Library / Dr. Benjamin Franklin

This afternoon our class went to Mallet Creek Library.When my students came to know that Benjamin Franklin started the first library and invented the library chair ( rocking chair), they asked me whether we could visit the library and see if we could find some of his inventions.Since this is a very modern facility we could not find a library chair.Nevertheless, Mrs. Rachel gave us a good tour. We checked out two books on Ben Franklin.When Mrs. Rachel asked my class where we were from,  David then took the lead and answered very graciously that we were from Summers-Knoll and that we were learning about Benjamin Franklin and hence the visit.

A million thanks to Dr. Benjamin Franklin for starting a library and opening the doors of knowledge!

Library

Benjamin Franklin-WRITER,INVENTOR,STATESMAN

December is the month where we are learning about Benjamin Franklin, one of the most important and interesting people in the history of the United States of America! When  we think of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, we think about his many inventions- inventions which he originated more than two hundred years ago. It was as if Ben Franklin could see into the future. Almost everything he created is still very useful today , many of which we could not do without!

This afternoon, I took a vote with my students as to which book of Benjamin Franklin they wanted to read.( I had four)They chose Benjamin Franklin ( writer, inventor,statesman) by, Pamela Hill Nettleton, illustrated by Jeff Yesh.The children were all relaxing / laying down on their cushions beautifully.As I kept on reading, they were all so much into Ben Franklin, that any time I mentioned an invention that he had made they would say, " oh my gosh". Their eyes kept on getting bigger and bigger! They were so immersed in the book and all the wonderful inventions. It was such a joy to see this reaction :) When I told them about the " library chair and the writing chair ", they all started clapping their hands and wanted to know more and more. Furthermore, when I was telling my students about " Poor Richards Almanac" and some of the wise sayings- "early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise," one of my students said, " I go to bed at seven thirty and I get up early, so I can think."  Then started a great discussion about healthy living and eating! I cannot express how very  happy and connected  I felt with my students. What a joy to see them learn and enjoy life! Then they wanted to draw and write something about Ben Franklin in their journals. Here are some interesting facts that our children said this afternoon....enjoy.... it is precious!

Learning to tell time / Clock-work.

What is the best way to tell what time it is? A clock!

Our class is learning how to tell time!

An hour is sixty minutes long.It takes an hour for the big hand to go around the clock. When the big hand is on 12, and the little hand points to a number, that is the hour!30 minutes make half an hour. There are 3 ways to say time to the half- hour. For eg. we say 7:30, thirty  past the hour or half past seven.And that a clock also has 4 quarters. One quarter- hour is 15 minutes.The children have made their dinner time, bed time, math & recess time.......They made their own clocks to bring home!

The New Seven Wonders!/Explorations-

On Thursday when we walked into the school, Mike was very focused in building a tower. He made a tall, magnificent tower which was literally touching the ceiling from the table. The children were all very delighted  to see how concentrated Mike was. So somebody looked at me and said, "Look at this Wonder." I smiled and said, "Indeed SK's magnificent tower!" I was very excited; what a beautiful way to start The Exploration Class. I was really impressed and couldn't wait to hear what my group had to say! The explorers are: Alec, Max,Veda, Sophie,Grace, Emi. I asked my group why they chose The New Seven Wonders? They had some very interesting things to say:-Alec was fascinated by architecture and wanted to explore Chichen Itza! Max said that, "he and his grandfather are always discussing about the wonders, and he wanted to explore The Taj Mahal".

We talked about the following:- in which continents and countries the wonders are? Why/ how  people chose these wonders amongst so many magnificent structures? Why are there eight wonders, when it says Seven only?And a lot more! I am so excited that Max and Alec are going to be good mentors for our younger ones. In fact they were helping them build The Taj Mahal with blocks.

I will update more about our wonders soon.

Nature Walk/ Beautiful day in the neighborhood!

This morning the k/1 class went on a Nature walk deep in the woods of county farm park. The children discovered many bird nests, moss, different types of berries and dried plants like Queen Ann's Lace. We were really quiet and listening to sounds of nature and heard the cawing of Blue-Jays.It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood........

Electricity / Magnetism (continued)

We have covered quite a bit on electricity and magnetism. We discussed that everything is made of atoms. The air we breathe, the book we read,the floor under our feet, even our own body are made of atoms!Atoms are very very small.The tiny parts of the atom are called electrons. Electrons circle around the nucleus or center of the atom!Every electron carries a tiny amount of electrical energy called a charge.There are two types of electrical charges- positive and negative. Electrons have a negative charge and that protons carry a positive charge.To make electricity we need energy. Energy is found in many of earth's natural resources:- water, wind, coal ,gas.Wind , sun , water are all renewable energy, we can use it over and over again. Where as coal and oil can be used up . They are nonrenewable energy.We watched couple of Bill Nye videos on magnets and electricity. And came to know that electricity flows to every electronic device on a looping path called a circuit.Electricity has a special relationship with magnets.Magnetism can make electricity.We did couple of experiments with a compass and a balloon and discovered static electricity!The children had a wonderful time.They thoroughly enjoyed learning about Thomas A. Edison and how curious he was as a little boy.Here are some pictures.... enjoy....

This months theme @ SK is Electricity/ Magnetism!

Yesterday we had a good discussion in our classroom about Electricity! Benjamin Franklin was the first person to help people understand the principles of electricity. Thomas Edison  changed the world with his invention  of the electric light bulb! And how electricity has dramatically changed our life styles. When my students heard that before electricity became available about 100 years ago, homes were lit by kerosene lamps, food was cooled in ice boxes and that homes were warmed by wood- burning stoves or coal stoves and how people dug holes outside their homes and stored their meat and perishable food  in them for the winter, they were in disbelief and said, "Oh my gosh." So we grabbed this opportunity and did a survey in the school. I divided the children into two groups. They went to the different classrooms, the office, the dining area and the kitchen  to see what gadgets and appliances they could find. They were writing down on their clip-boards and came across more than 25 different electrical appliances! They were so thrilled to inform us that a stapler too, was an electrical one. They even wrote down defibrillator! Today  with our buddy friends we were able to experiment  with magnets. They found that magnets have a north and a south pole. Magnets repel each other. They attract only iron and steel.This is only the beginning!

We will be learning a lot more through videos. Yesterday we saw one on magnets. (Thanks to Mrs. Carpenter.) We will read many interesting books and do some more research and activities on electicity. We will go back on time and see how our forefathers lived. We might go to the Hands-On Museum and learn more about electricity. This weekend children will do some research at home,  where they will discover the electrical gadgets and appliances that they use on a daily basis. We will learn about flash-lighta and batteries, who discovered them and how they got their name... and a lot more....  I will keep you posted.

For now, here are some pictures... enjoy.