K.G.3 2-D vs 3-D Shapes

2-D versus 3-D? Flat versus solid? Huh?

I found this to be the most confusing for my students.  We introduced solid shapes to the pre-k classes; but once they got into Kindergarten they really seemed to get it.

Having "real" items for the students to touch and feel is vital here.  Handing them a piece of rectangular notebook paper, then handing them a thick book, helps them FEEL the difference between flat and solid. They can see it, touch it, turn it around...get the full sensory experience between flat and solid.

I spent a lot of time looking for 3-D examples for my students.  Here is a list to help you:

Spheres: any ball, orange, globe, gumball

Cubes: dice, square tissue box, block

Cylinders: coffee can, oatmeal canister, wipe container, tennis ball containers, drum, cork, flashlight, telescope

Cones:  ice cream sugar cone, party hat, megaphone, orange construction/sports cone

Pyramids: Lincoln Log roofs, decorative stone

Prism: rectangular tissue box, pasta box, juice box, crayon box, toothpaste box

The more examples you can give them of each type of 3-D shape, the better for them to see the differences between same and like shapes...which goes along with K.G.2 and K.G.4 AND they can use these for K.G.5, seeing shapes in the world.

Here is a fun K.G.5 example:

Kathy

K.G.2 Shape Identification (and K.G.4)

"Correctly name shapes regardless of their orientations or overall size."

This can be so much fun if you bring art into it.  

You can make cheap rubbing plates with cardboard & liquid glue or sandpaper.

You can print out large shapes, laminate the paper, and roll out snakes from play-doh.  This sheet came from http://www.kidssoup.com/. These two-year olds can't roll the snake, but they're trying to make the squares their way.

You can make fun & seasonal art.


  multi-shapes             -->

 <-- ovals  

 December holidays

cute leprechaun to build on whiteboard!
(from Kidssoup)








<--craft sticks (great for counting sides & vertices)

                    attribute magnets -->






Get out those cookie cutters!
 
How about buying cheap sponges from the dollar store and cutting out shapes from them? Get some painting going on.




Have fun!! Since I really believe MOST Kindergarteners already can recognize the basic shapes, this is the opportunity to introduce the important vocabulary words SIDE, CURVE, VERTEX.

K.G.4 is about comparing shapes using those vocabulary words. So you can bring two standards into one lesson, and combine the standards into hands on activities like above.

One of my other favorite shape activities is using song.  Greg & Steve have a fun song called "Shapes" on their album "We all Live Together Vol. 3."  I first got it from the library then was able to find a copy online a few years ago.  I was not able to find it on iTunes today but Amazon has it in stock.  As the song goes on, it directs you to stand up or sit down based on the shape you have.  The kids love it, and we end up doing it over and over until everyone has had a chance to use each shape.  I have extended it and played Simon Sez with the shapes too. This is the perfect game to use the vocabulary words; ex. "Simon says if you have 3 sides on your shape touch your nose."  "Simon says find another person with the same number of vertices as your shape." 

Literature for this unit:  (all link you to Amazon)
Circus Shapes by Stuart J. Murphy
Tana Hoban - multiple shape books

My local library has a great assortment of books I can check out for this short unit.

Have fun!! Kathy

K.G.1 Positional Words

Here we go...the Geometry domain.

K.G.1
Describe objects in the environment using names of shapes, and describe the relative positions of these objects using terms such as above, below, beside, in front of, behind and next to.

Prior to the common core, I used different objects to work on our positional words.  One of my favorite activities to do with my two and three year olds is to sing a teddy bear song that uses bears (either brought from home or made by the kids) and chairs.

Everyday Mathematics has a cute CD you can get to go along with the Pre-K program.  On it, there is a song about a teddy bear on the chair.  The students play along with the song, manipulating their bears over, under, besides until it falls asleep in their lap at the end.  So much fun but my Kindergarteners would never go along with it; but in a regular classroom it may still work fine.

With my Kindergarteners, I used positional vocabulary as a review workstation.  By the time they are in my Kindergarten level they fully know all 2D shapes, some 3D, and are secure in positional vocabulary.  From a mailbox magazine many years back I found a cute ladybug book.  Here is a shot of it:

The Kindergarteners loved playing with the stamp pads, stamping their fingerprint ladybug where each page told them to.  Once dry, they went back & added legs & antennae.  They cut, assembled & colored the books.  Nice quiet activity, practiced their sight words, and they could help each other.  I usually used this in the late spring, so most had a strong sight word vocabulary by then.

