This term we finished "Living and Non-Living Things" which they all seemed to understand and like learning about, as they still talk about it! We have started "Electricity" which you may know from the homework. Last week was "science week" and Mr. Alan asked us to do any type of science experiment in our classrooms each day. One day we weighed and measured things, another day we talked about magnets and what would stick to the white board and what would not, and on the only day I had my camera (see, it's not always in my hand) :) we voted on what would sink and what would float. Then, we discussed why.
The children guessed correctly most of the time and like the math project last written about, I asked them to vote based on what THEY thought, and not to put their hands up because their friends did. It was surprisingly nice to see that they feel comfortable to disagree nicely with classmates and to say why they think the way they do. I asked them each to go around the room quietly and slowly and pick two things that could get wet because we would be putting them in a pail of water. They brought back some very interesting things. We all enjoyed it and I have a video that I need to shorten of us doing this project. :) I think I learned more about this topic than they did as my vote was usually wrong, and it was great to see that they didn't vote the way I did just because "I'm a teacher." I tell them all the time that we are learning too and we learn from them! :)
We have read about electricity and watched some videos online, and completed some worksheets. I am moving into some more "active" things that will make them more interested and hopefully have it be more fun. We watched a video on "Electricity Safety." They then coloured in a sheet but only the parts that showed a dangerous / unsafe thing about electricity. I marked them with them there and then as a group we talked about all the right answers. The next day, I wanted to show the video again (3 minutes) to remind them, but we were missing a cord for the whiteboard. I was very impressed with how well each of them remembered what we talked about without me giving them back their sheet or being able to see the video again. I asked them all to think of a "Safety Rule" in their head and we would take turns writing them all down. Their memories are excellent and they did not just repeat what was said in the video. They used their own words which meant they understood the rule and why we must obey it for their safety. Here we are making the list and shortly I'll post a picture of the completed project. (we are working on two others that are related) <Yusuf is getting a High-5 for giving a great answer in English! They love that!>
