Even though it was a very short week, Room 8 had a very busy 3 days. In light of our recent discussions on Tu B’Shevat and nature, we decided to jump into the week with a critical thinking exercise. We sat in a large circle and we all looked up at the new poster hanging on the wall at the front of our rug. We asked the children, “What do you see?” Rather than telling us details or information, we challenged them to ask questions to find out the facts. The Wise Learning Process calls this concept Puzzlement. Throughout the school year, we have continued to instill the idea of questions versus statements in many of our large group discussions. For example, when we conducted discussions on carrots and potatoes, we made sure to point out whether a child was asking a question to learn something new or giving us information. We do not only highlight this concept in circle time, but we also point out if a child says, “I have a question,” but they really give us a statement. Through asking questions, the children develop and enhance their critical thinking skills. In addition, this activity promotes the importance of looking at the fine details and asking questions to gather information. By teaching the children this skill at a young age, the children begin to understand that one must ask questions to learn. The first question that we heard was, “Why is there a picture of a body on the wall?” Wyatt asked, “How do parents come alive and then kids?” Lilah inquired, “Why is there a picture of feet on the poster?” Dylan and Alexandra wanted to know why the little girl has sunglasses and a bathing suit. Rian asked, “Why does she have skin?” Then, a few friends asked why the little girl in the poster had certain things inside of her body like blood and bones. We were impressed by the complicated and creative questions that the children came up with. After learning about what trees need to survive through our Tu B’Shevat studies, we asked the children, “What do humans need to survive?” Similar to trees, we discovered that people need many of the same necessities that trees require. Rian shared that trees need tree food, and people also need food. Nixon pointed out that both trees and people need water to survive. Lastly, we pointed out that another similarity in survival is sunlight. The children pointed out some really important similarities between trees and people. During this discussion, especially while talking about trees and their needs, Nixon asked, “Where does water come from?” This was an extremely interesting query and provoked a whole new set of questions that the children began to ask. We were blown away by their ability to think outside the box and their desire to gain more knowledge about complicated topics. Since the children demonstrated an interest in learning more about nature and where it comes from, we plan to further develop these topics next week. In choosing projects that are unique to the child or group of children, we are constantly creating emergent curriculum in our classroom. We, as teachers, observe and listen carefully to their interests, and by creating curriculum that is catered to their interests, the children are known to be more engaged and have a more meaningful experience. They learn a wide range of information that taps into all areas of learning including math, literacy, science, history and more. It also allows the children to explore a larger variety of materials rather than just working with typical preschool tools like alphabet puzzles, counting cubes, or making play dough. We can’t wait to see where we go with this one question of where water comes from! Stay tuned next week for the journey. We want to remind everyone that we have PICTURE DAY next week! This Tuesday, February 25th, we will meet in the Main Sanctuary at 9:00am SHARP. Please drop your child off here and one time, as we will start our day with individual and Room 8 class picture. If you have any questions, please let us know. We are looking forward to celebrating our first ever Generation’s Day with one member of each of your families. We want to remind you to please bring in the toiletry items mentioned on the flier that was sent home with your child this week no later than Tuesday 2/25. We have a special activity planned for Friday, and we need as many items as we can get. Shabbat Shalom, Mari and Aaliyah REMINDERS:
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Pre-K Room 8Mari Greifer Archives
March 2020
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