So how do we apply these two activities to the common core?  Easily! 

1 - Ask each child to select a shape - can be a 2D cutout or a 3D item (block, ball, etc) and play a game of Simon Sez!  Simon Sez if you have a sphere put it over your head. Simon Sez if you have a cylinder put it beside you.  You get the idea!  I could easily see multiple rounds of this game, switching shapes in between each round.

2 - I created a worksheet using 2D shapes that you can find here in my TpT store.  The students first have to identify which shape the direction is asking for, then put it in the appropriate spot on the page. This is a great worksheet for whole group, small group or individual assessments.  Check it out!! It also can be used with K.G.2 and K.G.5.

Kindergarten Common Core Standards for Geometry

Time to tackle the next domain: Geometry.

Personally, I think this could be the most fun domain out of them all. This is the chance for the students to get their hands on materials in an interesting and creative way.  Bringing art into the classroom for this domain is perfect to get those visual and kinesthetic learners' juices flowing!!

So let's look at what we got (all in the handy sidebar to your right as well.)

Identify and describe shapes (squares, circles, triangles, rectangles, hexagons, cubes, cones, cylinders, and spheres).

K.G.1 

Describe objects in the environment using names of shapes, and describe the relative positions of these objects using terms such as above, below, beside, in front of, behind, and next to.

K.G.2

Correctly name shapes regardless of their orientations or overall size.

K.G.3

Identify shapes as two-dimensional (lying in a plane, “flat”) or three-dimensional (“solid”).

K.G.4

Analyze and compare two- and three-dimensional shapes, in different sizes and orientations, using informal language to describe their similarities, differences, parts (e.g., number of sides and vertices/“corners”) and other attributes (e.g., having sides of equal length).

K.G.5

Model shapes in the world by building shapes from components (e.g., sticks and clay balls) and drawing shapes.

K.G.6

Compose simple shapes to form larger shapes. For example, “Can you join these two triangles with full sides touching to make a rectangle?”   

One of the things I notice first is the shapes that they specify: 2D: squares, circles, triangles, rectangles, hexagons and 3D: cubes, cones, cylinders, and spheres

The 2D shapes are very simple, there are no ovals, rhombus, trapezoids, pentagons, octagons...all those shapes that come in the pre-made shape displays you buy from the teaching stores.  I am sure the majority of your students will already know the first four, so why not take this opportunity to expand upon those basic shapes if you can? 

Over the next few days I will be posting my classroom experiences for each of those domains. Hope you find them helpful!

Kathy

Hand or Silent Signals for Preschool

Does anyone use silent signals in their classroom?  I was watching a video on The Teaching Channel, in which the third grade teacher demonstrates her use of "silent signals."  This video got me to thinking about what types of silent signals I have used in the past with my younger students.

One that we used very often was the "silent celebration" - if we were excited about something, instead of cheering and yelling, and disrupting the class next door, we pumped out arms up and down in the air, opened out mouths wide like we were yelling and in some cases, we jumped up and down while doing it.  I would preface any big announcement with "Are you ready for a silent celebration?" which told the kids what type of response I was expecting.  They all understood, even at their young ages, the importance of not disrupting the class next door. (We had a shared kitchen area so we could always hear back and forth between the classrooms.)

My school taught sign language in a few of the classrooms.  It started out with colors, added in the alphabet, and kept going to add other signs down to the toddler level.  Silent responses seemed a natural progression.

This short two-minute video shows some easy signs that even our young students can remember:

Silent Signals in the Math Classroom

Other signals I would use are: "thumbs up if you agree" "thumbs down if you have a different answer."  I'd have a student come to the white board and solve a problem.  If you think they are right or wrong, then you give me the appropriate thumb signal.  Sometime I'd break the students into small groups of 2 or 3 students, and work together to sort or pattern on the board.  The remaining groups would have to decide all together if the group was right or wrong, and the group would have to give me the thumb symbol. 

Another silent signal I'd use is "put your hand on your head when you are done" so I could quietly walk over to the student and check their work.  To see if they were paying attention, with my older students (Kindergarten) I'd mix it up and give them a different action.  If I didn't mind some disruptions, or to keep things light, I'd make the signal really silly.

Anyone care to share some signals you use?

