Week of 10/2-6/17
Dear Room 8 Parents, This first month of school has flown by and your children continue to amaze us every day. Last weeks' Share Day theme was “Something Sour.” The children took an interest in this theme and asked to taste all of the food items that were brought in. While tasting these foods, the children noticed that we had both a fresh lemon and a dried lemon. They began asking questions about these two items including, “How does a lemon become dried?” and “Why are they different?” In light of the children’s interest in these two items and our past emphasis on compare and contrast language, we encouraged the children to compare and contrast both lemons to understand the similarities and differences. Throughout this discussion, it became clear that the children were beginning to deeply comprehend how to think critically and understand the concept of details and adjectives. We began to notice the children's understanding when we cut 2 fresh lemons in half, one cut lengthwise from the stem to the bottom and the other cut down the middle. Then, we cut the lengthwise lemon in half again to create a “wedge” like shape. Immediately, Michael noticed, “It is a crescent.” The kids began to look at the wedge in a different way, beyond shapes and colors. Elliot described the wedge as similar to a banana. Carter said, “It looks like a watermelon slice.” Ella compared the lemon wedge to a moon. Lastly, Paisley connected Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to this class discussion and noticed that the lemon wedge was very similar to the shape of a Shofar. The details and comparisons that the children used demonstrated that the children were grasping the concept of comparing and contrasting and using details. We are excited to see the children think outside the box, thereby sharpening their critical thinking skills. Next, we presented the dried lemon and asked, “What do you see?” Again, the answers were so much more than just stating the color or shape. The children are beginning to process the concept of how to describe an object based on your senses on a higher, more advanced level. Mason described the dried lemon as similar to a ball, and Elliot said it looked like a pumpkin. Kayden said, “It looks like an orange because of its round shape.” Then, Michael said it looks like chipmunk food (which we figured out was an acorn). Paisley said it looks like a Jack-o’- lantern, in which she was referring to a pumpkin. In learning how to use critical thinking skills, the children are putting in place the building blocks for learning how to learn. We are interested to see where the children will take this concept as we go through Sukkot, the fall season and more! Room 8 welcomed the new season of fall this week. Since we did an in-depth study on various types of squash last year, this year we wanted to do things differently. Instead of choosing a teacher-directed topic, we are going to introduce the themes of the season of fall and see how the children respond. We began by taking the children on a nature walk to expose them to fall nature. After a brief discussion on the similarities and differences between some of the trees that we saw, the children collected a variety of leaves, twigs and seeds. The following morning we set out the nature walk findings along with various sized magnifying glasses, kaleidoscopes, and one small round measuring tool. After observing the leaves through the magnifying glasses and the seeds through the kaleidoscopes, we overheard the children talking about how to measure the leaves. They gravitated towards the measuring tool, a small plastic circle with a ruler of 2.5 inches on it. The children did not quite know how to use the ruler, so in asking Teacher Aaliyah, she provided them with a slightly larger 12-inch ruler. They came back and said this was even too small! Aaliyah then gave them a yard stick to continue their measuring. The children worked together to figure out how to measure each leaf, stick, branch and twig. They put the yard stick on the floor and compared the lengths. They would say, “This one is 16!” and “This one is 8.” We introduced the word, “inches” and explained we measure in “inches.” Next time you drop off or pick up, take a look at our measuring window! Since the children showed a great interest in observing the differences between leaves and branches, we will continue to facilitate their learning in this topic. We also saw the children incorporate the concept of compare and contrast into their own play and discovery. This was just another piece of evidence supporting how they are grasping how to think critically. We cannot wait to see what other topics and discussions emerge from the children’s interest in nature. We hope you all have a wonderful long weekend and Shabbat Shalom! Reminders:
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