7: A Spoonful of Sugar
“Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, In a most delightful way.”
Mary Poppins was an icon for me when I was growing up. As a child, her character gave me a sense of wonder and awe, and allowed me to view the world through a different lens. I’ve always been curious if what she said is true: that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.
This week, as the Kindergarteners and I continued our inquiry into the different food groups — particularly sugars and fats — I was determined to find out.
We started off the week by experiencing the main ingredient of this food group with our senses. The children had the chance to touch, smell, and taste sweet sugar crystals, and as expected, they enjoyed it. They all agreed that it tastes yummy, and some even asked for a second round! I’m sure they would have all been happy with Mary Poppins’ prescription of a spoonful, but I think that’s a tad too much!
After our mini-investigation, I’ve posed a wondering to the class:
What can we make with sugar?
The children shared their ideas through colorful drawings:
Did you notice what loose part we used as our writing tool?
And I shared my favorite one through a book called From Cocoa Bean to Chocolate. The idea that chocolates come from beans fascinated the children, but it was the process of making this delicious treat that brought out their connections and questions.
It looks like a fruit when you open it!
Is it from a tree?
We buy these in the shops.
Is it soft? (when milk was added)
My dad likes chocolates with nuts!
To deepen our investigation and to encourage the children to be scientists, we did a week-long experiment using three ingredients: sugar, water, and food coloring. We wanted to find out what will happen if we add these ingredients together, and left a string in the solution for a week.
Just like creating chocolate, the children understood the importance of following a process. Each of them waited for their turn to do a step, and shared the joy in creating the experiment together. They also learned the value of patience since visible results of their experiment took a few days to form.
At the end of the week, the children were giddy with excitement as we got ready to reveal the results. They made guesses on what had happened:
The sugar is going to be sticky.
The string will stick inside the container.
It will be hard, like ice.
It will be yummy.
Voila! Here are our sugar crystals — sticky just as they had guessed, and hard just like ice. They’re probably yummy too, but I’d rather not find out for now. 😊
To cap off our sugary week, the children launched a project that they’ve slowly worked on since Tuesday — their very own candy shop! Next week, they will have a chance to explore the sugary treats that their classmates are “selling” in their stall, and get the opportunity to make choices through their pretend purchases.
——
“In every job that must be done,
there is an element of fun.
The wisdom in Mary Poppins’ songs is truly a gift for teachers like me. This week, one of our “jobs” in Math is to learn about patterns. I listened to Mary Poppins’ piece of advice and added an element of fun as we explored this Math concept. Throughout the week, the children looked for patterns around them, and created a whole Lego tower city full of patterns.
They even used pattern blocks to make patterns with the first letters of their names.
And they designed their candy shops’ awnings with patterns that they chose, as well as organize their crystal experiments to make a pattern!
Did you notice them? 😊
——
“Though quite intent in his pursuit,
he has a merry tune to toot.
He knows a song will move the job along.”
And this week, we did sing! We have finally completed our fist class song:
The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
Have a listen, please.
(Trivia: I learned how to play the ukulele through my 11-year old teacher, who was also my student in class! I’m excited to find out what I can learn from your kids, too. Maybe skateboarding? 😊 )
—-
It truly was a fun week of investigations, explorations, and challenges. And while my inquisitive self didn’t really find out whether a spoonful of sugar does help the medicine go down, I discovered many ways to learn about this food group with the children in a most delightful way.
Thank you, Mary Poppins.
Your Kindergarten teacher,
Pam
P.S. Check out our new display of unit books. Literacy is in the air!
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