Ms.Small and Mr. Billadeau's Pre-k Class 2019-2020: TWO SNOWMEN

I hope you can hear this video. Mr Billadeau managed to catch this clip as Solveig, Margot and Beatrix were playing. I have to say, Solveig does a great impression of me.

At group time I set up an experiment and told everyone to put their scientist hat on. I made 2 small snowmen and placed them on a tray.

Q: What will happen if we leave these snowmen in the room?

EVERYONE: "Melt!"

AUSTIN: "It’s hot, and they will melt."

Then I placed a hat over one of the snowmen and asked them to predict what would happen .

Q: Which will melt faster? (We took a vote)

Votes for the snowman under the hat: Ike, Solveig, Margot, Beatrix, Leonard, Valentina, Nolan

Votes for the snowman outside the hat: Fang, Austin, Grace, Evy, Ella

This was interesting as usually minds at this age gravitate toward the idea that the snowman under the hat will melt faster. This is the first year I have seen so many children vote for the snowman outside of the hat. Showing that children of this age already have a wealth of knowledge and experiences to draw from.

Q: Why do you think the snowman under the hat will melt faster?

MARGOT: "Because the hat is warm."

VALENTINA: "The hat is going to melt the snow."

IKE: "The hat is really hot so the snow will melt."

NOLAN: "The hat is too hot, it has warmness on it".

MARGOT: "If we took the hat off, it might melt right away."

Q: Why do you think the snowman outside the hat will melt faster?

EVY: "Because it doesn’t have a hat on it. The hat will help it not melt fast."

ELLA: "The one under the hat will not melt because the hat is on it."

At the end of the morning we checked our experiment

The one of the right was covered by the hat.

MARGOT: "I think that the hat one was colder."

IKE: "It’s because that one (outside the hat) melted a little bit."

SOLVEIG: "The cold couldn’t get out because the hat was blocking it."

LEONARD: "The hat was on it, and the water was on the bottom, and that’s how it stayed up without melting."

MARGOT:" I think the snowman under the hat was colder, and the cold air got off of the other snowman because the hat wasn’t on it."

VALENTINA: "The hat is not so hot, and the outside over here was a little cold, but over here it’s so hot, but under the hat it’s so cold."

FANG: "The hat blocks the hot air."

NOLAN: "The ball fell off (the one outside the hat)."

MARGOT:" I think that side of the tray is cold (the hat side) and this side is warm."

VALENTINA: "The snow made water. "

I loved all the conclusions they came to, we definitely have some scientific brains in our group. I can't wait to hear more of their theories on the other experiments we will carry out with snow, ice and water this year.

During work choice time we continued with model magic faces

Ella and Austin worked on a boat in big blocks. Austin sailed the ship to Greenland as Ella requested.

Colin joined them and decided he wanted to go to Antarctica. BRRRR!!!

I filled the sensory table with snow. Beatrix, Evy, and Austin decided they wanted to make ice-creams.

One scoop or two!

At the end of the morning we read 'Be a King' by Carole Boston Weatherford. It talks about how we can follow Martin Luther King Jr's example of being kind, looking out for others, inclusivity etc. Reinforcing the idea that this is something they are capable of doing. I paraphrased certain sections of the book to keep us on track. We will discuss ways they can 'Be a king' tomorrow morning.