Ingenuity In Kindergarten

Our "Science Lab" MGT curriculum box arrived last week, and was brought to me upstairs in the kindergarten classroom. My kindergarteners experienced Mother Goose Time for the last 1/2 of their Pre-K year, but this year there is a different K curriculum. Let's just say it's slightly less exciting than MGT, but I at least try to stick with similar themes.

Since the box was brought the K room, they wanted me to open to see what was inside. One student asked in a rather forlorn little voice,"Do we get to do those projects, too?" How could I say no??!! I pulled out the story book of the month, entitled Ingenuity, which is all about famous scientists and inventors. It happened to fit perfectly with our theme of "Jobs People Do", so we read the first section all about Isaac Newton and the Laws of Motion.

One of my main objectives for the kindergarten class is to foster of love of writing, so they write almost daily in their journals about various relevant topics. I decided this would be a good month to use the Little Journals for the K class. They designed the cover of their journals and wrote a sentence about what kind of scientist they would want to be. I played the Science Lab CD while they worked, and they were quite surprised to hear some familiar songs from previous MGT themes.

"If I were a scientist, I would be a mathematician teacher."

"If I were a scientist, I would be a structural engineer." 

"If I were a scientist, I would  be a botanist."

We tested out the Laws of Motion using toy cars in a variety of shapes, sizes, and weights. They made some very insightful observations. I threw in some funny (but informative) youtube videos, which is always a crowd pleaser.

I love that MGT is flexible and practical for different ages and learning levels. Seeing my students get excited about exploring new and complex ideas is why I do what I do! I'm looking forward to seeing their own ingenuity throughout this month.