When I walked into Mrs. Janice Cox’s kindergarten class, I did not know that I was going to receive a lesson from kindergartener Joshua Bell. Joshua eagerly showed me what he had learned about the Solar System. He had placed all of the planets in order on the SMART Board and then labeled each one. He went on to tell me the name of each and to explain that the moon was not a planet. In fact, he said, many planets actually have their own moons.
The other students began to chime in, explaining that they had all written about the planets in their journals. Each student wrote about visiting a specific planet, but they were quick to assure me that their essays were “fiction” – because you cannot actually visit any of the planets. “The only place you can actually visit, other than Earth, is the moon,” they explained very seriously. Now, I would expect this sort of detailed explanation from fourth-graders, but kindergartners?! Wow!
The Cox Cubs then joined Mrs. Cox in circle time to discuss what they had learned about the planets. She asked them questions about each planet and the children loved raising their hands to answer her questions. For example, Charlie Patel explained to the class that Mars has large mountains. Alex Martin talked about the rings of ice around Saturn. Then, William Tullis explained that everything revolves around the Earth.
In the other kindergarten class, Mrs. Beth Smith’s Smarties were also working hard on the Solar System. The students had all created their own individual astronaut applications, stating why they would make great astronauts and what activities they wished to accomplish as an astronaut. Then, they each created a graph illustrating their responses. Mrs. Smith proudly displayed the graphs and applications in the classroom. She even carried the Solar System theme into the students’ math lesson, instructing them to create their own rockets and complete math activities on them.
It is great to know that even at the very end of the school year, our students are still learning – and having fun while doing it!
If you are interested in learning more about Darlington's Early Learning Academy or any other grade level, please contact me anytime.
