February 19-23, 2018
Room 8 had a busy 3 days! After a couple of days off, the children were ready to get to work on Wednesday. We continued our discussions on Purim this week as the holiday is approaching shortly! The children enjoyed listening to the story of Purim each day this week. Ask your child what the special noisemaker is called that we use on Purim when we hear Haman’s name. Each child had the opportunity to make his/her own grogger this week. They began the process by choosing either paint or sequins. They used one of these mediums to decorate 2 small paper plates that were rimmed with about 6 hole punches. Some painted their 2 plates 2 different colors, and others glued a design of sequins on their plates. The children were very curious how these would become groggers. Instead of using a recycled water bottle like last year, we decided to introduce a new skill to the children that they could learn through making this Purim item. Each child received a small bell and 1 long piece of yarn. We taught the children the skill of weaving as they learned to string the piece of yarn through the holes on the edge of the plates. First, we showed the class how to turn the plates inward to face one another and match up the holes that are on the rims of the plates. Then, they strung the yarn through each hole using an in and out motion. When they were halfway through the holes, they strung the small bell into the yarn so that it would sit at the bottom of the grogger. We can’t wait to use these unique groggers in our Purim Shabbat service next Friday! This project reiterated an important piece of the Purim story along with helping the children strengthen their fine motor skills. Sewing enhances hand eye coordination to further the connection between visual information and transmitting this information to one’s hands. In addition, weaving strengthens the pincer grip and muscles in the hand, which in turn, improves the children’s writing skills. Lastly, this activity also promotes concentration and following directions. It was a complicated task to learn, but the children focused and created a beautiful product. We want to give a big thanks to Farnaz, Elliot’s mom, for joining us in class to educate the children on the importance of dental health. They had so much fun listening to Sammy the Dinosaur explain all the important facts about our teeth and mouths. Ayla learned to not eat a lot of bad food like candy because you can get cavities. Wynter learned that you have to brush your teeth in the back and the front. Thank you so much for joining us!! The children are excited to act out the story of Purim next week and dress up for next week’s Shabbat. They are already discussing what they will be! Thank you to Neda’s family for joining us for a wonderful class Shabbat. Neda’s excitement for being Shabbat girl lit up the entire classroom. We hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and Shabbat Shalom! Mari & Aaliyah Shabbat Family Schedule: 3/2- Skyler 3/9- Owen 3/16- Ayla 3/23- Kora Reminders:
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Week of February 12-16, 2018
Room 8 dove right into the week by starting with a critical thinking exercise to introduce the upcoming holiday. On Monday, we showed the children a variety of pictures of kings, queens, and castles. For example, the children looked at a picture of Queen Maria Theresa of Spain (1600s), King of Louis XIV of France (1600s), and a photo of the palace of Versailles. Then, we said, “Ask questions about these photos. What do you want to know?” Paisley started the conversation by asking, “Is that a queen and what is she sitting on?” Elliot followed with, “What is inside the castle?” Kayden asked, “Why is there water around the castle?” Michael asked, “Do they have cars?” Some more friends quickly chimed in as Owen said, “What year did they start building castles?” and Skyler asked, “When did they live?” The questions flowed as the children tried to figure out what was going on in the photographs in front of them. As the conversation began to wrap up, we explained that these pictures of kings, queens, and castles are connected to the next holiday, Purim, because the story involves kings and queens in a castle. Throughout this exercise, the children must pose all of their thoughts in the form of a question. Rather than “telling” us details or information, they have to “ask” questions to find out the facts. The Wise Learning Process calls this activity Puzzlement. We conducted another Puzzlement lesson, just using a different topic of potatoes, earlier this school year to introduce a different style of thinking. 