Super Scientists
Super scientists united today! Of course we had to start our first cluster by making "SS" capes (a.k.a. super scientists)! We also revealed our cluster name to our parents by writing a message in invisible ink (either milk or lemon juice) for them to discover by adding heat. We will have an exciting time exploring other super science powers of our favorite super heroes!
Create and Illustrate
In the Create and Illustrate cluster we decorated our artist smocks to help keep our clothes clean while we explore all things art. We voted on which picture books we would like to recreate. The favorites were How to Catch a Star, Polar Bear’s Underwear, and Growing a Rainbow! We are excited to create our very own masterpieces in the coming weeks!
Yo Yo Yoga
The children of Yo Yo Yoga had a blast during our first cluster. We introduced ourselves and made up unique yoga poses to represent ourselves to the group. We read a very peaceful book called "Mindful Me" and then did a 15 minute yoga video from www.cosmickids.com. The children were able to experience the benefits of mindfulness and yoga firsthand prior to discussing our goals for the cluster. In the end, the children have decided that they would like to create their own book with ideas and pictures about how to self regulate.
Animation Station
Animation Station had an awesome first cluster! After introducing ourselves and getting to know each other a little bit, we watched some videos to learn what stop motion animation is all about. Some second graders visited and showed us a stop motion video they'd created. Finally, using the app Tromaramix students had some time to explore stop motion on their own using various materials. We had a blast!
Pooch-A-Palooza
Our tongues were out and our tails were wagging after our first cluster meeting! We spent some time getting to know each other and why we chose to be in the Pooch-A-Palooza cluster. We discussed different dog breeds and shared which breed we would choose to be and why. It was so fun to hear everyone’s reasoning. We also discussed the difference between Service dogs and Therapy dogs. We even had a visit from a real life Therapy dog, Rusty! Rusty visits sick children at Dell Children’s Hospital and is involved in the Bow Wow Reading Program. He brings a lot of joy to children all over Austin and we were excited to hear more about his days! We are looking forward to learning more about dogs and all of their amazing jobs and behaviors!
Bath Potions
We started with an ice-breaker, going around the circle to introduce ourselves and saying our favorite scent. We discussed what we were hoping to get out of out cluster/ideas for our end presentation and what to do with our finished products. Our first bath creation was making potpourri. We looked at the process of drying flowers/fruit and how to make potpourri. We then prepared our flowers to be dried by cutting off blooms and laying them on a tray to dry for our next process.
Science at Play
In our first meeting, we introduced ourselves and then played an exciting guessing game to find out about science activities to come! We talked about what we know about science and students shared stories of science experiments that they enjoyed. We discussed how we can create things to play with by combining different ingredients. We brainstormed possible ideas of items to create and then voted for our favorites. We finished our day by making tie dyed milk!
Barton Creek Ninja Warriors
Barton Creek Ninja Warriors had an awesome time at our first cluster! We started by playing a warm up game that made us work as a team and used some strategy. We then took a look at some of the champions from American Ninja Warrior, and found things in the gym that looked like the real courses on the show. We finished off by going outside to practice our obstacle course skills. We can't wait to start constructing our own Barton Creek Ninja Warrior obstacle courses!
Puzzled
We had a great first day in puzzled! We got to know each other and we got to share why we like doing puzzles. Did you know there are many different types of puzzles? We worked together to untangle our first puzzle of yarn and then we put together different puzzles with different images on them. We look forward to working on all different types of puzzles in the weeks to come!
Wild about Animals
We are WILD about animals! We began our cluster with a funny, but intriguing, video of wild animals. Then we introduced ourselves by talking about our favorite wild animals and the difference between wild animals and pets (or domestic animals). We explored a National Geographic website for kids to use as resource for finding information. To end our first cluster, we brainstormed answers to the question, “What next?” And we are excited to discover new facts about wild animals and to design wild animals to show what we know!
Sing Me a Story
The Kinder and First Grade students were so excited as they entered the music room for our Sing Me a Story cluster. We started off with a song and dance called “Sing Me a Story”. The students were able to be creative and improve a dance to the story line of the music. Next, we began to discuss and share all the wonderful ways in which stories can be represented through rhymes, raps, songs, dancing, acting, instrumentation, operas, movies, and musicals. Throughout the class, the students listened to the stories and had fun participating in various activates to help them develop and create a greater understanding of all the amazing ways to demonstrate stories. In our next session, we will listen to several stories and understand the music and have the opportunity to use puppets to create and enhance our own version of the story line.
