FUN WITH APPLES

FUN WITH APPLES 

We have been very busy inquiring about apples. Here is our journey.

 

Did you know that PARENTS ARE TEACHERS TOO? We wanted to show our fabulous parents that we are a teaching team and they are a very important team member. So our students prepared 

a special treat for their parents.  This activity was the spark for many questions and discussions about apples.  This was the start of our APPLE INQUIRY!

 

The students enjoyed choosing the right apple to give their parents.  There was some discussion about which colour of apple they would choose.  This lead into some wonderings about apples. 

 

They wrote about some of their Apple Wonders (questions)  and placed them on our Wonder Wall.  These wonders were the spark for our Apple Inquiry. 

 

Then we sat down as a large group and brainstormed what we already know about apples.

 

Here are some of our responses:

J.A. -There are red apples

C.C. -Apples go to the tall tree.

B.D. - When I went corn picking, I saw an apple with a cricket on it.

E.L.- When I went apple picking, I knew apple grew on trees.  There is apple cake.

G.C. - Apples are crunchy.  There are brown and green apples.

C.G. - Some apples are brown on the ground so you can't eat them.

J.N. - Apples are good for us.

 

We knew lots about apples but we wanted to learn more.  So we choose an apple wonder from our wonder wall.  We choose the question, what is inside of an apple?

 

 

We thought there could be many things inside of an apple:
- seeds                          - hard things
- juice                           - food
- bugs                           - vitamins
- worms                       - lots of seeds
- flowers   
- Mrs. Johnston's keys?  Then we found them on the ledge.  She is always losing things.  Good thing we are "good finders."
                    
Everyone agreed that there are seeds inside of an apple.  But we didn't know who many seeds were inside an apple.  Then one student, E.L., suggested that we should Investigate.  So we discussed how we would do an apple investigation. 
Here are some of our ideas:
- Knock on the apple
- Bite it
- Keep biting it until we got to the seeds
- We thought that this would take too long

* So we all agreed that we should cut the apple open.
Before we cut open the apples, we had a few more questions.  How many seeds will be in our apples?  Will our red apple and green apple have the same number of seeds inside?

* We wanted to guess how many seeds would be inside.  We learnt some new math words for guessing.  They are estimating and making a prediction.  We liked these new words because they made us feel like we were doing important work.

We found that the red apple had 6 seeds inside and the green apple had 11 seeds inside.  We put our apples and their seeds in our Inquiry Centre so that we could examine them more closely.  We used magnifying glass to make them look bigger.  We wrote and drew some pictures about what we saw.

The next day we noticed that the apples were starting to turn brown.  We wondered why they were turning brown.  Then we wondered what would happen if we left them until after the weekend.  We started an apple observation.  We drew a picture and wrote a sentence about how our apples looked after 2 days.  Then we made some predictions about what our apples would look like after 5 days (over the weekend).  We made a chart with some of our predictions.  Some people thought that the apples would get bigger.  Some people thought that the apples would get smaller and some  people thought that the apples would be the same size. We measured our apples: the red apple is 4 squares and the green apple is 3 squares.  Then we waited until after the weekend.  Then we looked and measured the apples again.  The red apple was now 3 squares tall and the green apple was 2 squares tall.  Both apples got smaller and more brown and very hard. 

 

 

One day we found a large bucket of apples on the carpet.  Our teachers said we could play with them so we rolled them and stacked them and even ate a few.  Then we had our gathering circle and discussed what we should do with the apples.  Some of our S.K. friends remembered about sorting so we decided to sort the apples.  The S.K. students showed the J.K. students what sorting means.  They said that sorting was:
- Making groups
- Put them in groups of colours
- Sort them by big and little
- Or long and short

We decided to sort the apples by colours. We said the sorting rule.  This is a ____ apple.  It belongs in the ____ apple group.   We started with a red, green and yellow apple group.  But we soon discovered that we had a problem.  Some of our apples had a bit of red and a bit of yellow on them.  We didn't know where to put them.  Some people thought to look and see if the apple had more red or more yellow colour. If it had more red it could go in the red group. But we couldn't decide.  One student thought of making a new group.  So we decided to make a new group called the mixed up group.  This was for the red/yellow apples.  This made the sorting easier.

   

After we were done sorting the apples, the students wanted to know which group had more apples.  So we counted the apples in each group.  We decided to make a chart.  I suggested making a graph and we all agreed (because I am an amazing teacher).  We showed the JK students how to make a graph.  The students wanted to cut out apples to glue onto the graph.  They wrote the numbers for each group.  They found out that there were more red apples and that the green and mixed up group both had 7 apples. 

 

Then we looked at our Wonder Wall and decided to inquire about another apple question.  We chose what do apples taste like?   We wondered if different coloured apples all tasted the same.  We decided to investigate.  We did an apple taste test.  We tried a red, green and yellow apple.  We recorded whether we liked or did not like that apple.  Then we wrote about what it tasted like. 
Some of our responses were:
S.G. - It tasted like apple juice.                    A.P. - It is really good.  It is really good again.
G.C. - Crunchy and better                            B.D. - It was sour.  It tastes like apple juice.
J.A. -Yucky and juicy                                  C. S. Juicy and Crunchy
A.I. - Juicy and sweet                                   M. A. - Delicious and Yucky
K.D. - Yummy and sour                               E. C. - Like juice and no good
C. C. - It was good and juicy one                 J.F. - Delicious and scrumptious
C. G. - Good, great and yucky                      A.S. - Like apple juice and bad
J.N. - They all tasted sweet.                          L. N. Good and sweet
G.S. - Juicy, sweet and yummy                    C. B. - Yummy, nice and I like it
S. B. - Juicy, good and sour                          M.O. - Juicy, I liked it, It was really yummy.
A. G. They are all juicy.                               M. W - Yummy
R. G. Juicy and delicious                              A.A. - Good, yummy and more good
G.M - Yummy and sweet                              A. S - Tastes like apple juice and tastes bad  
E.L - Yummy and sweet 

           

Then we wanted to paint with our leftover apples.  We made a pattern with real apples then stamped out the pattern using apple stampers and paint.  Messy but Fun!

