Forums

Hello! I was hoping to get a little help when it comes to creating a lesson about magnets for kinder. Most of the students are tired and are not excited by the end of the day so the first class gets a good experience and the second does not. What can I do to help the second class get excited enough to participate and learn about magnets?

Bring many different sizes of magnets into the classroom. That alone typically creates some curiosity. Kindergarteners should be learning numeracy. You can create a little experiment having the students use a magnet with paper clips and then have them count each paper clip that was magnetized. This could be great for combining math and science together, especially if you have those that needs additional help in math. You can also create a basic anchor chart after the experiment to go over what happened, etc.

Hi Brenda!! I totally understand your pain on trying to get little ones interested when they are tired! Currently, I am a student teacher in a first grade classroom and it is very difficult at the end of the day trying to get them to do anything. Recently, my mentor teacher taught magnets. I suggest having the students explore first in centers. We had three centers. One center there was magnetic block tiles where the students could build towers. The other center was sand with metal objects inside and the students had magnets where they could pull the objects out. The last center was a metal objects inside of soda bottle filled with water and the students had magnets where they could move the objects. So, getting the student excited about magnets through exploring first, do not tell them what they are learning yet, let them discover it in hand ons activity. This way to them it is just playtime. I hope this helps!

I taught kindergarten and magnets were always a lot of fun. We had metal paint cans (non toxic ones) and we would put a magnet in it. Another can would be full of sand, another would have half sand and magnets, one would be empty. We'd predict which can would roll the fastest. Their reaction to the one with the magnet was always entertaining. I would also give them a magnet and go around the room to see what items in the classroom were magnetic. (if you have computers it's important to tell them to keep the magnets away from them) We would have science journals where students would draw their findings and write to their best of their knowledge what they found out about the experiment. It was always a fun unit.