2/18-22/2019
Room 8 continued our theme of ethics this week with more stories and conversations. In order to emphasize the importance of comprehension, we sat with the children in small groups and chatted about each child’s favorite ethics-themed book. Brayden loved the book Mixed. He identified the dark side as being when the primary colors didn’t want to mix together. He also said the colors came to the light side of ethics when they mixed to create green, and then they liked each other. Many of the books we have read the past few weeks have an underlying message about morals and ethics. They also have a theme of art. We stayed in this realm by reading another book with the subject of art and a lesson of morals. The book titled, Snippets, is a fun story about paper shapes. It demonstrates how paper can be cut into many different shapes and not just fall into one of the categories of defined shapes. The large variety of shapes of paper can create a beautiful, unique work of art rather than just using one square or circle. We emphasized that no matter the shape, it is always important to work together. Working as a team and demonstrating kindness will get one much further than lacking empathy. Through this story, the children were able to reinforce the importance of ethics and create a new art project. After reading the story, the children had the opportunity to create their own snippets. In small groups, the children cut as many snippets as they could. Once they finished cutting a certain color of construction paper, they demonstrated kindness and asked their friends if they could help. Then, they chose pieces of snippets to put together a unique work of art. For instance, Julian put together a face using all snippets! It was amazing! Luca made a full person and even attached fingers made of snippets. Kate created a garden scene using snippets. Next time you are in the room take a look at the window of creativity. Room 8 started a new weekly activity of Yoga this week. Every Wednesday, we will gather in the Yoga Studio in Katz to practice yoga with a specialized teacher, Cheryl Silberman. This was our first week and the children seemed to really enjoy the 30-minute experience. They learned a few new poses and stretched on their own yoga mat. They also journeyed to Australia! Ask your child about their adventure and what animals they saw. We enjoyed celebrating Shabbat with Scarlett and her family this week. We look forward to next week’s adventures and Thursday’s Picture Day! Shabbat Shalom, Mari & Aaliyah Reminders:
Shabbat Family Schedule:
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February 11-15, 2019
Room 8 had a colorful week to say the least! On Monday morning, we opened up a conversation on the idea of multiple perspectives, one of the pillars affiliated with the Wise Learning Process. Multiple perspectives can be defined as different points of view. The notion that people can see the same story in different ways is a complicated concept to grasp for young children. We wanted to introduce the children to this complex subject to create a basis for future learning. In order to do this at a simpler level, mixing and creating colors became the subject of this conversation. We began by asking, “What are the primary colors?” Ask your child if they remember the three colors that can never be created by any other color. We followed this question with a demonstration in mixing colors including red and blue, green and blue and red and yellow. As the new colors formed, the children were amazed by the transformation. We inquired, “Can you make this new green or orange lighter or darker, and how?” Sasha exclaimed, “We can add black to make it dark green.” Blake said, “Let’s add white to make a light blue like sky.” The children learned two new vocabulary words, tints and shades. Tints are created when you add white to make a lighter variation, and shades are darker values, such as dark blue or black. Teacher Aaliyah brought out a stack of paint color swatches to demonstrate the large variation that can occur with mixing colors. The concept that one color can come in thousands of shades and tints and be called all different names creates a basis for children to understand the idea of multiple perspectives. One might see a variation of green as dark green, but someone else might see it as olive green or dark yellow/brown. Everyone sees things differently, which is powerful and crucial concept needed to be successful in school and in life. Teaching this idea at a young age helps children accept others’ opinions, learn to comprehend a bias, and understand classification. We will continue the idea of multiple perspectives and take it a step further in our unit on Purim. After our large group discussion, the children had the opportunity to make their own color variations in smaller groups. At first, they chose two primary colors to mix. For instance, Grayson mixed blue and yellow, and Scarlett mixed yellow and red. Grayson wanted a lighter green, so he added white and called his new color Lime Green. Scarlett desired a peach-like orange. At first, she added more red paint, but then lightened it up with white. Her creation was called Peach Lipstick. Later in the week, we read the story The Littlelest Paintbrush. While this did not highlight the subject of colors, the story connected our new unit to the past unit on Ethics. The book emphasized how we need to use a variety of brushes, in size and shape, to create a masterpiece. The children understood that, at first, the brushes were on the “dark side,” as they would not include the little brush to work with them. The little brush went on to be used by the artist, whom stopped using the bigger brushes. Christopher shared with his peers that the big brushes felt bad for excluding the little brush demonstrating a grasp on doing the “right” thing. We have noticed through every day activities and play that the children portray a strong grasp on choosing the right instead of the wrong. During their conversations in play, we enjoy seeing one friend tell another, “Remember to be on the light side instead of the dark!” Developing a concrete understanding on ethics sets the children up for a moral future. We are excited to connect this to future topics this year. Thank you to Evie’s family for joining us this week for a great Shabbat. We hope everyone has a fun and restful 4-day weekend. We will see you all on Wednesday! Shabbat Shalom, Mari + Aaliyah Reminders:
Shabbat Family Schedule:
Room 8 had the best week having our dads and grandpas visit our classroom. On Monday and Tuesday morning, we enjoyed teaching our dads to play our all-time favorite board games. They learned to play The Lady Bug game, Connect 4 Launchers, and Zingo Numbers. Scarlett and her dad played an intense game of Zingo, while Cameron and his grandpa battled it out in Connect 4 Launchers. Grayson’s dad enjoyed helping Grayson and his friends stack the colored stacking cups on the rug. We loved seeing the children laugh, compete, learn and spend quality time with the men in their families. On Thursday, we invited the fathers and grandfathers to join us for P.E. with Coach Danny. We had a fabulous turn out! To see the dads and grandfathers take part in a class all-touch kickball game was not only entertaining, but also a special moment for your children. Evie’s dad kicked the ball so hard it hit the ceiling! Amanda and her dad and Kate and her father ran so fast around the bases that they had more than 7 runs.
The best part of the week with our dads and grandfathers was celebrating Shabbat with them in temple on Friday. With almost every dad from our class in attendance, we have never seen the children so ecstatic and enthused to be singing Bim Bam and saying the Shabbat prayers with their dads and grandfathers by their sides. It was an unforgettable day and week, and we are so appreciative that you all were able to take some time out of your busy schedules to join us in Room 8. Both the teachers and your children want to give you a huge thanks! In addition to our mornings with the dads and grandpas, we conducted a lesson to deepen the understanding of details in artwork. As I mentioned last week, the children took part in a nature walk, where they both observed items and had the opportunity to draw one of the things they saw. To take this lesson a step further, we set out some of the findings from the nature walk including various leaves, a pine cone, twigs and a seed pod. Each child chose one of these objects to draw. We wanted to emphasize the importance of including details in their illustration, rather than only drawing the basic shape of the item. We want the children to understand that a leaf is more than a green circle with a green line for the stem. What other shapes and lines do you see when you take a closer look at a leaf? Amanda said she sees very tiny little lines inside the leaf, while Christopher recognized the tiny yellow balls that were attached to the stem of the leaf. This lesson teaches the children how to identify individual features, otherwise known as details, in the item they are viewing. Being exposed to the skill of recognizing various parts of an object helps strengthen critical thinking skills and vocabulary. Young children greatly benefit from looking at an item in depth because we use this part of brain in every aspect of life. Next time you visit our classroom take a look at the incredible detailed drawings the children made of our nature walk findings. We want to wish everyone a Shabbat Shalom, and we will see you on Monday! Shabbat Shalom, Mari & Aaliyah Reminders:
Shabbat Family Schedule:
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Pre-K Room 8Mari Greifer Archives
March 2020
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