Dear Room 8 Parents,
Room 8 had a busy week focusing on Sukkot. The holiday of Sukkot emphasizes the importance of appreciating nature and focusing on our surroundings rather than the comforts we are used to in our home. During Sukkot, we welcome the harvest, and we are ready to “harvest” or pick the fruits and vegetables that have been growing all summer. We started the week by visiting the sukkah on the Pre-K patio outside our room. We looked around and described what we saw. The children learned that the sukkah is made up of 3 walls and a roof. There is a special requirement for the roof of the sukkah that makes it different than a house. The children learned that the roof has to be open to the sky so that we can see the stars at night. Many use Palm leaves to cover the roof but still leaves holes to see the sky. Ask your child what you need to build a sukkah. They might even sing you the song, “This is What You Need to Build a Sukkah.” The children were able to practice their fine motor skills and their ability to produce a complete picture by drawing their own sukkah. They learned that a sukkah is constructed in the shape of a rectangle and is decorated by fruits that are often circle shapes. Take a look at their incredible drawings next time you visit the class. We also had the opportunity to visit the annual 3rd Grade Sukkah Exhibit. The kids enjoyed seeing how the 3rd graders made models of a sukkah out of various materials. Benjamin loved the Lego sukkah, while Ella liked the sukkah with the twinkly lights. In light of our nature theme and Sukkot, last week’s Share Day theme was to bring in 3 different pieces of nature. As the children presented their items this week, we categorized the items. Our categories consisted of: flowers, sticks/twigs, rocks, leaves, herbs, seed pods, and fruit. Owen brought a fig, which went to the fruit category. Mason used his critical thinking skills and made a connection between the fig and a lemon because they are the same shape and have the same brown stem. Benjamin found sticks on his nature walk. Carter put a leaf in the leaf category. Paisley found rosemary and lavender, which she said had a smell to them. This meant they are herbs. To emphasize mathematical language and further emerge this idea from last week’s leaf measuring, we asked the children, “Which category has the least amount of nature items?” Neda noticed that the rock category had the least because there was only 1 rock. Kayden explained that the fruit plate was the same as the rock because there was only one fig. Then, we questioned, “Which is greater: the twig category or seed pod category?” After Skyler counted the twigs and Carter counted the seed pods, Ayla exclaimed, “9 is more than 6 so the twigs are greater than the seeds.” We are so impressed by the children’s ability to grasp this mathematical concept. We can’t wait to incorporate more of these concepts into our fall learning and see how the children begin to use these in everyday play. In honor of Sukkot, this week’s Share Day theme was to bring your favorite fruit. We discussed Share Day on Friday, so that the children could enjoy a delicious fruit salad for Shabbat snack. We were amazed by the variety of fruits that were brought in including peaches, blueberries, mango, strawberries, and more! Next week, we will introduce a new critical thinking concept: cause and effect. Stay tuned for experiments and discussions regarding our new topic. Reminders:
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Pre-K Room 8Mari Greifer Archives
March 2020
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