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, it allows them to understand that one must ask questions to learn. On Tuesday, the children listened to Teacher Aaliyah tell the story of Purim. We discussed each character’s trait that makes them unique to the story. For instance, Esther was the second Queen of Shushan, known for her bravery and confidence, as she stood up for the Jewish people. We will continue to discuss these characters and relate this holiday back to our unit on Ethics. Share Day theme this week was, “If you could be anything for the day, what would you be?” In keeping with the theme of Purim and characters, the children had to use their imagination and creativity to come up with their answer. Michael wanted to be a surgeon so that he could help people, while Elliot wanted to be a NBA player on the Bucks for one day. Neda wanted to be Cinderella for the day so that she will have a Fairy Godmother that will make her special dresses, and Wynter wanted to be a sparkly mermaid because she could swim in the ocean and take care of the animals that she loves. We loved hearing their original ideas and wish we could help turn them into a reality! We want to thank Ella’s family for joining us for Shabbat this week and helping us celebrate Ella’s birthday. We enjoyed singing songs and reading stories with the entire family! We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and Shabbat Shalom! Mari and Aaliyah Shabbat Family Schedule: 2/23- Neda 3/2- Skyler 3/9- Owen 3/16- Ayla 3/23- Kora Reminders: 1. 2/19- No school President’s Day 2. 2/20- No school PD Day 3. 2/23- FRIDAY Beit Issie Farmers Market – BRING BERRIES on THURSDAY 2/22 4. 3/2- EC Purim Shabbat – Dress up day 5. 3/3- Tot Shabbat 6. 3/13- 12pm Early Dismissal – ½ Day Parent Conferences 7. 3/14- NO School – Parent Conferences Week of February 5th - 9th, 2018
Room 8 had the best week hanging with our dads! We loved having these special visitors every day for a different activity. On Tuesday, some of the dads joined us for a homemade waffle breakfast complete with mixed berries, orange juice and chocolate milk! The children worked hard to cut up the bananas and strawberries to eat with their waffles. On Wednesday, some more joined us for a crazy science experiment! We made gak/slime two different ways. First, we mixed glue, water, and liquid starch. We added blue food color and mixed as fast as we could to concoct a liquid like slime. The experiment did not come out as well as we were hoping, so we tried a different mixture. Next, we combined glue, baking soda, saline solution, and red food coloring. Within seconds, the ingredients formed into a solid creating gak. The children oohed and aahed over this new creation. They could not believe the texture, consistency and feel of the gak as it could be rolled, stretched, and bounced. As the children continued to be enamored by the process and the product, we went on to make purple and green gak. They loved it so much they even asked to take the gak home! For our Father’s Week activity on Thursday, some of the dads joined our class for P.E. with Coach Danny. This was the best activity of the week!! Coach Danny set up a game of All Touch Kickball. The children, along with their dads, were broken up in two groups of 7. One team started out as the ball-roller and passer, and the other team began with kicking and running. The game went as follows: one child from the runner team stood at an orange marker (i.e. home base) and another child from the passing team stood at the green marker (i.e. pitching mound). The child rolled the ball towards the child up at “bat” and that child had to kick the ball as hard as he/she could and begin to run around the 4 orange markers (set up in a large square) as many times as they could. While that child was running and counting the amount of times they touched each “base”/orange marker, the roller had to quickly catch the ball, bring it back to his/her team, and begin to pass it around the circle. After each person touched the ball, they would sit down, and when they entire team was seated, the base runner from the other team was done with his/her turn. The dads and children absolutely loved the game! Skyler’s dad acted as the human buzzer each time the children passed the ball around the circle. Owen’s dad and Mason’s dad tried to throw off the opposing team by kicking the ball as hard as he could across the entire gym. It was such a special experience to have the dads joins us for P.E. Catching a glimpse of their competitive side and their goofy childlike qualities come out was a site to see. In light of the success of last week’s nature drawing activity, we decided to try it again. All of the children received a 5x7 inch white piece of paper, a pencil, and white board for support while drawing on the floor. We walked to the Shalom Garden outside of Katz Pavilion and said, “Go!” Each child chose one tree and focused on making a detailed sketch. We will continue these drawings next week as the children will add color and talk more about the details of each work of art. In addition to the nature art, we are excited to delve into the upcoming holiday of Purim. We will begin our discussions on the holiday and see where the interest of the children takes our learning! Thank you to all of the dads who joined us this week for Father’s Week. We were so happy to have you in our classroom and take part in our special activities, but we know that the children were overjoyed to share extra special classroom time with their daddies! We want to also thank Carter’s family for joining us for Carter’s Shabbat Boy celebration on Friday. We hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and Shabbat Shalom! Mari and Aaliyah Shabbat Family Schedule: 2/16- Ella 2/23- Neda 3/2- Skyler 3/9- Owen 3/16- Ayla 3/23- Kora Reminders: 1. 