Newsletter Week of March 2-7, 2020
Room 8 began the week by introducing the holiday of Purim. Over the past couple weeks, we have noticed that the children have shown a great interest in books and storytelling. We wanted to introduce the holiday in a manner that catered to the interest of the children. In light of this, we thought that the best way to start the Purim discussion was to tell the story of Purim. The children were fascinated and in awe of the details of Purim. They sat quietly and listened to us introduce each character as they came into the narrative. After hearing the story once, the following day, we heard the children talking about the characters during free play. We even heard Rian tell the entire first half of the story in dramatic play. Their excitement over the story of Purim led us to our next activity, where we decided to act out the story of Purim. The children enthusiastically raised their hands to be selected to play each of the main characters including King Ahashverosh, Esther, Vashti, Mordechai and Haman. Since there are only a few main characters, we explained that we are going to act out the story many times and each child will have the opportunity to play one main character in one of those performances. The children who were not playing these parts would be part of the ensemble in either the ‘Fair Lady’s group or Haman’s ‘henchmen’ group. The Fair Ladies are the women who want to be King Ahashverosh’s next queen, and Haman’s group are the men that are part of his following. We were able to run through the story a couple of times this week. The children wore costumes to get into the dramatic mood, and we encouraged them to feel their characters emotions according to the story. Ask your child how Vashti felt when she was asked to leave the party or about what kind of personality Haman has. The children truly enjoyed this new experience. They showed a bit of hesitation the first time they acted it out, but as they became more comfortable, we saw more and more emotion each time we ran through the story. We can’t wait to continue tapping into our imagination and creativity next week as we act it out again. We wish you all have a wonderful weekend and hope you can all visit the Purim Carnival this Sunday! Our school Purim celebration will take place on Tuesday, 3/10. Please have your child dress in costume on this day. We also want to remind you to please sign-up for a conference slot, if you have not already done so. Shabbat Shalom! Mari & Aaliyah REMINDERS:
0 Comments
Newsletter Room 8
From the start of the year, as a part of the routine, the children in Room 8 know to grab a book after snack, take a seat on the carpet, and spend time quietly flipping through the pages of their chosen book. They choose from a large variety of books found in our class library. The books range from Mo Willem’s stories, to National Geographic Encyclopedias, to Jewish holiday themed books, and even a few with interactive components. Over the course of the year, the children have shown a real affinity towards this 20-minute section of the day. They appreciate the quiet time and the opportunity to view, study and learn a new book each day. Recently, we started a new component as a follow-up activity to quiet reading time. After the 10-15 minutes of quiet reading, each child stood in front of their peers, introduced themselves, and explained, in their own words, one page of the book they had chosen that day. This activity reinforced the concept of details, which has been an ongoing topic of discussion throughout the year. In addition, it was an extension of an activity that the children loved. It is important to create curriculum that builds on the interests of the children. It increases excitement in the specific activity, confidence in the child and their ability, and promotes a love for learning. This new piece of the quiet reading time was a hit in Room 8. At first, the children demonstrated a little bit of fear when standing in front of the class to present their ideas. It can be very nerve wracking! We heard a few quiet voices, and some of our friends needed to be prompted a couple of times, but after doing this for a few days in a row, they are now pros! We love hearing their imaginations run wild as they explain what they see happening on their chosen page. One of Rian’s favorite books, she explained, is How the Crayons Saved the Rainbow. Her story behind the last page of the book was about how the cat was looking up at the sky because the cat thought that the cloud was very interesting. She shared that throughout the book the sun and the cloud got mad at each other, but they made up in the end and made a beautiful rainbow. Lilah chose a very different type of book than Rian! Her pick was Discovery Channel: The BIG Book of SHARKS, and she explained what she saw happening on page 29. She described that the large shark had his mouth wide open with huge teeth all over and red coloring inside his mouth. There was also white on the side of the shark’s mouth, which kind of looked like there was a starfish on it. The children learned new details, facts and stories from their own reading and from listening to their friends present their ideas, all while building up their own self-confidence. After about two weeks of doing this activity, there came a day that we did not have time to present our findings after quiet reading time. Towards the end of the day, Dylan and Alexandra both noticed that we did not do this activity and asked why. By the end of last week, each day after the children ate snack and picked out a book, at least one, if not more, inquired if we were going to do the story activity. We realized that this simple task became a huge hit in our classroom! In light of this newly found love of literacy, we wanted to build on their interests of