Shabbat Shalom, Room 7 Families!
Our week began with a lively conversation about Tu Bishvat and what we could do to celebrate the Birthday of the Trees. “Let’s go hug a tree,” one child suggested. Another added, “We can look for pretty leaves!” And so, we decided to go on a leisurely nature walk around the campus, observing trees, plants, flowers, leaves and pinecones. Along the way, we spotted something that didn’t belong. “Look, someone threw this on the ground!” a child exclaimed, holding a plastic wrapper. “And I found this piece of paper,” another added. As we journeyed forward, the children noticed a few other items along the way that needed to be put in their proper place. And they were happy to collect and dispose of the trash. This exploration sparked an interesting conversation about caring for our planet and our school. Our discussion continued the next day while the children were sitting around a seder table with our friends from Room 9. The children enjoyed learning about how the seasons change and this was symbolized by mixing white and red grape juice to reflect the shades of color deepening as the seasons progress. “We mix the dark juice into the lighter color and it’s getting darker and darker!” a child explained. We asked the children about the fruits that were presented to them during the seder. “They come from trees!” a child offered. “Trees clean the air!” another child declared. “And we get our tables and chairs from the wood,” remarked another child. We wondered if the children had ideas regarding how to care for our trees. “They need sun and water, and we shouldn’t pick their leaves,” offered one child. “We need to plant more trees!” shared another. The children explored the natural world through our walk around the campus and shared a communal meal with friends, which inspired an enlightened conversation surrounding our Jewish value of Tikkun Olam, through performing acts of kindness to repair our world. Caring for and planting trees are two important tasks that the children expressed, and we hope that they will pay this forward through action. Vertical Learning At the literacy center, we presented the children with wooden uppercase letters and Wikki Stix to fashion the sticks in the shape of the letters. At the art center, we placed photographs of trees and a platter of natural materials, such as leaves, pinecones and berries, along with colored pencils and paper for the children to use as inspiration for sketches. At the math center, the children were presented with a sequence puzzle in order to explore three stages: beginning, middle and end scenarios, such as the beginning piece being a caterpillar, the middle piece is a chrysalis, and the end piece of the puzzle is a butterfly. New books that were collected from the library included a field guide to enhance the children’s nature walk experience. The children were guided to explore this book, and we introduced the concepts of a “table of contents” and a “glossary.”
0 Comments
|
|