myGanBlog: Some weeks are like that

This month has been very fun. I was very excited to continue studying chemistry with the children.

Being a teacher who believes in following the child and encouraging the children to lead, I realized Monday morning I was going to need to make some choices:

follow their lead and support them

insist on the lesson plan I had set.

Needless to say this week did not go according to my plan.

We may not have been on my track this week,
but the kids were taking me on a very interesting, wandering and spiraling journey.

Ari discovered that pencils float.

Morah Katie: Why do you think they float?

Ari: They are not heavy.

Morah Katie: What are pencils made of?

Ari: Wood.

Morah Katie: What does that tell you about wood?

Ari: It floats.

I witnessed two older children patiently sharing with their young friends.

I over heard one four year old say: But she is just 2, she is still learning to share.

We just need to help her.

We discovered that plastic fruit will not roll down our white tube,

but if we work together we can unclog the tube.

The apple and strawberry can roll but the banana, watermelon and beans do not.

As we meandered our way through this week,

I enjoyed listening to story telling

and observing potential future authors practice their writing techniques.

Eventually, in their own time, the children led me back to chemistry.

They remembered that if we cut an apple open and leave it exposed to air,

Evan: The oxygen makes it oxidize.

Judah: Except for that part that we put that stuff on to keep it from the oxygen.

Morah Katie: What was that thing we put on the apples?

Clara: Lemon juice! I love lemons.

One experiment this week was to reduce the oxidation effect on the element of copper.

We hoped to take dirty oxidized pennies and make them shiny again.

With some salt, vinegar and a little hard work we successfully transformed oxidized pennies into shiny bright orange coins.

What to do with pennies? Share them and give tzedakah!

Thursday morning was here. I had 2 more experiments I was eager to share.
Morah Katie: I had hoped to try to grow crystals earlier in the week. I'd like to try today and see if anything develops tonight and over the weekend. Shall we try?
Kids: YES!
We filled 2 jars with hot water and added 2 scoops of borax to one and 4 scoops in the other.
We dipped pipe cleaners suspended fro popsicle sticks in the solution.

Morah Katie: Now we wait. We may succeed, we may fail.
Augie: But that would be ok because we tried.

We also try to use kind words. In the midst of a busy morning,
Evelyn and Maya showed me how they are learning to use kind words.

We have a "talking bubble" and "thought bubble" in our classroom. They help us understand that there are things we say, and there are things we think.

Evelyn: I am saying when you share it makes me feel good.

Maya: I am not saying anything because I'm not be saying something nice.

I would say out loud it makes me happy when you share.

Evelyn: I could say out loud it makes me sad when you don't share.

Maya: I would say I feel sadder when you don't share. But I wouldn't say anything mean even if I thought it.

Our final experiment involved baking soda balls and vinegar.
How many drops of vinegar can we add to our ball until it begins to fizz?
Augie:1
Evelyn: 5
Judah: 20
Maya: 25!
We got up to 30 before we decided to squeeze the entire eyedropper of vinegar out.
Abe: Now it's fizzing!