Kindergarten: Playing in the Pond, a CREATE Station

As we work our way through our CREATE stations, the ART station has definitely become a favorite for students. Our first graders enjoyed learning about the frog life cycle. Our kindergartners colored the dragonfly and watched it fly around and come to life. 

For this coloring ART station, we started off by reading the picture, Over and Under the Pond by Kate Messner and discussing the pond ecosystem. Kate Messner's books are excellent books to pair with science lessons. Her other books include: Over and Under the Snow, Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt, and Over and Under the Rainforest. 

After reading the story, we dicuss living vs. nonliving. 

What is living in the pond? 

What do the living plants and animals need? 

What is nonliving in the pond? How can you tell it is nonliving? 

Time permitting, we even take it a step further and have students solidify their knowledge with a word sort where they have to put living and nonliving items under the correct category. 

For those teachers with a subscription to the Pebble Go, feel free to check out this link to their article: Living vs. Nonliving. This is a great article that will read to the students. 

After we read the book and discuss living vs. nonliving, it is time to color the Quivervision sheet. Quivervision is a great app, and very user friendly! Be sure to check out the Quivervision Education Dashboard if you would like to research subscriptions for your classes.  Here is a quick video tutorial on how to get started using augmented reality in your classroom or library: QUIVERVISION TUTORIAL. There is also a slide deck to help you out! 

Once the students color their sheet, they will open the app on their device. The Quiver mobile app requires a backward-facing camera and iOS 11 or later. If using an Android device, it requires minimum Android 7.0 "Nougal" (API Level 24). 

Students use the device to scan the QR code for the coloring page. Once it loads, they can click the butterfly to launch and scan the coloring sheet. Wait until the image turns red and then blue. Give it a few more minutes and voila! It will come to life for students to explore and learn. This is an incredibly immersive learning experience. 

Feel free to access the lesson plan with the standards, signs, and I CAN statements: Quivervision Dragonfly Lesson Plan. I also have this sign below that I use as a visual for my art station; it covers K-2. Feel free to click on it and make a copy.