Kathy

Adorable Preschool or Kindergarten Math Game

I was perusing around Pinterest this morning and found this adorable game.  I put in the title Preschool or Kindergarten, but it really can be used for older students as well.

Fun fine motor math game

It in from the site called "Pre-K Pages" and I so wish I was in the classroom right now to try it.








What little ones would not LOVE this??  By squeezing the tennis ball, the student is strengthening those all important hand muscles needed for fine motor activities and writing.

Best Investment Ever

I think my most favorite "purchased" item that I had in my classroom was my large dice. 

I am fortunate that my school purchased them for me, but unfortunate as I could not take them with me when I left.



These are the ones I used: Large Dice

 They are from Discount School Supply and currently retail for $37.  Yeah, that is a lot, but I did not have to pay for them!  :)


I bet you can find cheaper ones.  Or go in on a set with another teacher.






Prior to owning these dice, I had made my own out of square boxes I acquired somewhere.  My home made dice lasted about 3 years, and I was not able to change what each face said.  So one had numerals and the other had dots. 

This is a picture of my "old" dice:

So how did I use the dice?  Oh my gosh is SO many ways!  If you have read some of my early posts, you may remember I am big on being active in the classroom.  Maybe cause my students were all so young, but I feel like even the older students can benefit by them as well.  This set let me put movements into the activity that we may not have normally thought of.




Young students: roll 1 die; start with dots then move up to numerals.  Have 1 student count the dots then choose a movement for the class to do "that many" times.  To get more students involved at once, have one student roll, one count, and another pick the activity.  I used this activity without the dice as we learned about each number; this is a great way to review all numbers you have covered so far, or you can put the same number on each side, so it always comes up "3."  See how long it takes the kids to catch on!  I usually prompt the first few movements, like "clap three times" or "jump three times" (make sure you wear comfy shoes that day) then let the kids take over.  Really gets those wiggles out of the little ones.

 

Preschool students: you can use the dice as part of a themed activity where they make a physical connection to objects based on the roll of the dice.  Here, the student could roll a die, either read the numeral or count the dots, then "feed" the squirrel that many acorns.  Can be adapted to ANYTHING - put that many apples/leaves/snowflakes on (or take off) a tree; make a tower with that many blocks; count out that many goldfish for snack, you get the idea. 

Pre-Kindergarten students: once your students recognize their numerals add the second die and they can match sets.  Roll the two dice; did you get a match?  Are there more or less dots than the number you rolled?  Could not find pictures of that in action. But...

Kindergarten and first grade: here the students used the big dice in a couple ways, then followed up with a small group and individual activity with small dice.



The rolled the dice and the students tallied on the white board how many times each number came up.  This was partial tally writing and partial probability lesson.  I find this is a great activity to cover both concepts in a fun way.

The students working on their individual tallies.  I asked them to roll their die a specific number of times, like 40.  So they had to keep adding their tallies up to see when they hit 40. :)

Another way we used the big dice was for addition and subtraction practice.  We used the dice as a group activity, counting the dots chorally to add.  I would (or sometimes a student) write the addition sentence on the white board so we could "see" what we just did verbally.  As time went on, the dice were changed to have numerals on them, and we used small manipulatives (coins in this picture) to add. 



For subtraction, I had one dice with numbers 5 and above, and the other dice had 0 - 4.  We had to work harder to find the difference than we did for the sum, but the kids caught on pretty well.  At first we wrote the numbers that we rolled on the board, and figured out which on was "greater." We then wrote the subtraction sentence and added attribute block magnets to represent the larger number.  We took away the smaller number and voila! We found the difference.  Older students can roll the dice to add more than two numbers, multiply, or divide.  Orrrrrrr...you can use it for place value identification. 

Another example of using the dice is in my post titled Making Numbers 5/26/2012.

By using dice that  you can change the faces, you can customize the dice to every activity. I used them once to build a snowman; they students had to roll six different body "parts" to build the "whole" snowman.  But that is a whole other concept!

Does anyone else have big dice they use in their classroom?  Can you share some of your activities?  This is just a small sampling of what can be done.  Hope I've inspired you a bit today, to get those kids up and moving instead of sitting in chairs all day.  Math should be hands on, and fun!!

Kathy

You can use this on a clothesline!

