Shabbat Shalom, Room 7 Families!
Our class is buzzing with excitement and activities in preparation for Hanukkah. Ariel’s mother arrived on Monday morning with a Venn diagram, pictures of the different elements of menorahs and hanukiot and a wooden hanukiah. Rebecca led a discussion on the similarities and differences between a menorah and a hanukiah. She asked the children what they noticed might be similar between the two Judaic symbols. “Both of them have candles!” one child exclaimed. The children wondered what might be different between them. “Let’s count both,” Rebecca suggested. Later in the week, we revisited the Venn diagram in our morning meeting. “A hanukiah has eight candles for the eight nights of Hanukkah!” one child offered. Another added, “The shamash is the helper candle.” The children’s understanding of the Hanukkah story has expanded through storytelling and songs throughout the week. The children have also been busy designing and assembling their hanukiot, using beautiful materials carefully placed on silver trays, such as mosaic tiles, shells, stones, small mirrors and glass gems. Every child worked diligently to create a unique hanukiah and the results have been wonderful to experience. Each hanukiah seems to reflect the personality of the child who made it. The children have enjoyed the process of planning, designing and assembling their small masterpieces in preparation for the upcoming holiday festivities. They look forward to sharing their hanukiot with their families during the Hanukkah party next week! Vertical Learning In the art center, the children worked with their fine motor skills to design their hanukiot by carefully picking up small objects, such as glass gems, stones and shells, to create patterns and place them on a silver tray. They followed this design process by assembling their hanukiot using glue and craft sticks. In the math center, the children explored sensory bins filled with numbers, matching them to corresponding blocks, stones and gems to illustrate the same number. In the literacy center, children practiced writing their names using pencils on lined paper, with the option of creating their names using tree cookies with letters printed on them. The children also matched uppercase to lowercase letters using puzzle pieces with corresponding grooves.
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