reading and story-telling. We found the perfect book to take this concept a step further. Rather than reading their own books at quiet reading time on Monday, we read a new story to them today called A Cheese and Tomato Spider by Nick Sharratt. Have any of you heard of this book?! Silly, funny and colorful are three words that the children came up with to describe this story. This interactive book sparks creativity and makes one think outside of the box. The pages are divided into two parts so that each page features one bold picture cut in half of a spider, grandma, ice cream cone, etc. The children have the opportunity to mix and match the pages creating silly combinations such as a strawberry flavored volcano or a birthday lemon. The combinations are endless! We encouraged the children to interact with the pages and create their own story. The story was enticing to every child in the class and kept each child on their toes. After reading the book, we continued down this creative path and asked each child to create their own crazy combination of anything they desired. For example, Chloe made a sun on top of a blue snowman with flower hands and feet. Lennon made a chair sitting on top of a tree and a tree circle on top of a race car, and Nixon designed a house with arms, hands, legs and feet with a tree growing out of the top of the house. The children turned their imaginations into colorful illustrations. Next time you are in Room 8 ask to see their amazing creations. We will see where this love of literacy takes us next! We will also dive into the holiday of Purim next week as it is quickly approaching. We hope everyone has a great weekend. Shabbat Shalom! Mari & Aaliyah REMINDERS:
Even though it was a very short week, Room 8 had a very busy 3 days. In light of our recent discussions on Tu B’Shevat and nature, we decided to jump into the week with a critical thinking exercise. We sat in a large circle and we all looked up at the new poster hanging on the wall at the front of our rug. We asked the children, “What do you see?” Rather than telling us details or information, we challenged them to ask questions to find out the facts. The Wise Learning Process calls this concept Puzzlement. Throughout the school year, we have continued to instill the idea of questions versus statements in many of our large group discussions. For example, when we conducted discussions on carrots and potatoes, we made sure to point out whether a child was asking a question to learn something new or giving us information. We do not only highlight this concept in circle time, but we also point out if a child says, “I have a question,” but they really give us a statement. Through asking questions, the children develop and enhance their critical thinking skills. In addition, this activity promotes the importance of looking at the fine details and asking questions to gather information. By teaching the children this skill at a young age, the children begin to understand that one must ask questions to learn. The first question that we heard was, “Why is there a picture of a body on the wall?” Wyatt asked, “How do parents come alive and then kids?” Lilah inquired, “Why is there a picture of feet on the poster?” Dylan and Alexandra wanted to know why the little girl has sunglasses and a bathing suit. Rian asked, “Why does she have skin?” Then, a few friends asked why the little girl in the poster had certain things inside of her body like blood and bones. We were impressed by the complicated and creative questions that the children came up with. After learning about what trees need to survive through our Tu B’Shevat studies, we asked the children, “What do humans need to survive?” Similar to trees, we discovered that people need many of the same necessities that trees require. Rian shared that trees need tree food, and people also need food. Nixon pointed out that both trees and people need water to survive. Lastly, we pointed out that another similarity in survival is sunlight. The children pointed out some really important similarities between trees and people. During this discussion, especially while talking about trees and their needs, Nixon asked, “Where does water come from?” This was an extremely interesting query and provoked a whole new set of questions that the children began to ask. We were blown away by their ability to think outside the box and their desire to gain more knowledge about complicated topics. Since the children demonstrated an interest in learning more about nature and where it comes from, we plan to further develop these topics next week. In choosing projects that are unique to the child or group of children, we are constantly creating emergent curriculum in our classroom. We, as teachers, observe and listen carefully to their interests, and by creating curriculum that is catered to their interests, the children are known to be more engaged and have a more meaningful experience. They learn a wide range of information that taps into all areas of learning including math, literacy, science, history and more. It also allows the children to explore a larger variety of materials rather than just working with typical preschool tools like alphabet puzzles, counting cubes, or making play dough. We can’t wait to see where we go with this one question of where water comes from! Stay tuned next week for the journey. We want to remind everyone that we have PICTURE DAY next week! This Tuesday, February 25th, we will meet in the Main Sanctuary at 9:00am SHARP. Please drop your child off here and one time, as we will start our day with individual and Room 8 class picture. If you have any questions, please let us know. We are looking forward to celebrating our first ever Generation’s Day with one member of each of your families. We want to remind you to please bring in the toiletry items mentioned on the flier that was sent home with your child this week no later than Tuesday 2/25. We have a special activity planned for Friday, and we need as many items as we can get. Shabbat Shalom, Mari and Aaliyah REMINDERS:
Newsletter Week of 2/10-14
We had a very busy week in Room 8! We began the week with a small and meaningful Tu B’Shevat celebration in our class. Our past Tu B’Shevat discussions focused on the items found on the seder plate, fruits around the world, and various things we find in nature. In light of these topics of interest, the children had the opportunity to taste many of the actual items found on Tu B’Shevat seder plate and other fruits popular in Israel. The foods that the children enjoyed during snack time included fresh apples, dried apple rings, green olives, green grapes, and banana chips. The class’s interest in tasting food prompted us to take the topic a step further. We came up with the idea making our own trail mix. During this activity, three bowls were set out at each table. Each bowl contained a different dried fruit that is found on the Tu B’Shevat seder plate. Some of these snacks included dates, figs, raisins, golden raisins, cranberries, dried mango, banana chips and more. Each child was given a bag with a few crackers to represent the wheat on the seder plate. Then, they walked around to each table and filled their baggy with the dried fruits. We encouraged the children to add a good amount to their baggy so that they could share with their family at home. This activity allowed them to understand basic mathematical skills such as quantity, greater than or less than, and heavy vs. light. It also gave them the opportunity to expand their palettes in the area of taste and texture and try new things. We encourage each child to take one bite of everything and if they do not like it, they do not have to eat anymore. It creates a positive and exciting attitude towards food, while also promoting openness to trying and experiencing new things. If a child gains this confidence to try new things at a young age, they will be more open and have more courage to gain new experiences in the future. This was a special experience for the children in that they were able to see, feel, and do what others do in Israel on this holiday. This hands-on experience provided the children with a deeper connection to the importance of why we need trees and the meaning of this holiday. We were overjoyed to see how excited each child was to try all the new foods set out at each table and loved hearing how much they loved it and ate it all the next day. We continued on the theme of Tu B’Shevat by taking another nature walk. This time the children were encouraged to gather various items they found all over the campus. From the back of the temple to behind the parking lot, we scoured the campus looking for leaves of all different colors, a variety of seed pods, pinecones, and anything else we could find! After the walk, we sat in a large group on the carpet and put our sorting skills to work as we grouped the items that were similar to one another in looks. All of the Eucalyptus leaves formed one pile, then, the pinecones another, the reddish-brown leaves in another, and so on. Ask your child which items they contributed to this activity and which pile it fell into! After sorting, each child was able to choose one item. They took this item to the table, and we asked them to look closely at the item, otherwise known was the “details.” We encouraged them to feel it and look at each color and rough edge of their chosen item. Then, they were given a pencil and piece of paper so that they could draw a detailed picture. For example, Chloe chose a dried olive that she had found behind the temple. She had to look closely to see that it resembled an oval shape. It also had a circle and dot from where the stem was on one side of the olive. Another example is that of Nixon and Lilah. They both chose a small flowering plant that had three little shoots of stringy magenta flower. You will have to look at their incredibly detailed drawings next time you visit our class to get a real visual of each item. We were so impressed by how much detail and concentration they put into their work of art. They used crayons to color it in and many of the children mixed multiple colors of crayons to get the exact color of the leaf, flower or spikey-ball. Isabella added white crayon on top of her brown because her item was a lighter brown than the color of the brown crayon. For the reddish-brown leaf, Lennon used brown, red, white, yellow and orange to create the perfect mix. This activity helped strengthen our fine motor skills, while also tapping into creativity and the ability to actually see things we don’t normally look at. When we look at something with the intent of drawing it, we tend to look more carefully than usual. We see, truly see, the shapes, the patterns, the perspective, the colors, the shadows, the contours, and how all of the details interact. Through noticing the details of a certain object, the children deepen their understanding and even more questions and thoughts are provoked. We will continue observational drawing and art next week and try another activity with a new spin on it. We want to remind everyone that there is no school Monday and Tuesday next week. We hope you all have a wonderful extra-long weekend! Shabbat Shalom, Mari and Aaliyah REMINDERS:
Room 8 started the week off with a wonderful all-school Havdalah service to celebrate the end of Shabbat and to welcome the week ahead. Our director, Jen, lead us in song and prayer in Plotkin Chapel with all of the other preschool classes. We love attending Havdalah the first Monday of each month. It sets a positive tone for the month and reminds us of the importance of our community.