LOL Yes, I guess I am obsessed at the moment with that darn clothesline.  While blog hopping this morning during breakfast I popped into Kindergarten Crayons to see what Fran had going on, and found this wonderful freebie she is offering right now.  I hope she does not mind me sharing it. :)  (I did leave a comment on her blog lettering her know!)

It's a set of large number cards that comes with matching ten frames.  OMG I could so use this on my clothesline as a matching activity!

So I wanted to share it with you - stop on by Fran's blog (linked above) or go here to download it free from TpT Ive Got Your Number.

Enjoy!! Kathy

Fall Counting Idea

I decided to start cleaning out my Pinterest boards today, as I've gone a bit overboard on some of them.  Like my recipe boards.  :)  But while I was doing that, I thought I'd ponder thru my Math Center board and came upon this fun idea I had saved.

Fall Leaf Counting

This is a Montessori based blog.  It has a great idea where you use sticky fall leaves, clothespins and ribbons.  I bet you can find the materials pretty cheap at a dollar store.  You can even do this on a clothesline instead of the floor.  :)  Fun, right??

Music in Math

I love music.  I love it not only for my own pleasure, but in my classroom as well.  There was almost always music playing in the background during free time, during lunch time, and I often played jazz or classical during work time; during my circle time we used music every single class.

Some of my favorite background music comes from my time as a Gymboree Teacher.  For almost seven years I enjoyed the wonderful music Gymboree had to offer, and when they added music to the program it was even better.  The music they put together is all content and age appropriate.  They offer a bunch of CDs with each CD being a different genre of music.  I love playing the African CD during free playtime.

My all time favorite for ME is the Surfin Music.  Here is one that is for sale on Amazon: Gymboree Music: Surfin

Other music I use, to teach a specific skill, comes from many sources.  Wee Play offers an abundance (I bought most of mine at Costco) of finger plays and rhymes that I was able to make flannelboards to go with them.

Everyday Mathematics offers a music CD to go along with their curriculum.  Maybe yours does too?

A parent gave me a copy of the CD Movin 2 Math by Jack Hartmann.  I used track #3 Let's Get Fit (Counting to 100 by 1s) almost daily.  Even my three year olds, who could not count to 100, loved doing the exercises.

One song I used soooo much in the springtime is Five Little Butterflies.  I heard it on Barney once, and thought it was adorable.  I made these cute flannel boards to go with the song:

I added the flowers cause my butterflies needed to fly over something.  Anyway, here is the song:

Apparently this comes on a CD too.  Not a big Barney fan, but the kids love the song when I sing it.  So I just don't tell anyone I saw it on Barney. :)  Shhhhhh.....

What music do YOU like to use?

Kathy

Carrot Picking...or apple...or pumpkin...

One of my favorite activities to do at the beginning of the school year is to "pick apples from the tree."  I had a set of apples with numerals on them that had been handed down to me by a previous teacher; on one wall I had a big seasonal tree leftover from when I taught science.  The type you buy from a teachers supply store.  I put pieces of velcro on the tree, then on the apples.  Or leaves...which look like snowflakes in the winter when all the leaves have fallen off.  We used little pink flowers in the spring.

I used this tree for so many things; one of my favorite was to pick apples.  On the back of each apple there was a number up to 30.  The students would get a chance to pick an apple from a tree, then they had to tell me the number.  I had multiple apples with the same number on it, and would put up the appropriate numerals based on the age of the class coming in.

This is a great way for me to get a sense of numeral recognition at the beginning of the year.  I would keep a running record of which numerals they got correct and incorrect, and as the year went on I could add to it.  This helped me when assessment time of the year came; if they consistently recognized the numeral 3, I did not need to ask them that one.  I also used the apples to make sets; pick an apple then give me "that many" of something. 

Unfortunately my tree got destroyed and I cannot not locate a good picture of it to show you.  But I do have a picture of some young 3s (and visiting toddlers) "Carrot Picking" in our circle time area.  This was an activity I did in May, I think.

The kids had so much fun and did really well taking turns.  This is a simple shape to draw and copy onto colored construction paper.  I laminated a blank piece of green construction paper and made the tops, then taped them on.  Super quick and easy!  I know EVERYONE has an apple graphic somewhere in their files, and I bet everyone has a pumpkin too.  Fun hands-on activity, helps practice taking turns too.  My Kindergarteners had to pick two carrots and tell me the sum or difference, depending on the unit.  Great workstation if you have the space.  Let's those boys who need some movement in their learning get it out.

