Kindergarten
2019-2020
Kindergarten students in Mrs. Rutkoski's, Mrs. Johnson's and Mrs. Bollette's class became engineers and explored the concept of building with a healthy, sweet, and tasty treat. Students were challenged to build a tower that measured at least 5 cubes tall with apple slices and toothpicks.
2018-2019
Push & Pull design and budget challenge
Expert Engineers coming through! Students in Mrs. Johnson's Kindergarten class took on one final engineer design challenge this school year. Students were given the task to design, build, and test a solution to moving a pile of rocks with recycled materials... but there was a catch, they had to stay within their given budget. Students practiced their addition and subtractions skills using tens frames and dollar bills. They shopped for materials and were sure to stay within their budget.
They then applied the engineer design process and designed and built various solutions keeping in mind the concepts of pushing and pulling and gravity. They were all very creative and proud of their prototypes!
Math Enrichment
What a better way to engage our little friends than to use a robot to help us skip count! Meet ozobot, the line following robot.
all school enrichment design challenge: The gingerbread man's great escape
Students in all three Kindergarten classrooms participated in an engineer design challenge while exploring different versions of the Gingerbread man stories before the holiday break. We discussed the role of an engineer and then students became engineers while completing this challenge. Students were introduced to the idea of materials science and explored "sink/float". In addition they worked on their collaboration skills and time management.
Math Enrichment
While using manupulatives (place value blocks) students explored the concept of greater than (>) and less than (<), reading number sentences, and 1 more / 1 less. They put all of these skills together to create their very own number sentence using the Adobe Spark app on the enrichment iPads, which were a generous donation by a Valley View parent.
2017-2018
The Great Escape: Gingerbread Man
Kindergarten students in Mrs. Rutkoski's class participated in an ELA related STEAM challenge. Prior to the challenge, students read various versions of the The Gingerbread Man and in many, if not all, the stories end tragically. Students worked in groups and were challenged to design a boat for the gingerbread man so he can safely cross the river to escape all who are chasing him... Students explored concepts of floating, sinking, and disintegrating. They completed this challenge by following the engineering design process. Each group's project resulted in success for our gingerbread man! Hurray!
Popcorn: 5 Senses Exploration
Mrs. Bollette and Mrs. Johnson's Kindergarten students participated in an exploration activity involving the 5 senses. All students had the opportunity to take an everyday yummy snack and use critical thinking skills and their senses to compare 3 different flavors of popcorn. As students taste tested each type of popcorn, they participated in a classroom discussion and described their favorite one uses all five senses.
Apple Tower Challenge
How tall is your apple tower? Kindergarten students participated in a delicious STEAM Challenge. STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.
In this challenge Kindergartners were introduced to the concept of engineering. They discussed the role of an engineer and how they would complete this challenge. Students then began building their towers.
This was not an easy task as they had to figure out how to make their structure stand without falling over. They were also introduced to the math concept of measurement. Once they built their towers, they measured the height with unifix cubes and then recorded their measurements.
To celebrate their hard work and success, they had the choice of eating their delicious creations. During this time, we reflected on what was difficult about completing this challenge and how we could possibly improve upon this.
It was a fun and yummy lesson for all!
A special thanks goes out to Shoprite of Clinton, NJ who supplied our Kindergartners with the yummy apples!
2016-2017
4th Marking Period 2017
Accelerated Math Program
Students participating in the accelerated math program worked on creating their very own word problems using what they know about place value. They used Google slides and then recorded their thinking with screencastify.
11/17/2016: Tulip Test Gardens: A Citizen Science Project
Students in our accelerated math program began their day with planning our Tulip Test Garden. They surveyed a good spot in the school courtyard and measured an appropriate perimeter for the flower bed.
Once the plan was in place, Mrs. Rutkoski's Kindergarten Class helped to plant the Tulip Bulbs. Students talked about their role as a citizen scientist and how they were going to contribute their observations and track data that will go into a worldwide database. We will monitor the growth of these tulips to track signs of Spring and send our findings to Journey North.
