Kindergarten

Welcome to the Kindergarten Innovation Lab Journal

We'll use our kindergarten journal to share about each month's lessons and learning activities with the Innovation Lab Program. Teachers and Parents can follow along with the learning and find lesson resources that can be printed or shared and used to connect the learning to the home or in the classroom.

Kindergarten Lessons April 2023

Annual Innovation Showcase 2023

Students at Innovation Lab schools in CUSD were invited to after school events showcasing some of the most engaging learning happening in the program this year. This event showcased a variety of STEAM activities and encouraged children and families to explore, create, and innovate together.

One of the most popular stations at the event was the Dash programming station. Participants had the opportunity to program the Dash robot to move and meet challenge criteria. Exploring the basics of coding and robotics, this station encouraged visitors to think critically and problem-solve.

Another popular station was the Bee-Bots programming station. Children used coding skills to program a Bee-Bot robot to navigate a maze using sequencing and problem-solving.For those interested in video game design, the Minecraft programming station allowed children to use coding skills to quickly build houses in a Minecraft world. Children and families also experimented with different coding blocks and learned how to create using Python code.

At the Scratch programming station, children could learn the basics of coding through interactive games and animations. Scratch cards at each station allowed visitors to create their own stories, games, and animations. This activity taught children the importance of creativity and logical thinking. For those interested in building, the Lego Buildtionary station challenged children to build various structures using Lego bricks. This activity encouraged children to think creatively and experiment with different building techniques.

Finally, the Soundtrap DJ booth allowed children to explore music production by creating their own tracks using digital tools. Innovative DJs could experiment with different beats, loops, and sound effects to create their own unique compositions. Parents took over this station at both events to show off and explore their creativity!

Innovation Showcase Night was an amazing event that offered a fun and engaging way for our school communities to learn about the program, our integrated learning and the profile of a graduate competencies. With a variety of activities ranging from coding and robotics to music production and building, there was something for everyone.

Students used the engineering design process to plan out a cardboard design. This student is innovating a puppy design.

Families and members of the community work together to use critical thinking skills to program Bee-Bot.

Kindergarten Lessons March 2023

In the innovation lab, our kindergarteners embark on a new chapter of their journey, focusing on becoming stewards of the environment. Throughout the month, our young learners delve into activities that cultivate a sense of responsibility towards our planet, while nurturing their creativity and problem-solving skills.

To kickstart their exploration, students watched an animation that introduces them to the concept of environmental conservation. Next we move into hands-on activities that promote sustainable practices. They practice sorting a surprise pile of reusable and recyclable "trash" into designated bins, honing their understanding of waste management and recycling. Through this activity, they develop a sense of responsibility in making conscious choices about waste disposal and its impact on the environment. After the activity we entered prompts and sang a song about our learning- generated by chatGPT!

Continuing to use technology as a tool for education, students engage in interactive iPad games that teach them about various types of recyclables. These games not only provide an engaging and fun experience but also deepen their knowledge about the importance of recycling and the different materials that can be recycled.

As the month progressed, students were encouraged to channel their creativity and critical thinking skills to create their own inventions. They were tasked with designing solutions that address key environmental concerns such as reducing energy waste usage, minimizing water waste usage, or making reusing and recycling easier. This hands-on experience empowers our young innovators to become active participants in finding sustainable solutions to real-world challenges. Through a month focused on environmental stewardship, our kindergarteners explored the impact they can have on our planet.

Kindergarten Lessons February 2023

This month, our littlest innovators are embarking on a remarkable adventure, honing their planning skills and building models that we hope will leave a lasting impact on their engineering experience. In our innovation lab, we encourage students to dive headfirst into the world of imagination and exploration. Students practice planning before building several familiar and imaginitive objects. They plan their models by drawing on worksheets, showcasing their creativity and critical thinking. Collaboration is encouraged as students share ideas and materials, fostering teamwork and empathy.

The first step in their quest is to plan their models. Armed with worksheets, our kindergarteners enthusiastically sketch their visions, imagining what these items will look like when constructed with wooden blocks. These blueprints serve as a roadmap for their hands-on construction and allow them to practice important skills such as spatial awareness and critical thinking.

However, the path to innovation is not without its challenges. It is during these moments of struggle that true growth occurs. At the end of each lesson, students reflect on their experiences, gain a deeper understanding of the hurdles they faced and build resilience and problem-solving skills that will serve them well in future endeavors. By acknowledging the difficulties and finding ways to overcome them, our kindergarteners learn to persevere and embrace the iterative nature of the creative process.

