PreK: Our Senses!
The central idea for the first unit of inquiry was the topic of -
“Using our senses to learn about ourselves and the things around us.”
We used this as our focus for English class, exploring the 5 senses and how we use them every day to learn. The focus question that we began the unit with was “How do you know?”
For example, “How do you know the ball is red?” = “We know because we can SEE it!”
During class discussions and activities, the students discovered that they have 5 senses that help them understand the world around them. Combined with the new English vocabulary, this was a very exciting unit to begin the students’ Pre-K experience!
We read the book “Listening Walk” and went on our own listening walk. The students had to be very quiet as we walked around the campus and noticed the different loud and quiet sounds. When we returned to the classroom, we classified all the sounds we heard as either loud (ex. A bouncing ball) or quiet (ex. A bird in a tree). We also sang the song “Loud and Quiet” and the students enjoyed experimenting with the volume of their own voice!
The favorite activities during this unit were definitely the taste and smell tests. For these, we focused on exploring our individual likes and dislikes of different smells and tastes. Students tasted something sweet, sour, bitter and salty and we graphed the results of likes and dislikes as a class. We did the same with smells using mint, cinnamon, coffee, vanilla and perfume. Some of the results were quite surprising!
To finish the unit, we went on a 5 senses walk and drew pictures and labeled all of the things we discovered and experienced with our 5 senses. We also used all 5 senses to describe one object.
In this case we used an apple, a musical ball, and popcorn. At this point the students were quite capable in using their new English vocabulary to talk about how they could experience each object. Our Pre-Kindergarteners were off to a great start as they learned to use their senses to know and understand themselves, their peers, and their environment!
