Fitting SCIENCE into your BUSY Kindergarten Day
One of the struggles of teaching a half-day kindergarten program is trying to get everything in! I’m sure that those of you that teach full-day kindergarten struggle with this as well. After covering the reading, writing, and math for the day, sometimes you just run out of time. Unfortunately, I have found that science is one of those things that gets put on the back burner. I wanted to create resources that integrated science, literature, writing, and art in order to make sure my students received the exposure to science that they deserved.
I have found four ways to make sure that my science is part of my kindergarten curriculum by incorporating it in four ways:
1. Adopting a tree and observing how our tree changes each season.
2. Teaching and writing about our five senses around the seasons and holidays.
3. Teaching and writing about the weather.
4. Celebrating Earth Day by learning about our Earth and how we can make a difference.
Adopting a Class Tree
This activity is an easy, fun, and fast way to integrate science into your day. At the beginning of the year, we take a walk outside. I have the kids sit underneath our tree and read them the book, My Very Own Tree. We talk about the parts of the tree. I tell the kids that we will be observing how the tree changes throughout the seasons. Each time we observe, which is usually the first school day of the season, we complete one portion of the cover page and one page of our journal.
Teaching and Writing About Our 5 Senses
This is another fun way to integrate science, literature, art, and writing. I read the kids the book My Five Senses, and we create a list of the senses. Then, we discuss what we see, hear, taste, touch, and smell in the fall. We complete the My Fall Senses book together at the beginning of the year. As the year goes on, students become more familiar with the layout of these booklets. By winter, they can usually complete them independently or at a writing center. These are also great to leave for a sub.
You can purchase these books individually or as part of a bundle. The bundle includes 8 mini-books to use throughout the seasons and holidays.
Teaching and Writing About Weather
Studying the weather is another way to bring science into your curriculum. Read weather stories about all types of weather and discuss what you could or could not do on different types of days. My students love writing in these weather books after we’ve learned about wind, rain, sun, and snow. In the cloud, they write what they would do on a given day. They draw the illustration below. These turn out awesome. I usually cover my weather theme in the spring when my students are writing well.
Celebrating Earth Day
Earth Day always provides a fun opportunity to teach your kids about our world. It’s the perfect week to read stories about recycling and going green. My favorite story is The Lorax. I read this to the kids. We discuss the importance of saving the trees. Then, each student writes a persuasive piece on a truffula like tree template. This has to be my favorite display of the year and the kids love it, too.
I hope this post gives you some ideas on ways you can integrate science into your busy, hectic day!
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