These experiences nurture resilience and problem-solving abilities, instilling valuable skills for their future endeavors. Our innovation lab empowers kindergarteners to embrace imagination, develop important skills, and cultivate a sense of gratitude and community.

In the face of unexpected challenges, our kindergarten innovators demonstrated remarkable adaptability and perseverance. During this month's lessons, the school experienced intermittent power outages. However, undeterred by the lack of artificial lighting, our students harnessed the power of natural light to continue their work. They showcased their determination and resourcefulness, using the setbacks as opportunities for learning and innovation. This inspiring incident highlights their ability to thrive in adverse situations, further fueling their confidence and resilience.

Kindergarten Lessons January 2023

Kindergarteners begin to practice planning by drawing directly onto their desks and then building directl;y on top of their drawings

Kindergarteners this month are beginning to practice planning and designing before building and executing a project.

The nation's Next Generation Science Standards recommends that students in grades K-2 begin to practice planning and executing an experiment or a demonstration. While this skill is essential and extreemly beneficial to master before diving into performance expectations in 3rd- 5th grade, it can be challenging for students this age. To pursue this skill with younger learners, we will be practicing a few basic skills related to designing and planning before building a model.

Students in K-2nd grades will work through a series of lessons starting with the upcycled materials that they are accustomed to and then moving on to legos for more skilled practice in drawing and designing.

< Note from Mr. Pittman - I designed this lesson series to start with the simple practice of drawing a picture of the object that the student intends to model. As we work through the lessons, I will add estimating materials, drawing for accuracy and writing to describe the plan into student planning sheets.

Kindergarten Lessons December 2022

Kindergarteners in Mr. Pittman's lessons this week are beginning to learn about weather, types of weather and weather preparedness.

Students in kindergarten will be starting a new unit in TWIG science this winter. We will be learning more about the changing weather and we help students gain experience and practice in meeting performance expectations in this unit of weather related study. Our Next Generation Science Standards help teachers create a framework for grouping learning activities as well as a more integrated scope and sequence to plan for and meet student performance expectations. Students in grades K-2 are working towards the ability to synthesize their learning and use what they have learned to accomplish another task. NGSS suggests that students should be able to observe patterns in weather and communicate their observations as well as to create a small device that will reduce the warming effect of sunlight on an area.

< Note from Mr. Pittman - This introductory lesson was adapted from a youtube lesson that I created many years ago for classrooms who have lost their art programs. This week we chose natural materials for our medium before moving into painting.

Kindergarteners made tabletop "posters" to show the change in weather.

Kindergarteners are also finishing up early biology units of study, learning to program "bee-bot" robots and engaging in many tasks designed to promote collaboration.

Mrs. Delaye and Mr. Pittman met with kinders to continue their practice in developing problem solving skills and collaboration as well as learning more about the needs of living things.

In Mr. Pittman's class, students engaged in their last lesson of the early biology unit that were created to compliment and provide extra practice with simultaneous TWIG science lessons in classrooms. In this lesson student groups chose to either focus on the needs of an animal or plant. Then the group created a representation of their living thing, and used pre-defined spaces at their table to create images of the life needs of their chosen species. The result is a table-sized "poster" detailing the needs of each organism.

While students have gained appropriate grade level knowledge of the life needs of organisms, student practice in planning and collaborating is still emerging for many students. these lessons gave us great practice in speaking, listening and working together to plan and execute a project.

1st graders made "posters" to identify the needs of living things. Posters were created with mosaic style pieces of wood, fabric and cork.

< Note from Mr. Pittman - This week I used an animated version of myself to introduce the lesson:

This "cartoon" Mr. Pittman showed students how to create their poster showing the needs of living things by using unconventional materials as mosaic tiles.

Kindergarten Lessons November 2022

Kindergarten Students learned early coding skills with Bee-Bot this week. Bee-Bot is a programmable floor robot. Mrs. Delaye taught students how to program Bee-Bot. The robot has buttons on it, which the students used to command Bee-Bot to move forward, backward, left and right. Students used collaboration to share in a positive way with their partner. Bee-Bot teaches students problem solving and sequencing. It is a fun way to give young learners beginning coding experience.

Bee-bot also has fun educational mats which can be used to reinforce reading and math skills. Once students learned to drive Bee-bot, they practiced programming it using the mats.