We continue to celebrate and learn about the Birthday of the Trees, otherwise known as Tu B’Shevat. This week we read three books related to the holiday. First, we read Netta and Her Plant, which highlighted the life of a little girl who plants a tree. The children understood that trees, like people, grow with age. The tree starts as a seed and slowly grows taller, just like humans. The children compared a tree to a human and found that there are more similarities than we thought. This might sound like a funny comparison, but ask your child to tell you the similarities because there are lot more than you think! We also read the books Is it Tu’ B’Shevat Yet? And A Tree is Nice and Dear Tree. These two books highlighted the importance of trees in our lives. The children learned that there are many different kinds of trees. There are similarities in what each tree gives to us, but there are also many differences between the trees. For instance, Alexandra explained how one tree gives us apples, while Rian shared that other trees can provide us with olives. Nixon understood that all trees give us paper and oxygen, and Wyatt said, “Trees make houses for bees.” The children showed a strong understanding of the importance of trees and how we cannot live without them for many reasons. Before venturing out into nature to take a closer look at our surroundings, we asked the children what they think they might come across during a nature walk. We received quite the variety of answers from Nixon’s hopes of seeing a rain deer to Lilah saying she will see a bench to Wyatt insisting we would see a frog or tarantula. We finished up the week by exploring the entire campus. Ask your child if they came across any of the things that they thought they might see while roaming the Wise School campus. Thankfully, we did not see any tarantulas, but we did come across a large variety of trees. Next week, we will explore the similarities and differences between the leaves we saw. The children raved about the nature walk, so we are thinking of taking another one to explore new areas of campus next week! The children also reviewed the Tu B’Shevat seder items, each of which symbolizes the beginning of the agricultural year in Israel. Ask your child if they can name one of these and where it comes from. This holiday helps us connect with Israel to celebrate the time in which fruit begins to form after surviving the hardest part of winter. Next week, we will get to experience a true Tu B’Shevat celebration by trying the first 12 fruits that begin to blossom in Israel. These include figs, grapes, olives, dates, and pomegranates. We are excited for the children to have the opportunity to try an abundance of fruits next week at our Pre-K Tu B’Shevat celebration. Room 8 has also shown a great interest in Tic Tac Toe, after being introduced by Coach Danny. Rather than playing the same, more active, version that we played in P.E., we showed the children the table-top way. Two by two, the children learned the rules and skill behind the simple game. They used small wooden Tic Tac Toe board games and tallied their rounds on a blank piece of paper. This game might seem simple and always result in a tie, but for young children, it promotes a high level of strategic thinking. It boosts creativity and the ability to develop the skills needed to complete puzzles. We noticed that the children, especially at this age, must pay very close attention in order to think of their next move. It promotes thinking logically and the important skill of attention to detail. All of these skills help the children naturally develop their logical thinking, and in turn, prepare them to easily understand mathematical and engineering concepts as they get older. In addition, Tic Tac Toe promotes social skills and interpersonal understanding. As the children sit directly across from another child, they strengthen their vocabulary and ability to conversate, which both help the children learn to negotiate in a smarter and more efficient manner. This game was a huge success in our class, and we will continue to play and watch the children master the strategies to win every time! We want to remind Room 8 that on February 13th, in honor of President’s Day, please have your child dress in red, white, and blue. We also look forward to celebrating Tu B’Shevat with your children on Monday! We wish everyone a wonderful weekend and Shabbat Shalom!! Mari and Aaliyah REMINDERS:
We began our week by introducing a new board game called Pete the Cat. This was huge hit in our class! The children were eager to learn the ins and outs of this new board game and they picked it up very quickly. The goal of the game is to get all of the cupcakes on the table for the party before grumpy toad eats all of them. This game emphasizes the importance of teamwork, while also enhancing early literacy skills and self-confidence. As the children move through the game, they pick cards that give them various tasks. One of these is to pick a song and sing it out loud. This task promotes self-confidence and public speaking skills at an early age. It can be very difficult for some children to make themselves vulnerable to a crowd. We love that this game helps the children practice this difficult skill. The more they partake in public speaking or performing activities the easier it will be for each child to master this skill. We hope to take the sting away from performing in front of a group and instead, make it a fun, creative and goofy experience. The children absolutely loved this game, and there was never a second this week that the game was free!