Hmmmm....bet you could have the kids order or group the numbers on  a clothesline... :)

Enjoy!  Kathy

Clothesline Fun

I am working on a product for the clothesline activity I mentioned a few posts back.  I am trying to decide what pictures to include.  A clothesline does not need to be used with only "clothes" but they sure make it more fun.  I love how the spring clothespins strengthen the hand and finger muscles that are oh so important for writing.

So I am thinking some seasonal clothes; short sleeve shirt and shorts; long sleeve shirt and pants; hat and mittens; tank top and of course socks.

So what is the problem you may wonder? Finding the clipart that I can legally use and sell with my product. I don't draw well enough on my own.

Does anyone have favorite clipart sites they want to share with me?

Kathy

Using Literature in Math & Book Boxes

Howdy folks!

As I have mentioned before, I LOVE using literature as part of my math (and science) lessons.  I will eventually get to talking about science, I promise.  Math is most recent for me, so it is freshest in my thoughts.

Anyway, here is a great list of math-related literature:

Love 2 Learn 2 Day

I have personally used almost ALL of the Stuart J. Murphy books.  I was lucky to work at a school that owned almost the whole complete set; it was so great the have these books at my disposal.  There were a few titles I needed to get from the library, but the majority sat on my desk.

I also was the proud owner of the NumberTales series from Scholastic.  These two were a great series, if you have ever used AlphaTales you know what I mean.  The set came with a Teachers Guide with worksheets, mini books and other activities.  I loved the mini-books; the students could have their own copy of the story to put in their book boxes for free reading.

What is a book box?  Basically, it's a small shoe box that the students use to collect the books they make throughout the school year.  During quiet times, free read times, or as a center, the students get their box off a shelf and read over books they have created.  These books come from all the subjects; when I taught science I think I provided more books for the box than the literacy teacher. :)

I will admit that the boxes took up a lot of space, but it was well worth it.  Since my students were still young, the boxes were on the smaller side.  Not sure you can do this with older children who have giant feet.  I wish I had a picture to show you! I have no pictures from my first four years of teaching, and during my last three years they stopped using the boxes.  Much to my dismay.  But I continued to make the books....hee hee.

Another option to shoe boxes would be to use file folders; you can buy ones like these that expand on the sides and are already sealed on three of the sides.


The kids can "check out" their folders to bring home and share with their families, or they can be wonderful things to have out for waiting parents during conferences or back to school nights.



 One of the things I love the most about the book boxes is how proud the kids are of their work when they go back and to read and re-read their books.   I have had students proudly show me books they made at the beginning of the year, comparing to what they just made, and they can see their own growth.  They can see how much better they write, or color, or even cut & fold.  The students notice their own progress!

Kathy

Swat those numbers!

This week I spent a lot of time cleaning out my classroom laptop.  I wanted to make sure the new teacher would be able to make sense of the massive amounts of information, worksheets, photos, and other assorted stuff I have gathered over the years.  I had so much fun going through the pictures, looking at all the great activities I did in previous years that somehow I forgot about this year!  I found myself wishing I had a couple more weeks so I could do them one more time.  Oh well; maybe the new teacher will see them and continue on.

Here is one of my favorite activities: number swatting!

Now it's hard to see in the pictures because it is white, but the students are holding a flyswatter.  I started with a red one, but after all the swatting it broke after 2 days, and this was the only replacement I could find. 

In the top picture, the student is swatting on my large number posters.  I use these for the younger students and at the beginning of the year when we are starting to learn to recognize numerals.  The "All About" posters are pretty old; if I was staying another year I would have remade them, including ten frames.

In this picture, the student is swatting a fly with a numeral written on it's belly.  These are used for the older classes, and later in the year.  The younger students don't have the eye-hand coordination to hit the fly they are aiming for.  This is a four year old and it's the first time we are using the flies, so I only have a few on the wall.  This class could recognize their teens also, so the next time I did the activity I added the teens.  Then I would let the students have the flyswatter every now and then as a choice during free exploration time.


I do not know where I originally found the pattern, I am guessing the pattern came from a Mailbox Magazine somewhere.  I have been frantically looking through my curriculum books and files for the original "fly" to leave for my replacement.  A toddler class came a-visiting a few weeks ago, and one of the little darlings decided to rip the #8 fly off the wall, which ended up tearing it where the staples were.  So the new teacher is missing a fly. :(  Hopefully I will find it soon.