< Note from Mrs. Delaye -Using Bee-Bot was a great opportunity to help students practice taking turns and sharing. All students were engaged in their discovery with Bee-Bot. They learned the proper way to handle Bee-Bot and the importance of treating Bee-Bot with respect.

Kindergarten Lessons October 2022

Kindergarteners learn how amazing fava beans are as they use body measurements to measure the bean next to their finger. The bean is two knuckle marks in size when placed next to a student's finger. They also understand the needs of plants as they create a hole in the soil with their finger, place the seed in the hole, and gently cover it with soil..

This week kindergarten students went to the school garden to plant fava beans also known as broad beans.

Mrs. Delaye and Campbell Union School District, Garden/Teacher Liaison, Tony Kienitz spent some time planting seeds in the school's garden. Tony uses the story Jack and the Beanstalk to engage the students and reminds them that this old tale was inspired by the beans. It is the perfect time of year to plant these beans as students will get to watch them grow through the winter and they will be ready to harvest in the spring.

This lesson supports students current learning in science as they understand that plants need water and light to grow. They were also able to practice using the tools scientists need: Thinking minds, Listening ears, Safe bodies, Keen eyes, Inquiring mouths, Caring Hearts, and Helping Hands while planting in the garden.

Students also continued to develop their understanding of the needs of living things this week. Kindergarteners worked with 4th grade table assistants to use ipad matching and other activities, as well as using upcycled materials to build a garden that includes representations of the life needs of plants and made leaf rubbings.

Kindergarteners focused most of their build and exploration time on understanding the life needs of a plant: water, sunlight and air to make food, space to grow, nutrient rich soil.

< Note from Mrs. Delaye - It was wonderful to get outside and get our hands in the soil. Mr. Tony, as the students call him has many wonderful stories to tell students as they begin to explore their school's garden. Garden stories help students observe their natural world and ask questions. We will return to the garden to observe the favas as they grow. We will continue to use body measurement as the plants grow as big as our hands, arms, and taller than a student. This is one reason these beans are so amazing.

Kindergarteners are using iPads to photograph "Wow work" that they are proud of. They then record a few words about how their work, growth and progress.

This month innovation teachers meet with students in small groups in their classrooms to help each student create their digital portfolios.

Mrs. Delaye and Mr. Pittman met with students in small groups and helped each student log into Seesaw and create the first post in their personal journals. Student’s posts included images, voice recording, video, text, and other digital graphics and highlights. Students and classroom teachers identified work that students felt represents “Wow Work” or writing, art, or video that is an artifact of challenging learning activities that resulted in growth.

< Note from Mr. Pittman - Students at every grade level created their first post, so it was remarkable for the innovation team to observe and facilitate the spectrum of elementary performance expectations across each grade especially in language arts and math. It is a unique tool to leverage as a “specialist” teacher in any role that works with all elementary grades throughout weekly rotations.

Lesson Resources:

"The Needs of a Plant" call and answer song

SeeSaw's Youtube video to help student select "Wow work"

Download and view/ print our Digital portfolio introductory slides

Kindergarten Lessons September 2022

Kindergarteners built a model of a garden with their table teams

In general, during build time, my focus is on encouraging students to work together and share ideas by working in sub-group teams of two to quickly build and try things out. My challenge then is, "As soon as your team finds something that works or is interesting, show it to the team and share how it was built." I carry a camera connected to the classroom screen or projector to take pictures of student work and share student examples with the class on the fly-to help spread ideas among teams and keep the collaborating moving and productive.

This week, kindergarteners visited the school gardens and built models of plants to understand the survival needs of plants.

The students started by reviewing what plants need to grow and how the plant parts use these resources. We learned that plants need water (H2O) and take in water through their roots. We also learned that roots send the water to leaves and combine the hydrogen and oxygen with carbon that leaves take in from the air to create sugar or food energy. While this lesson goes a bit farther than the standard, I'm hoping that the extra discussion during the warm up will benefit students in meeting first grade and future performance expectations.

Kindergarteners also visited the schools gardens this week to find sample leaves, roots, stems and flowers

The students searched for samples that we could collect and observe in a small terrarium. We made observations in the classroom, and then used our unique upcycled building materials to create models of plants that demonstrate roots absorbing water, leaves making sugar, and stems transporting water.

And we always try to end every lesson with reflection on three questions:

"What is something that was productive, went well or feels satisfying overall from the learning activity?"

"What is something that was challenging or difficult, but led to something productive today?"

