Investigating Rocks

Seeing something all the time sometimes makes you forget how cool it is. Such is the case with rocks!

 

 We set the simplest display in one of the sensory tables. There were rocks of all shapes, colours and sizes. Just a table of rocks. Except that...

...at the very bottom of the table was a small amount of water. Just enough to line the bottom of the table and come up ever so slightly on the sides. Some paint brushes were set among the rocks.  

"Why are there paint brushes here?"

"What do you think you might do with them?"

"Hey look! It's all wet under there!"

"This is so cool!"

The children have kept this sensory bin busy for more than a week!  Alligators have come and gone. Snakes have come and gone. But the rocks have stayed.

And are still there, becoming dry and wet again and again.

If You Find A Rock

We have been spending a great deal of our time together at the carpet talking about rocks. We've wondered why rocks have holes and why rocks are different sizes and shapes. "How do animals find rocks when they are under the ground?", asks Isaac. We know rocks are hard and rocks are heavy. Well the big rocks are heavier than the small rocks. But some big rocks aren't too heavy! We wonder where the rocks come from and how they get cracked.

So much wonder! When we talked about rocks and wrote about rocks and read about rocks, we discovered so many things! Ask your children how rocks are formed. Ask your children about molten lava. Ask your children about chalk rocks and wishing rocks and rocks that lead you home. 

It all started with a little girl, a book sale...and a funky rock book!

 

 

Our Extended Classroom

In the wonderful world of kindergarten, our classroom doesn't stop at the door!

 We consider our space as having an inside classroom and an outside classroom. When the weather co-operates, we spend afternoons outdoors and the boys and girls often work with partners as they discover, wonder, observe, investigate and record.

Dandelions and rocks have provided so much discussion and learning this week!

Each partnership has a JK and SK friend working together. The children are encouraged to draw pictures to go with their words.

A huge slug creates a great deal of excitement!

A teeny tiny snail finds a safe place and steady hands.

A rock is moved aside to reveal a world of living things.

Negotiating picker weeds.

Why are there so many different kinds of rocks? Where do rocks come from? How do rocks get small?

Spring boquets

A perfect setting to re-read If You Find A Rock

Using nature to create art

Thanks to our concurrent student Katie Moore, very creative pieces of art were produced after the children collected a variety of natural materials from their walk to the hill.

On our nature walk, the children peeled their eyes for pieces that would be just right for what they had in mind.  "This could be a leg."  "Look, this is a head."  "We need more sticks."  "This is as big as my body."  It seemed like they would be making a population of people.  But, artists always have a way of interpreting as they create.

The children found things they hadn't expected.  "Look, it's Humpty Dumpty's Wall!"   "Is that the last dandelion before winter?"  "Mrs. Brent, look what Cameron found!  It's a slug!  He was hiding to stay warm."

They found rocks, leaves and a huge branch that had fallen from a tree during the wind storm.

Once in the art studio with Miss Moore, the children suggested using the sticks they found as paintbrushes.  That was... until some decided the sticks should become a part of their art!

What was amazing was how each child used the materials in their own creative way.

The artists were filled with ideas and we had so many unique creations by the end of the day. Some children even began using their hands to paint with! We were amazed with all the different shapes and pictures we could make with the nature we found.