In light of the upcoming holiday of Tu B’Shevat, we reintroduced the topic of fruits and vegetables. We spent a good amount of time on this at the beginning of the year and wanted to review what we had learned as a transition into this holiday. We began with a large group discussion on another root vegetable, carrots. A large orange carrot was set out on the carpet in front of the children, and we asked, “Where do carrots grow?” Nixon shared that he thinks that they grow in the ground, and Lilah added that they grow from a root because they have a root at the bottom of it. We continued the conversation by asking about where the children have seen carrots. Alexandra explained that she sees carrots in her mom’s Persian stew, while Rian shared that she sees them in her sushi. Dylan always sees them in a circle shape in the fridge at his house. Then, we passed the orange carrot around and asked for details about the vegetable. The children took a close look, smell and feel of the orange carrot. They noticed that the carrot has lines around it, smelled a little sour, and there were circles inside. Next, the children were exposed to a purple carrot. They were convinced that it would also be purple inside, similar to how the orange carrot was orange inside. You can imagine their surprise when we cut it in half, and a bright yellow color appeared! We saw three colors inside this purple carrot including yellow, green, and purple. Lennon also noticed that the purple carrot was a little bit wet inside, which was different from the dryness we felt inside the orange carrot. Lastly, the children passed around a yellow/white carrot, which was also that same color inside. We finished the large group discussion by tasting all of the colored carrots. We concluded that they all tasted pretty similar, but the purple was a little crunchier than the orange. Also, all 12 children liked the taste of the carrots and asked for more at lunch. After discussion of this root vegetable and doing a few sessions of a fruit ring-around-the-rosy, we introduced the topic of Tu B’Shevat and the importance of this holiday. Ask your child if they can remember any of the items represented on the Tu B’Shevat seder plate. These include barley, almond tree, pomegranate tree, fig tree, grape vine, olive tree and date tree. Next week, we will take a closer look at these items and why they are important to this holiday. Per the request of the children, we will also taste some of these items, as they love a circle time discussion that includes a tasting. We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, and we will see you next week! Shabbat Shalom, Mari and Aaliyah REMINDERS:
Newsletter January 20-24, 2020
During our short week in Room 8, we continued our discussion on peace and Martin Luther King, Jr. We explained in last week’s newsletter that the theme of peace and respect falls under the Wise Learning Process pillar of Ethics. We decided to dive deeper into the concept of ethics. What does the word ethics mean? Why is the Wise Learning Process symbol of ethics a diamond that is half black and half white? We began this discussion by asking the children these questions. All of the children in Room 8 recognized that the symbol was a diamond, but they were curious why half of it is light and half of it is dark. We like to use the Wise Learning Process symbol to explain the concept of ethics because it allows us to break down this advanced idea into simpler terms. We continued the conversation by asking the children if they can name any characters from a movie that are considered the “bad guy.” They named a few characters including Darth Vader, Romeo, Maleficent and the Joker. We discussed why each character is considered “bad,” and the actions they perform that make them a bad guy. Then, we inquired, “What is the opposite of the dark side?” The light side is when people make the right decision and think about how their actions affect others. For example, if someone asks for help and you do not help them, we consider that the dark side. If someone asks for help and you gladly lend a hand, we consider this the light side. Throughout the week, we listened closely to the conversations during work and play to point out examples of both the dark and light side of ethics. We love seeing the children apply this concept and shout out to a friend, “Remember to be on the light side of ethics!! Don’t go to the dark!” Another piece of ethics that we touched on and tied into Martin Luther King Jr. is the idea of equality. We went around the large group circle and asked each child what color hair they had. Some have blonde, some have curly, some have dark brown, and some have pin straight hair. Then, we asked, “How would you feel if only the curly haired kids were allowed to play with the Legos for the rest of the year?” They immediately responded by saying, “That’s NOT fair!” Equality means being treated the same no matter our differences. If we treat everyone how we want to be treated, we, explained, this how to stay on the light side of ethics. We continue to bring ethics and equality into daily conversations, as this is an essential life lesson. It is important to instill the values of ethics and equality at a young age so that it becomes a norm in their everyday life. They will grow up understanding that mutual respect is not an option, it is just a way of life. Room 8 will continue to emphasize the idea of equality and ethics throughout the rest of year. Whether it is in play or in the next holiday story, it is essential to recognize that these values appear everywhere in life. We also want to thank Chloe’s family for joining us for Shabbat this week. We hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and Shabbat Shalom! Mari and Aaliyah **MOST IMPORTANT REMINDER -- 1/29 is SPIRIT DAY. Please send your child in anything Disney-themed dress-up! REMINDERS:
We continued the theme of mixing colors in Room 8, as we taught the children a new technique. After last week’s large group discussion on colors was a success, we created a mixing station at the Art Center. Each spot was set with a paper plate and the same mixing pods filled with red, yellow, blue, black and white. The children created their own paint palette on the plate. From dark purples to turquoise to light pink, the children mixed and blended to create various hues and shades on their own.
