Week of November 5-9, 2018
This week in Room 8 we tried a new form of learning. Rather than introducing a new unit or game during large group circle, we enjoyed time gathering knowledge in small groups. The children had many opportunities throughout the week to work with various peers in small learning groups. Each group participated in different activities such as learning a new board game, The Ladybug Game, painting a water color masterpiece without mixing colors, practicing pattern creation with the Pattern Tiles, and mastering a Match It! Upper & Lower Case Letters puzzle. After completing one exercise, they patiently waited to be assigned the next activity. We love this method of learning because it enables developmental growth and promotes a strong level of social interaction and cooperation. While it is important to gain the skills necessary for large learning circles, such as listening, patience, and public speaking, small group learning skills are just as essential. Working in a small group of 3 to 4 children encourages each child to form social interactions and build relationships. Teamwork is a crucial skill that is necessary in both academics and future life endeavors. We enjoy working closely with these small groups to get to know each child as an individual and better observe them at work. In these small groups, the children most enjoyed learning the board game, The Lady Bug Game. This game emphasizes mathematical skills like counting, teamwork, following multi-step directions, and concentration. The children have to pay close attention to the card that they draw to find how many spaces to move, which direction to move in based on the red arrow, and if they will get another turn. There are many components to this intricate game, and we are proud that the children have worked hard to master the many rules. Each day they become more comfortable with the board game and always offer to help a friend if they are in need. Aside from small group work, we conducted a large learning circle in line with our Root Vegetable Unit. The vegetable introduced this week was an onion. Ask your child if they saw a big or a small onion! We hope they tell you that it is the biggest onion they have ever seen since it was larger than both Sasha and Cameron’s face! As a class, we passed the monstrous onion around so that the children could feel, smell, and inspect every crevice of the vegetable. Then, they contributed incredible details about what they saw, smelled, and felt. For instance, Kate said that it was very heavy and that she saw a white watermelon that looked kind of like this. When looking at the first layer of skin, Cameron stated, “The skin feels like paper.” As the children touched the skin, it crumbled easily in their hands. Then, we peeled the top layer off, and Scarlett exclaimed, “It is dirty!” Brayden chimed in and said, “It came out of the dirt row from the ground so that is why there is dirt on the bottom.” The children felt the second layer of skin, which felt more like plastic than paper. Grayson noticed that it did not crumble as easy as the first one. We were all waiting for the onion to make us get a little teary-eyed, but no one shed a tear! Since the children enjoyed the carrot vegetable out of all of the root veggies, we decided to use this item as the focus of our Thanksgiving Feast. More to come on this next week! Reminders:
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Pre-K Room 8Mari Greifer Archives
March 2020
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