Miss Nykamp

As all of you know, Miss Lydia Nykamp is our student teacher!  Miss Nykamp comes to us from Hope College, where she is anxiously working toward graduation and her teaching certificate!  Miss Nykamp will spend this semester with us and next semester working in a Special Education setting!  She will be hoping for her own classroom next fall!

Last week, Miss Nykamp taught the kids all about fire safety and prevention.  They reviewed and learned many tips and concepts during Fire Prevention week.  The unit ended with a fun project for the kids - making Dalmatian dogs!

Teagen, Levi, Jessica, Cameron and Lilly

Kairi, Samuel, Paige, Gavin and Sierra

Kendrick, Maddie (hidden by Kendrick), Mason, Makayla, Hunter, Hannah, Annabel, Ariyah (missing from her seat)

Apologies for the fuzziness - Claire, Jocelyn, Izzy, Jordan (hidden by Izzy), Noel, Lydia, Justin and Kaylee

The finished Dalmatians!

Dalmatian Doggies!

This week, Miss Nykamp began our unit on maps and globes.  First, she taught the kids about Christopher Columbus.  She used a tennis ball to show the kids how small people in that time thought the world was.  She also showed them how Columbus would travel from Portugal to India around the bottom of Africa.  That was a long and dangerous trip, so Columbus (not realizing the Earth was so huge) wanted to sail West, around the Earth, to reach India!  Miss Nykamp then brought out our globe to show the kids the difference between what people THOUGHT and the ACTUAL size of the Earth. They could then easily understand why Columbus thought he reached India, when in fact, he reached the Bahamas!  Miss Nykamp asked the kids why he called the natives "Indians", and they realized that Columbus thought they landed in India - hence the name "Indians"!

Miss Nykamp starts the unit with a story about Christopher Columbus

She stops and asks questions during the story to ensure they are understanding.

Miss Nykamp brings out the tennis ball to show the kids what people in that day thought
about the size of the Earth.

Miss Nykamp then brings out the globe to show the kids the difference between
what people thought the Earth's size was, and how big it really was.  She also shows
the children Columbus' route from Portugal and Spain to the Bahamas.  The kids realized very easily why
Columbus thought he had found India, but didn't realize that he found a whole new world that people never
 realized was between Portugal and India!

Today, the kids learned about important features on a globe.  Miss Nykamp showed them that the North Pole is on the top of the globe and the South Pole is on the bottom.  The weather at the poles is always cold.  She also taught them that the 'belly' of the globe is called the Equator, and the weather there is always hot.  She pointed out the land, water, mountains, and different countries.  She discussed that the different colors and lines helped learners understand the boundaries of countries, but were not really on the Earth itself.  

Next, Miss Nykamp brought out a map of the world.  She discussed the difference between a globe and a map.  They found water, land, equator, and the four directions (North, South, East and West) on the map!

Finally, the children made their own model of the Earth with the features learned in the lesson!  

Working on the map activity.

Adding clouds and stars to the map.

Miss Nykamp helps with the map project.

Samuel shows off his finished product!

Cameron and Levi are proud of their work!

Lilly shows off her project!

Jessica did a great job!

Paige is happy with her product!

Finally, Miss Nykamp does calendar with the class every morning.  She is a fantastic teacher and the kids are learning a lot from her!  Miss Nykamp will be taking over more subjects in the next couple of weeks, and Mrs. Ferrell will be the 'helper' in class!  Then, in late November, we will transition back to Mrs. Ferrell taking over again.  We are so lucky to have her with us and appreciate all the great ideas and fun she brings to our room!  

Miss Nykamp will be at Parent Teacher conferences in a couple of weeks as well, so you will all have the opportunity to talk with her personally then.  Until then, I am more than certain you are hearing all about her from your child each day!