2/15 THURSDAY- ROOM 8 Picture Day 2. 2/19- No school President’s Day 3. 2/20- No school PD Day 4. 2/23- Beit Issie Farmers Market 5. 3/2- EC Purim Shabbat – Dress up day 6. 3/3- Tot Shabbat 7. 3/13- 12pm Early Dismissal – ½ Day Parent Conferences 8. 3/14- NO School – Parent Conferences January 29- February 2, 2018
Room 8 began the week by introducing “Mat Man.” As we briefly explained in last week’s newsletter, we introduced a new program to the children called Handwriting Without Tears. This program is used at Wise in the elementary school grades and at many other elementary schools to teach children the basics of handwriting. We are implementing this program in Pre-K to instill the vocabulary and concepts before it becomes a staple piece of the curriculum. We started the introduction by reading the “Mat Man” books to the class. Ask your child, “How do you draw Mat Man?” The children showed great interest in drawing this new figure! They began drawing the little figure by choosing a middle shape. Some drew a circle, while others drew a square or rectangle. Then, they added arms, legs, shoes, and a circular head for the face. We have enjoyed seeing the children draw Mat Man or Mat Girl throughout the week at any chance they got. In light of Tu B’Shevat, we focused on the importance of nature. On Tuesday, we gave the children a blank piece of paper and a pencil. We walked outside to the garden in front of the new Katz Pavilion. Then, we asked, “What do you see around you?” It took the kids a few minutes to understand that they had the freedom to draw anything that they saw around them. At first, most stayed in one place and stared at the same plants or scenery for about 5-10 minutes. We reminded the children that they could draw anything they saw in the whole area including trees, plants, grass, or anything! The children slowly became more comfortable with the exercise and began moving around the garden to take in all of the nature. They quickly began filling their blank pages with drawings of leaves, trees, bushes and flowers. Then, Paisley grabbed a leaf off the ground and decided to trace it. Skyler ran around the garden to a spot in the shade, where she laid down on the concrete bench. She gazed at the tree above her and began to draw what she saw. We were amazed at how well the children responded to this exercise. They were so enthralled by this activity that when we asked if they were ready to go, they all shouted, “NO! We need more time!” After 45 minutes of drawing outside, this exercise made the children think in a different way from a typical art lesson. Enhancing creativity through various art projects is essential to the growth of children. This particular exercise encouraged the children to problem solve and think critically. Instead of drawing whatever comes to mind when you think of a tree or a flower, the children had to actually use their sense of site to observe their surroundings. They were able to experience more shapes, colors, and sizes than simply looking at a tree that one of the teachers drew as an example. The children absorbed an incredible amount of new information from this one activity, as well as, gained confidence from creating something unique. We cannot wait to try this exercise again in a new location around the school and see how the children evolve their art and this experience. Thank you to Rabbi Yoshi for making our week all the more sweet! He brought in Donut Holes for all the children in the EC for a job well done at our last Fire Drill. They were delicious! Thank you to Paisley’s family for joining us for Shabbat on Friday. We enjoyed singing songs and reciting the prayers with you all. We are looking forward to Father’s and Grandfather’s Week next week, and hope to see you all there! Shabbat Family Schedule: 2/9- Carter 2/16- Ella 2/23- Neda 3/2- Skyler 3/9- Owen 3/16- Ayla 3/23- Kora Reminders: 1. 2/3- Tot Shabbat AND Wise School Gala 2. 2/5-2/9- Father and Grandfather’s Week – events TBA 3. 2/9- All School Shabbat for Father’s and Grandfather’s – 11am in ZH 4. 2/12-2/16- EC Picture Week (Room 8 classroom picture day TBA) 5. 2/19- No school President’s Day 6. 2/20- No school PD Day 7. 2/23- Beit Issie Farmers Market |
Pre-K Room 8Mari Greifer Archives
March 2020
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