One thing I've learned about our class is that they're hands on. This is not to say they do not pay attention to instructions, but I believe kids need freedom and with freedom comes great responsibility which requires listening. We started learning about Earth last week and it was messy, fun, and educational. I can honestly say teaching seven and eight year olds is something else, but it brings a great deal of fun. We build volcanos, oceans, and we recreated Earth's inner surface using nothing but recycled materials.
Our first stop was learning about Earth's inner surface. To recreate this model we used edible materials like ice-cream, pie crust, hot chocolate and strawberries--each to represent the temperature of each layer. Besides wanting to receive a piece of pie, the kids were excited about learning Earth facts. So, as I stood there and began talking about Earth I looked and realized that kids like learning. It's just the way one presents the information that triggers their mind.
After lunch we went around the table, hearing each kid tell me a minimum of two facts they learned. And as I heard Niemen speak perfect Spanish saying Earth has one moon called Luna. I smiled because the pie had been forgotten but something else was remembered. Below is a picture of our finish product.
The pie crust 
represented Earth's crust. The ice-cream was the Mantle.The hot chocolate was the outer core and the strawberries the inner core. (picture by Beyonce.)
Earth and water.
So as the week went by we learned about water and how it helps us and the animals. The kids learned about the four oceans and how we must take of them. Kwame, was wondering why there is no ocean made specifically for animals of all sorts. So we put his mind along with the rest of the class to make their own ocean. As we began collecting materials and bringing them to the table you could hear Beyonce and Kwame say, "Let's name it Animal Ocean". So we did. As we painted and made animals some from scratch and others printables you could hear the class say, "Octopus, no alligators, no whales," and animals just coming left to right.
Today we made our own ocean and I showed the kindergarteners and they did one too. It was fun. -Beyonce Williams
Earth and Land.
RUN !!! A volcano erupted RUN!!! Yes, we made our own volcanoes after learning what they do and why. The kids were skeptical and doubted me very much. "Ms. Nazaarethh, what if they dont blow??" And as I reassured them they would, we began constructing using used paper plates and aluminum foil. We used baking soda, water, and vinegar to make them erupt and as we headed outside you could hear them whisper, " I don't think they are gonna blow!"
Honestly, I had failed in the morning so I too was thinking the same, but I knew they would erupt and they did. The look on their faces was really priceless as each of them turned and looked at me. They had fun and they not only learned about volcanos, but they learned that doubting people is okay because it happens.
We learned about volcanos and how they blow up when you add vinegar and baking soda. I did not think they would blow, but they did and it was fun. -Darajhnee Williams
Laughter and fun with a twist of education seem to be the cures for this heat.Our second and third graders needed to put their knowledge to the test so we thought what better than some outdoor fun. Our fun consisted of five stations: relay races, facts and illustrations with chalk,and water cycle puzzles.
We challenged the kinder and first grade classes sounds unfair ,but the reality of it was that we lost and yet no one in my class complained. What I was most impressed with was the kindergartners; they worked as a team, didn't complain and the knowledge they displayed was speechless.
Aviant put together a puzzle that was about evaporation. Jada, Trinity, Angel,and Jailyn worked as one to solve their puzzles.The first graders had plenty of patience and were really happy to interact with the other classes.
The day was very successful and overall the most important thing learned today was knowing that when an adult speaks a child listens. Witnessing laughter and knowing that you created it makes a hot day seem like the ultimate day.
(Facts by Neiman and Kawame)
Water is good for the Earth
Today the children all came together and played a game on our theme of the week, which was Water. The game that was played consisted of three stations. In the first station, the children did a relay race with water balloons. They had to get the water balloon out of the bucket and run down to bust the balloon and go and tag there partner, until everyone went. The next station, the children were to write one fact they knew about water. In the last station, they were to put a puzzle together, each puzzle was a different part of the Water Cycle.
I think the children leared alot doing the game and they also had fun while doing it...And who wouldn't want to do that.
Frito-Lay
Mondays are new and exciting experiences to all of us. Last week we went to Frito-Lay. Where we learned about their means of transportation.The kids got the opportunity to get on every truck, van and trailer that there was.The favorite part for most was honking the horn and taking pictures.
At Frito-Lay I learned that they have big and small trucks.The small trucks go to little stores; and the big trucks are for grocery stores.
Beyonce Hart
At Frito-Lay a few weeks ago I learned that they make different kinds of chips.In Japan they have shrimp flavored chips.
Ishmael Ellington
Water Treatment Center
must admit the smell got to us all,but we managed.The kids learned where our drinking water comes from and the process it goes through.
They took us on a tour. Thye told us how the water is cleaned and how it gets dirty.
Hayzul Powell
Today i went to the water plant.When we first got in it, it was really nice they had a pretty demonstration of what it looked like outside.Then it was time to go outside were some places stank. So we went across the street and went up the stairs were they had a bad stench.
Then we had to go inside were the smell was coming from ,so i went inside of the stinky
building and I almost passed out.After that we walked around to places were they showed us
dirty water that they clean.And this man showed us that if you throw a penny in the dirty water it will come back up .And this is what i learned and saw by. ~Tahjonae
today I went to the water plant to learn how water is recycled ~Randy
The water stinks I'm surprised that our drinking water comes from this same water.
I learned the water goes through many different levels of cleaning before it is clean enough for us to actually drink. (I'm not drinking any anytime soon.) There was a foul smell it burnt my nose but I got over it. In the end I did have some fun learning how our drinking water gets clean. It was fun and I learned alot.
~Lewis
We had a water break.
We made new exercises. We made a jumping twist exercise. First, you jump. Then you twist at the same time. We did sit-ups. First you put your the gluteous maximus on the floor and then you have to have a partner to hold your feet and then you start sitting up.
We did something really cool on the computer. We got our pictures off the computer. We put on headsets. We talked into the computer. We recorded ourself for the pictures. And after we was done, we pressed save, we pressed 2007, and we looked at our pictures and we picked our own pictures.
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