Interdivisional Fun with KTK

As soon as Mr. Samson, my AP Psychology teacher, told us that our class was going to work with the PreK students and 1st graders, I was immediately enthused. Being a senior, I've put a lot of thought into what I want to do with my future studies and endeavors. My plan for right now is to major in psychology and eventually work with children in some form or another, so the opportunity that our class was presented with was very exciting, to me especially. The day finally came when we made our walk down memory lane, through the Lower School, to one of the science rooms, which used to be my old music room. All of the seniors sat down approximately two to a table as we awaited our little PreK students to come. As they arrived, they entered with timid smiles and a hidden excitement that slowly began to come out. We performed two main experiments with them, one having to do with various amounts of water and the other with amounts of money.

In the water experiment, the seniors poured green liquid into two beakers. Our little PreK partners helped us decide when the amounts of liquid in the two different beakers were exactly even. Then we took one beaker and poured it into a skinnier and taller beaker.

Lower School students take their turn measuring liquid in different sized beakers.

We asked the students if there was still the same amount of liquid in each, and they believed that the one poured into the skinner/taller beaker looked like it had a greater amount because it was visually taller. The 1st graders, however, knew that the amount of liquid didn't in fact change; it just looked like a different amount because of the shape of the new beaker. To begin the money experiment, the seniors lined up two rows of 5 quarters. We then took one of the rows and spread out the coins a little bit. The PreK students said that the row that was spread out had more money, whereas the 1st grade students said that there was still the same amount of money, we just physically moved one row.

The experiments proved to be challenging.

We examined the developmental stages that these students are experiencing, which was very interesting! We also asked our student buddies to draw a picture of a person. The PreK students were using lots of colors and being more free-spirited. On the other hand, the 1st graders liked to outline the shape of the body in black before they began to fill it in with any colors. The observations we made allowed us to create real life connections between what we read in the textbook and what we experienced in this environment.

PreK students hard at work.

Having gone to GA since PreK, I have always appreciated and cherished the times that I got to work with older students (and now younger students). I still remember when I was a PreK student I had a middle school buddy named Katie Martin who had Ms. Glendinning as a teacher. I had the best time with Katie. I also remember when the KTK - Kids Teaching Kids- program allowed me to work with high schoolers on science experiments when I was just in Kindergarten. All these different experiences with other GA students helped turn my school world into a cohesive, community-based, and meaningful experience.

~Kaela G. '15