 


We read books about apple trees and we showed our creativity by making apple trees. 

 

As you can see, we have been very busy inquiring about apples.  We hope that you have learned something new about apples too. 

Here is a quote that helps reinforce the importance of Inquiry Based Learning.  

“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”

George Bernard Shaw



 

 

 

 

 



 



 



 

 

 

 

 



Welcome New Kindergarten Friends!

We are so lucky to have Ms. Macri join our Kindergarten team.  She has lots of experience working with young children and brings new ideas and energy to our program.

We would like to say a big welcome to our returning Senior Kindergarten Friends and new Junior Kindergarten Friends and their Families.   


It has been a bit of an adjustment moving from our half day program to our Full-Day Early Learning Kindergarten Program.  But I think we have begun to settle in and are engaging in some wonderful inquiry experiences.




 

“Play nourishes every aspect of children’s development and forms the foundation of intellectual, social, physical, and emotional skills necessary for success in school and in life.  Play paves the way for learning.”   

Canadian Council on Learning: Let The Children Play: Natures Answer to Early Learning” (2006)

 

I thought that this poem helped emphasize the importance of play both at home and at school.  

 

Just Playing

When I am building in the block room, please don't say I'm "just playing." For you see, I'm learning as I play, about balance and shapes. Who knows, I may be an architect someday.

When I'm getting dressed up, setting the table, caring for the babies, don't get the idea I'm "just playing” For, you see, I'm learning as I play; I may be a mother or a father someday.

When you see me up to my elbows in paint or standing at an easel, or molding and shaping clay, please don't say, "He is just playing." For, you see, I'm learning as I play. I'm expressing myself and being creative. I may be an artist or an inventor someday.

When you see me sitting in a chair "reading" to an imaginary audience, please don't laugh and think I'm "just playing." For, you see, I'm learning as I play. I may be a teacher someday.

When you see me combing the bushes for bugs, or packing my pockets with choice things I find, don't pass it off as "just play." For you see, I'm learning as I play. I may be a scientist someday.

When you see me engrossed in a puzzle or some "plaything" at my school, please don't feel the time is wasted in "play." For, you see, I'm learning as I play. I'm learning to solve problems and concentrate. I may be in business someday.

When you see me cooking or tasting foods, please don't think that's because I enjoy it, it is "just play." I'm learning to follow direction and see differences. I may be a cook someday.

When you see me learning to skip, hop, run and move my body, please don't say I'm "just playing." For, you see, I'm learning as I play. I'm learning how my body works. I may be a doctor, nurse or athlete someday.

When you ask me what I've done at school today, and I say, "I just played", please don't misunderstand me. For you see, I'm learning as I play. I'm learning to enjoy and be successful in my work. I'm preparing for tomorrow. Today, I am a child and my work is play.

~Anita Wadley

As You Will See, We are Many Of These Things, While We "Play" At School. 

     

   

 

 

HAVE YOU PLAYED TODAY?

Bear Inquiry

Bear Inquiry

Now that the Winter season is almost over, we decided that we should get ready for Spring.

 

First, we had a discussion about some of the changes that we can see, feel, hear and smell now that Winter is fading away.  Everyday my students had more questions about what will happen to all of the animals that have been hibernating.  This lead us to do an inquiry about bears.
First we found out what we already know about bears.

We realized that we did know a lot of things about bears but we wanted to learn more.
So we asked more questions.
What kinds of bears are there? What do bears eat?

     

We still had lots of unanswered questions so we decided to do some research.  First we used the projector to look at different kinds of bears.  We found out about so many bears that we have never even heard of before, like the spectacled bear or sun bear.
We asked our reading buddies to help us do our research in the computer lab.  Using technology is so much fun! 


Everyone had their favourite bear and wanted to learn  more about it.  Some of our questions were:
* Do all bears live in dens?
* Do all bears eat the same foods?
* How many different color of bears are there?
* Do some bears live where it is warm?
* Do bears have any enemies?
* Do all bears have the same body parts (fur, paws, teeth)?
So we decided that we should do our own bear projects to answer all of our "Beary" important questions and share our finding with our friends.
Here are our bear project groups

                      

We used all of our research information to help us complete our bear projects and other bear activities.

 

        

To end our Bear Inquiry, we decided to have a "Wake Up From Hibernating" party.  Our classroom bear Henry has been hibernating through our whole bear inquiry.  He will be surprised to hear all of the things we have learned about bears. 
First, we had to wake Henry up.

       

We need to find Henry.  He said that he was hungry and he went to look for some food.  If he is not back by now, he must be lost!  We need to go on a bear hunt. 

      

Everyone in Mrs. Johnston's Kindergarten class hoped
you have enjoyed our Bear Inquiry. 

It was "Beary" nice of you to visit our Blog. 
Come back and visit us again soon.

Remember, if you aren't having any fun, neither are
your students (or children)!