After having the opportunity to make their own colors, we tried blotch art! Using primary colors and tinting colors, black and white, we squeezed the paint in different shapes on the paper to make various creations. For instance, we squeezed the primary colors on to the paper as dots. Then, we folded the paper, pressed down, and opened it up. We asked, “What does it look like?” We continued to do this by using different colors and making different shapes on the paper, like circles, lines, and zig zags. Each one was unique and resembled something different. Each child was able to create their own blotch art. They chose the colors and format of how the paint would be positioned on the paper. They learned to fold the paper in half and carefully smush the paint together. As they peeled the paper open again, the look of excitement and surprise on each child’s face was a site to see! They couldn’t believe how a few dots of paint on a piece of white paper could form into an incredible painted design. We asked each child what they saw on their paper. Lennon compared his creation to a rainbow, while Alexandra thought she saw a firework. In light of the upcoming birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., we opened up this topic of discussion this week in our classroom. The discussion of MLK can be daunting for young children. It brings up new concepts including racism and segregation, and we, as teachers, are often debating how to approach this with them. We notice that Pre-K children are often not aware of racial differences and how these have affected our world in the past and in the present. Rather than delving into this complex issue, we like to highlight Martin Luther King Jr.’s beliefs, specifically the concept of peace. We asked the children, “What does peace mean, and what does it look like?” Lilah was the first to volunteer, as she explained that it means being relaxing. Nixon described peace as being respectful, and Chloe added that peace means being nice to not only your teachers, but also your friends. We continued to talk about peace by examining the actual symbol of peace, the peace sign. What shapes make up a peace sign? Can we draw this symbol? Next time you visit Room 8, take a look at the incredibly illustrated peace signs up on our wall. Since the children demonstrated a great interest in painting last week, we decided to loop the concept of painting and colors into our discussion on the peace sign. Each child received a small round piece of wood. They mixed their own colors and painted the wood. Then, they drew the lines in the proper place on the wood to create a peace sign. The children were so excited about making their own peace sign wood blocks that they could barely wait for the paint to dry for the next step. The overarching theme of the topics that we have been discussing, colors, peace, and Martin Luther King, Jr., all fall under the Wise Learning Process pillar of Ethics. This is one of our favorite big ideas that we get to teach because there are so many incredible life lessons that fall under this category. With the idea of respect being the first piece of Ethics, we will continue to read stories and discuss many more concepts under this theme. We are also excited to integrate ethics into upcoming holiday discussions, as it is prevalent in almost every conversation that we have in Room 8. We hope you all have a wonderful 4- day weekend, and we will see you on Wednesday 1/22! Shabbat Shalom, Mari and Aaliyah REMINDERS:
We want to welcome all of our friends back to school and wish all of our families a Happy New Year! Room 8 had a fabulously busy first week of the new decade. We began by hearing about everyone’s holiday break. From vacations to Mexico to spending time with special family members to playing with our new Hanukkah toys, we loved listening to the detailed stories of your Winter Break adventures.
