Week of September 16-20, 2019
We started our week with our first discussion on the concept of details. In order to introduce this new idea, we thought it would be fun to learn more about each other in the process! We conducted “All About Me” interviews to learn some basic information, but we took this a step further this week. Ask your child if they can remember what the word, “details,” means. We explained that details are very important in every step of learning. In order to truly understand and grasp a concept or idea, we need as many details as possible. Details can also be explained as describing words or adjectives. We asked all of our Room 8 friends, “How do we get details about a person or how do we learn more about someone?” We came to an agreement that you must ask questions to do this! In light of this concept, we played a new game called Hot Seat. This is when one child or teacher sits in the deemed “Hot Seat” (blue chair). Then, we go around the class and each child asks the person in the hot seat a question. In order to do this, the children had to understand the difference between a question and a statement. The idea of question vs. statement is a common theme that will come up through each of our lessons throughout the year. This concept falls under the pillar of “Details,” which is a key piece the Wise Learning Process. We teach the children to understand that questions are used to find out more information or details, and statements are the answers. Learning to ask questions is essential to future learning and success. The ability to ask questions not only allows children to gather information and expand their knowledge, but it also helps boost their sense of curiosity and interest in learning. Instead of asking your children questions, encourage them to ask you questions! Have your child pick a topic and come up with questions about all the things they want to learn about said subject. We introduced the idea of details early in the school year because it appears in all areas of learning. Last week, we talked about the differences between fruits and vegetables and why one falls into its particular category. Then, the children had the opportunity to identify a variety of fruits and a variety of vegetables. We decided to focus on one fruit in particular this week to gather many details on the subject. After asking the children to vote on their favorite fruit, we narrowed the pool down to one fruit, watermelon. By using a topic that was chosen by the class, it gives the children a greater sense of ownership in the project. Having the students generate their own topic allowed the children to sustain interest for a longer period of time. When we asked what their favorite part of the week was, the majority of our class chose the watermelon project. Ask your child about the project! They will give you tons of details about a watermelon such as color, shape, taste, and texture. We also tried other watermelon products including watermelon juice and watermelon jerky. While the juice was not a big hit, the jerky was a fan favorite! Nixon thought the juice tasted stale, and Jacob thought the jerky was super sticky. After conquering the watermelon, we moved on to discuss questions and details of another fruit, which also happens to be a big symbol in the upcoming holiday of Rosh Hashanah. We began the apple discussion on Thursday, where we looked at four different types of apples including Fuji, Granny Smith, Red Delicious, and Honey Crisp. The purpose of this activity was to gather details about apples ranging from anything we see, touch, taste, and smell. We held the apple, smelled it, looked at it from every angle, and even tasted all four types. Ask your child to tell you one detail they learned about an apple. An interesting piece of information we found out was that there was a star inside the apple if we cut it horizontally. The children were enamored by this! Dylan thought it looked a little more like a snowflake, and Rian pointed out that her star-shaped earrings match the shape that’s in the apple! The deep conversations we had this week during circle time discussions set a fabulous tone for the year. We noticed that the topic of vegetables and fruits resonated with many of the children in Room 8. At lunch, they couldn’t stop talking about which vegetables and fruits they had in their lunch box. We saw an enormous amount of curiosity and love for learning, and we can’t wait to explore many more topics throughout the year starting with Rosh Hashanah next week. Have a great weekend, and we will see you on Monday! Shabbat Shalom, Mari + Aaliyah REMINDERS:
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Pre-K Room 8Mari Greifer Archives
March 2020
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