Super scientists united today! Of course we had to start our first cluster by making "SS" capes (a.k.a. super scientists)! We also revealed our cluster name to our parents by writing a message in invisible ink (either milk or lemon juice) for them to discover by adding heat. We will have an exciting time exploring other super science powers of our favorite super heroes!
Create and Illustrate
In the Create and Illustrate cluster we decorated our artist smocks to help keep our clothes clean while we explore all things art. We voted on which picture books we would like to recreate. The favorites were How to Catch a Star, Polar Bear’s Underwear, and Growing a Rainbow! We are excited to create our very own masterpieces in the coming weeks!
Yo Yo Yoga
The children of Yo Yo Yoga had a blast during our first cluster. We introduced ourselves and made up unique yoga poses to represent ourselves to the group. We read a very peaceful book called "Mindful Me" and then did a 15 minute yoga video from www.cosmickids.com. The children were able to experience the benefits of mindfulness and yoga firsthand prior to discussing our goals for the cluster. In the end, the children have decided that they would like to create their own book with ideas and pictures about how to self regulate.
Animation Station
Animation Station had an awesome first cluster! After introducing ourselves and getting to know each other a little bit, we watched some videos to learn what stop motion animation is all about. Some second graders visited and showed us a stop motion video they'd created. Finally, using the app Tromaramix students had some time to explore stop motion on their own using various materials. We had a blast!
Pooch-A-Palooza
Our tongues were out and our tails were wagging after our first cluster meeting! We spent some time getting to know each other and why we chose to be in the Pooch-A-Palooza cluster. We discussed different dog breeds and shared which breed we would choose to be and why. It was so fun to hear everyone’s reasoning. We also discussed the difference between Service dogs and Therapy dogs. We even had a visit from a real life Therapy dog, Rusty! Rusty visits sick children at Dell Children’s Hospital and is involved in the Bow Wow Reading Program. He brings a lot of joy to children all over Austin and we were excited to hear more about his days! We are looking forward to learning more about dogs and all of their amazing jobs and behaviors!
Bath Potions
We started with an ice-breaker, going around the circle to introduce ourselves and saying our favorite scent. We discussed what we were hoping to get out of out cluster/ideas for our end presentation and what to do with our finished products. Our first bath creation was making potpourri. We looked at the process of drying flowers/fruit and how to make potpourri. We then prepared our flowers to be dried by cutting off blooms and laying them on a tray to dry for our next process.
Science at Play
In our first meeting, we introduced ourselves and then played an exciting guessing game to find out about science activities to come! We talked about what we know about science and students shared stories of science experiments that they enjoyed. We discussed how we can create things to play with by combining different ingredients. We brainstormed possible ideas of items to create and then voted for our favorites. We finished our day by making tie dyed milk!
Barton Creek Ninja Warriors
Barton Creek Ninja Warriors had an awesome time at our first cluster! We started by playing a warm up game that made us work as a team and used some strategy. We then took a look at some of the champions from American Ninja Warrior, and found things in the gym that looked like the real courses on the show. We finished off by going outside to practice our obstacle course skills. We can't wait to start constructing our own Barton Creek Ninja Warrior obstacle courses!
Puzzled
We had a great first day in puzzled! We got to know each other and we got to share why we like doing puzzles. Did you know there are many different types of puzzles? We worked together to untangle our first puzzle of yarn and then we put together different puzzles with different images on them. We look forward to working on all different types of puzzles in the weeks to come!
Wild about Animals
We are WILD about animals! We began our cluster with a funny, but intriguing, video of wild animals. Then we introduced ourselves by talking about our favorite wild animals and the difference between wild animals and pets (or domestic animals). We explored a National Geographic website for kids to use as resource for finding information. To end our first cluster, we brainstormed answers to the question, “What next?” And we are excited to discover new facts about wild animals and to design wild animals to show what we know!
Sing Me a Story
The Kinder and First Grade students were so excited as they entered the music room for our Sing Me a Story cluster. We started off with a song and dance called “Sing Me a Story”. The students were able to be creative and improve a dance to the story line of the music. Next, we began to discuss and share all the wonderful ways in which stories can be represented through rhymes, raps, songs, dancing, acting, instrumentation, operas, movies, and musicals. Throughout the class, the students listened to the stories and had fun participating in various activates to help them develop and create a greater understanding of all the amazing ways to demonstrate stories. In our next session, we will listen to several stories and understand the music and have the opportunity to use puppets to create and enhance our own version of the story line.