"Who would you like to thank or share gratitude with?" (Think of a teammate to thank for great collaboration or sharing an idea or materials...)

Kindergarteners have been learning what tools scientists need to do their job.

We have been learning a song from the our new district adopted science curriculum: Twig Science. We used TPR (Total Physical Response) to learn the "Our Scientist Song". Scientists need: Thinking minds, Listening ears, Safe bodies, Keen eyes, Inquiring mouths, Caring Hearts, and Helping Hands. Pointing to these parts of our body helps us learn and understand that we also have the tools scientists need.

We then practiced using the tools scientists use in stations set up in the innovation lab. One station had a variety of plants available for students to observe with magnifying glasses. Colored pencils and paper were provided so students could draw the plants and label the plant parts. Another station had a variety of plastic animals with matching animal habitat pictures. Students matched the plastic animal with the habitat picture. Students stated why they matched a specific animal with a specific habitat. In an additional students used Plus-Plus tubes to build animals or plants from picture cards. The picture card image served a as a spark to get an idea for building. Students use the building materials to build animals on the card. The last station supported student love of books We provided a bin of books with related science topics for students to read or look at pictures. Scientist get information by reading and looking at books.

We ended the session with an opportunity for students to reflect and share what tool scientists use and how they were critical thinkers in Innovation Lab.

Since scientist use critical thinking skills we used this as an opportunity to connect our district's Profile of a Graduate to the learning that week. Critical thinkers ask questions, make connections, and understand/apply information.

< Note from Mr. Pittman - Most of the kit items can be found around the house, and part of the reason we use these "up-cycled" materials is to build habits around responsible use of resources, so I'm only including the link here to illustrate what the "cars" might look like, and share some of the learning targets.

A "Build-tionary" house

These "up-cycled" materials are low cost and present welcome learning challenges in building that we can use to give students practice with several valuable skills. These materials are great in practicing creative problem solving, visual communications, abstract expression, and in engineering linkages that meet certain functions. Many Campbell teachers have the RAFT Makerspace-in-a-box in their classroom or schools, but there are many similar objects that can be collected around the classroom or at home and used in the same way. Clean natural materials like wood, cork, cardboard, boxes, plastic bottles, sand and fabric scraps are great items to save and use in art and engineering practice.

Our first week of learning in the new innovation lab, was as exciting for the innovation teacher team as it was for students. We feel the positive energy every day on campus, and it felt like a positive and productive start. We began with lab safety, exploring the new lab spaces and the new resources, internet and online tool safety, team work and collaboration, and began to explore modeling and prototyping with our unique up-cycled building materials.

During the lessons this week, students opened with a quick greeting and getting-to-know-your-team activity. Then students were invited to explore the classroom and pick out elements of the classroom that they would like to explore. Students chose an interesting tool, display or resource in the room to explore and ultimately demonstrate to the class how to use properly and safely.

Next we moved on to an activity that called "Build-tionary." An obvious riff on Pictionary, students begin to learn the rapid prototyping process by drawing a card that has printed a word, always a common noun, and a simple line art image that illustrates the word. Student teams then try to "build" the word/ image on the card with their team. Students use increasingly challenging "building materials" such as corks, wooden blocks, small colorful wooden shapes, math manipulative blocks, CD-roms, plastic spoons, cardboard tubes, a sheet of labels, rubber bands, brads and anything I can find that will stack, fold, fit or otherwise link together in interesting ways.

After a few minutes, students compare and try to guess each other's words based on the model they have created. Then shuffle the cards and repeat. The objective is to help students become familiar with and build habits that work well in using the unique materials in the lab. As well we want students to practice working together in small groups to share and test ideas quickly.

At the end of every lesson I ask students to reflect on three questions:

"What is something that was productive, went well or feels satisfying overall from the learning activity?"

"What is something that was challenging or difficult, but led to something productive today?"

"Who would you like to thank or share gratitude with?" (Think of a teammate to thank for great collaboration or sharing an idea or materials...)

< Note from Mr. Pittman - This "Student Guided Tour" of the lab helps students to spend a few minutes with some of the very interesting, but perhaps overly distracting robots, tools, materials terrariums and other exciting things in the lab. We take a few minutes to talk about using each resource safely and effectively before we start using the lab.

Lesson Resources:

Our Scientist Song visual.pdf

Download and print our Scientist song

Download and print Build-tionary cards! (Create your own and share them back too!)

Page updated

Report abuse