Now, students were ready to explore Epic Books or the books they checked out from the library to hunt for diagrams of their animals. I provided them their publishing paper where they were to copy the diagram from their source and include at least three labels. I was so proud to see them navigating their sources with such ease.
Preparing for misconceptions or confusion...
One aspect of this lesson that I had to make sure students understood was that they were not so much reading to find information, but rather perusing the pictures to find a diagram. I also wanted them to know that not ALL non-fiction books include diagrams. This meant they would have to look through a variety of books to find this text feature. Luckily, they were pros and were able to find some pretty great examples of diagrams to use for their books.
In part three of our research unit, I'll share how students transfer their information from their planning page to their final non-fiction books. This will be a 2-3 day process where students complete a page that answers the questions: what my animal eats, where they live, and their interesting fact.
Feel free to get my full research unit on TpT!
See you then and happy teaching!
Introducing Research in Kindergarten | Part 1
April 16, 2024
- identifying what sources are/their use and logging into those sources
- guiding their research through questions
- recording their findings with a graphic organizer
- sharing their findings with a culminating writing project and poster
Introducing Research
- The purpose of research
- Steps to research
- Facts vs opinions
- Sharing our research with others
Exploring Sources
- Non-Fiction books (checked out from our school library)
- Pebble Go
- Epic Books
Pebble Go
Asking Questions to Guide Research
- What does my animal look like?
- Where does my animal live?
- What does my animal eat?
- What is a fun fact about my animal?
Kindergarten Writing Portfolios
February 28, 2024
I love incorporating a writing portfolio each year because it's one of the easiest ways to track their progress and having these work samples available also makes for great references during writing conferences (or even parent conferences). I remember when a student of mine was so discouraged and didn't think they were writing as well as their peers. But one look at their work and how it's progressed over the year gave them the confidence to keep going. Such a powerful moment!
Storing Portfolios
Monthly Self-Portraits
End-of-the-Year Gift
Gingerbread Composing Activity
February 25, 2024
One of my favorite concepts to teach my kinders in math is composing and decomposing numbers. If you're not familiar with the term, it simply references how numbers are made by combining different quantities. It's foundational number sense that builds over the school year to eventually being able to add and subtract (or join and separate).
What I enjoy about it is that you can see how students begin to make connections and for them to demonstrate how numbers are created. At the beginning of the year, we begin with composing numbers to 5, then to 10, and at the end of the year we jump up to 20. It's very cool to see how this progression allows students to become little number experts and truly understand how numbers represent quantities and that we can manipulate those quantities in different ways.
...but anyways...
One activity I enjoy doing with them around the holidays is this gingerbread composing craftivity!
Gingerbread Composing
Words vs Symbols
I've seen teachers get super creative with this activity by adding foil to the background to make it look like the gingerbreads are baked on a cookie sheet. So cute!
In addition to the gingerbreads, I've also included marshmallows to represent the same concept of composing to 10. Simply choose the activity that best suits your learners.
Sprouting Seeds: Living & Non-Living Science
One of my favorite science units to teach in kindergarten is our unit on Living and Non-Living! We spend a few weeks building our knowledge around what makes an object living or non-living then explore the differences between needs and wants.
What's more, this unit is a wonderful opportunity to expose students to non-fiction texts if they haven't learned about them already. I highly recommend digging through your school's library for some NF texts on living and nonliving things to have students read and explore. Epic Books and Pebble Go are other great virtual resources as well!
Week 1: What is Living/Non-Living
This introductory week allows students to develop a strong understanding of what makes an object living or non-living. They will use key vocabulary to describe objects (tying in their vocabulary from a previous unit on attributes/properties) and sort them based on what makes them living or not.
Week 2: Needs of Living Things: Animals & Plants
This week students build on their understandings and focus on living things as plants and animals. Students begin to identify the certain "needs" of living things and how they require these things to survive. This is a great opportunity to discuss needs vs wants...which ends up being a bonus discussion about accepting no.
I really enjoy using this resource from Kindergarten Creations. It has a lot of great visuals for this unit and for the student work pages, I size my copies down so students can glue their work/thinking into their science journals.
And who doesn't love a good Cookie Monster moment?? This is a fun video to share with students to drive concepts home about the basic needs of living things.
Week 3: Seed Sprouting Lab
In this week our class begins to apply what they've learned to a lab where they sprout a lima bean seed!
This ends up being my favorite week because students get the opportunity to sprout their own seeds and observe the beginning of a plant life cycle! In our class, we use lima beans (nice connection to our read-aloud A Bad Case of Stripes) and place them inside Ziplocs. You can use any type of bean (I've used some pinto beans from my sensory bins before!) as they all begin sprouting relatively quickly. I found this cute greenhouse cover where students write their names and decorate them. Afterward, I tape them up to our window and the watching begins!
It ends up taking a week or so before students can begin to see changes in their seeds. I place 3 inside their greenhouses to give them a greater chance of sprouting something.
Pick up this FREEBIE over at my TpT store so your students can begin sprouting their own seeds in a classroom greenhouse!