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:
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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 |
Pre-K Room 8Mari Greifer Archives
March 2020
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