We decided to set out a new activity for the first day back after break. The Art Table, a regular station each morning, looked a little different this Monday. Rather than coloring tools or cutting materials, the center was set up with five identical stations. Each setting contained a paint pod strip filled with three colors, a cup of water, three paint brushes, a pencil, and a piece of white construction paper. The three colors of paint filling the pods were red, yellow and blue. The children were encouraged to visit this new center on Monday morning and could create or do whatever they wanted with this new set-up. As the children inquired about what to do at this station, the only guideline we gave was to not mix the colors in the pods. If they wanted to mix two colors, they just had to do it on the paper. We sat and observed quietly and noticed that most of the children kept each color separate. They painted areas of the paper only with red and returned the red brush to the red paint. Then, they would use the blue brush and paint other areas of the paper that were not painted yet. The children took this one guideline and applied it to the entire project. Rather than trying to mix on the paper or even have two colors touch, each child made sure that the red, blue and yellow each had their own place on the page. We realized that our guideline to not mix the colors within the pods was restrictive to the children. The following day we wanted to encourage the children to try to mix the primary colors on their paper. We explained and showed them an example, which gave them the courage to try it on their own. Dylan realized he could make green from yellow and blue, and Lennon was so excited to learn that blue and red make purple. After the children had a chance to experiment on their own, we sat as a large group to dive deeper into the world of colors. We placed a large piece of white butcher paper on the rug and sat in a circle around it. As a class, we mixed each of the primary colors together, two by two, to create secondary colors. Then, what happens when you add black or white? Ask your child if they can tell you what white or black will do to the color. The children were amazed that we could make so many different shades of colors. The children then matched paint swatch cards to the colors that we had made. Each had a creative name like eucalyptus green, winter surf, and chili pepper. This activity helped the children strengthen their vocabulary and their ability to make connections. The children had to think on a deeper level to come up with unique words to describe each color. Instead of just calling it purple, the children described it as violet and lavender. They were able to also compare the colors to things they had seen in the real world. For instance, Lilah compared the orange color we created to a peach, while Rian said it could be a skin color. When we added black to that same color, Lorne said it could be coral. Alexandra compared a grayish blue that we had created to blueberries, and Isabella said that same color was navy, which is her mom’s favorite color. The ability to describe objects and things we see is essential to our learning and academic success. The children are learning to categorize and organize the world as they see it. Learning colors and shades also encourages creative expression at a young age. After our large group discussion, the children were begging us to try it on their own, which we will spend time on next week! We also have a few great books on the subject of color that will help tie in the next holiday of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the importance of ethics. We hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and we can’t wait to get our color on next week! Shabbat Shalom, Mari and Aaliyah REMINDERS:
Shabbat Family Schedule January 17- Lorne January 31- Bella February 7- Chloe March 20- Alexandra We continued our Hanukkah celebration this week by playing dreidel with the children and making dreidels. The children reviewed the four dreidel symbols, Gimel, Nun, He, and Shin. They each got the chance to spin a big wooden dreidel. Daniel, Nixon and Bella landed on Gimel! Unfortunately, Alexandra and Rian were not as lucky as their dreidel landed on Nun both times they spun it. The game of dreidel does not only reflect the holiday of Hanukkah, but it also reinforces the values of patience, teamwork, and sportsmanship. Each must wait patiently for their turn to spin and understand that they might not land on the symbol in which they desire. In addition to playing the game, the children asked the teachers if they could make their own dreidels similar to the ones we made last year. In our Explorers class, the children had the opportunity to spread different colored Plasticine clay over a small wooden square with a small stick. The children enjoyed this project so much that they remembered it and asked if they could do it again! Ask your child to teach you how to play dreidel using their very own new crafty dreidels.
We want to thank you all for joining us in Room 8 for a beautiful Hanukkah party! The children were so excited to perform and did an incredible job singing the Hanukkah songs for all of the parents and family that attended our party. The best part was having Cantor Lam and Alexandra lead us in the Hanukkah prayers! We want to give a big thanks to everyone for making our party so special by preparing food, bringing party items and joining us for the special day. We wish you all a wonderful Winter Break filled with family, friends, warmth, love and celebrations. We also want to wish you all a happy and healthy New Year! The past four months have been an incredible growing journey with all of your children. The development and success we have seen from the start of the year until now is enormous. We are so proud of all they have accomplished so far and cannot wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for Room 8. Thank you to all for being so supportive. We are so grateful for all that you do for the children and our classroom. We can’t wait for more wonderful times beginning in January! Shabbat Shalom, have a great vacation, and Happy New Year! Mari and Aaliyah REMINDERS:
Shabbat Family Schedule January 10- Wyatt January 17- Lorne January 31- Bella |
Pre-K Room 8Mari Greifer Archives
March 2020
Categories |