This week in Room 8 we dissected an onion! After discussing the potato as a root vegetable a few weeks ago, the children have continued to ask which vegetable we would be learning about next. In line with the topic of root vegetables, we decided to dive into the topic of onions. We began with a purple onion and a yellow onion. We sat in a large group circle and examined these two types of onions. First, we looked at the yellow onion, and the children came up with an enormous amount of details to describe this vegetable. Both the skin and the inside offered new textures and smells. The children determined that the skin had white lines in it and that you could see through it unlike the skin of a potato. They also noticed that the outermost layer of the onion was crunchy like a leaf, and the skin became softer and more plastic like as the layers grew deeper. Then, we cut the onion in half. Rian exclaimed, “It looks like a white rainbow inside because it has the same circles like a rainbow!” We noticed that the onion was much juicier the potato.
We wanted the children to understand that there is a connection between our topic of potatoes and onions with the current holiday. We happened to have latkes for snack on the same day of the onion discussion, so we asked, “Do you know what these are made of?” Lilah and Isabella both shared that latkes are made out of potatoes. We went on to explain that people add onions to these potato pancakes to give them more flavor. The children thoroughly enjoyed their latke snack. Room 8 also focused on incorporating the concept of sorting into our daily activities. Getting adjusted to the process of sorting at an early age is important for numerical concepts, grouping numbers, identifying similarities and differences, and recognizing details. By sorting and categorizing, children are also gaining the ability to recognize rules, which is the concept that creates a pattern. One of the activities that emphasized this skill was grouping animal tiles into various categories. To take this to a higher level of learning, we had the children come up with their own categories, which consisted of animals that walk, animals that fly, animals in water, slithering animals, and snow animals. This proved to be a difficult challenge for many of the friends in our class. Some of the animals were new creatures or a different type of the same animal but in a new context. For instance, all of the children were convinced that the picture of the octopus was a starfish. Also, the tortoise tile was thought to be a sea turtle so many thought it lived in the ocean, rather than on land. This was an incredible activity that touched on so many important skills including expanding our vocabulary, learning similarities and differences, making connections, grouping items, the concept of less than and more than, teamwork, understanding the rules of each category, communication, and paying close attention to detail. We will continue to incorporate sorting and categorizing into our weekly activities, as well as emphasize the importance of understanding what rules are to be successful in this skill. We will begin by using sorting to make our hannukiyot next week! We are also excited to talk more about the Maccabees and see which piece of the conversation will garner the most questions from your children. Lastly, we can’t wait to celebrate Hanukkah with all of the Room 8 families next Thursday. We wish you all a Shabbat Shalom and wonderful weekend! Mari and Aaliyah REMINDERS:
Shabbat Family Schedule January 10- Wyatt January 17- Lorne January 31- Bella
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Pre-K Room 8Mari Greifer Archives
March 2020
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