My young students love every opportunity to get some of their physical energies out.  It helps my kinesthetic learners as well as my visual learners.  The All About posters give the students clues to the students struggling with their numeral recognition, since they offer many different ways of figuring out what number the poster is about.  Some of the pictures refer to books we read about the number, there are hands with "that many" fingers, there is a fish tank where they can count the fish, along with other clues.  I also have them color coded for even and odd.  The activity can be whole group, small group, or even partners.  Great for classrooms that do not have a lot of room for games.

Update: my first freebie will be a cute little fly for you to make your own number flies!!  Coming soon for purchase on TpT, is a full set of colored flies in numbers, letters, and word families. Keep watching for the release!!!

Updated update: Products are now available!  Visit my TpT store here for your freebie & for purchase flies!   My Store!

Literature-Based Activity

I love using literature to teach both math & science.  When I get to posting science lessons this summer you will see that.  I have an entire preschool science curriculum based on the Magic School Bus.  I can't wait to put all that together for you!

But in the meantime, this week my preschool classes are doing an activity based off of this book:

This story is so cute I can't even tell you.  "Dog" is a white puppy with a black spot on his left ear.  As he goes throughout his day he has some mishaps which, by the end of the day, looks like this:

We start by reading the story as part of circle time.  We talked about how poor Dog gets so messy, mostly not of his own fault, and how that happens to us too some times.  The afternoon classes were able to show me "spots" they had on their clothes from earlier activities.

Afterwards, we go to the tables where each child gets a copy of Dog (I traced from book and enlarged) and some spots.  I have a circle punch that I use to make the spots.  We then re-read the story and attach Dog's spots.  The youngest kids can all apply their own glue and love looking for the right color.  I am fortunate that we have enough help that I have an adult with every 6 kids for the 2 yr olds so they can each monitor a table to offer help where needed.

Here is a group of 4 year olds working on their Dogs:

 

As you can see, I have the spots lumped in a tray they can dig through.  The younger classes are given a little more assistance with the spots.

When reviewing the picture at the end of the project, we count the spots to practice one-to-one correspondence and rational counting, but also ordinal numbers as we count which spot he got first, second, third, etc.

I am looking forward to remaking this page and offering it up as a freebie...when I learn how to. :(

Literature-Based Activity

Thought today I'd share an activity I did with my three 2 yr old classes and two 3 yr old classes. Those ages are not quite right at this point in the school year. My older 3s all turned 4 by March, and my oldest 2s were all 3 by March as well. But the school I teach at we call the kids by their age groups in September...not what age they currently are. Make sense? Okay...on my way to work each morning I pass by the most beautiful field of red flowers. They look like the poppy flower the veterans give out when you make a donation. I can't get a close enough picture of them to show here. I may drive by over the weekend and see if I can pull over to take a picture.

This past week some yellow flowers have started blooming as well. These flowers inspired me to bring out one of my favorite books :

After reading the story, we sang a cute song that I heard on an episode of Barney when my own kids were small. It's called "Five Little Butterflies." I made a flannel board set of butterflies and flowers for them to fly around.




The kids LOVE counting backwards for me as I "pick" the flowers off the board at the end of the song.







Our activity for the lesson was picking carrots from my carrot garden. I have a carrot pattern, probably came from a Mailbox Magazine at some point, that I copied on orange construction paper. I then wrote a numeral from 0 to 15 on each carrot & laminated them. Added cute little green toppers and instant carrot garden. I asked the kids to sit on the outside of the circle time rug, and scattered the carrots upside down in the "garden." Each child got a turn to pick a carrot, tell the class what numeral is on the carrot, then they replanted it. They had so much fun!!! Even my youngest students, who are all mid 2yo now, had fun picking carrots. If a student did not know the numeral, they were able to ask their class for help.

My oldest class had 15 students in attendance that day, so they each kept their carrot instead of replanting. They then lined them selves up in number order! I held the extra carrot to fill in the spot.








Edit: I tried to go this weekend and get a picture of the beautiful field but there was no where to pull over to get the shot. We decided to go into the public area and walk along the trails. I was hoping to find a way over to the fields but storms prevented us from getting that far. Only got a tiny bit wet on the way to the car! But I was able to find one lonely red flower along the way - I am sure this flower is what is making my drive such a beautiful one!