Working Together

One of the many joys of pre-K is observing the independent play and the social emotional development involved. I could take similar photos regularly, but here is a look at today's happy groups of students. 

Audrey and Aviva quickly discovered that puzzles were easier, and a lot more fun, if you did them with a friend.

 Only two new 'tap tap boards' meant either fighting or sharing. On their own accord, the students chose the latter. With a friend, they made some great artwork.

 Honestly, magna-tiles aren't the easiest thing to share. People tend to want their building to look a  certain way. But these students do an incredible job of sharing the tiles and rejoicing in the structure they build together. 

A great time

Coming back from winter break we will hit the ground running with a theme in which many students had expressed interest: Letters!
All of the letters are looked at in different fun ways.

 Finding parking the space corresponding to a letter.

 ("P& R are almost the same!" Naftali exclaimed. Most children would have said, "They are almost twins." His firsthand knowledge that the definition of 'twins' is not 'identical' is noteworthy.)

 Mo decided magna-tiles would be more fun if he hid letters in the levels. (It was all his idea!)

 

The tactile joy of finding letters in the sand.

We are starting our focus at the beginning.

We explored the shape, sound, and frequency of the letter 'a'. 

 Using popsicle sticks, the students worked to make a capital A.

 Everyone did a lovely job manipulating the sticks into the letter!

Then the children had a chance to write it themselves and feel it by finger painting 'a's.

We looked at the frequency of the letter 'a' in our names.

This will continue all week. Next week we will 'B' back!

Archaeology of Hannukah

Today we looked at the idea of archaeology.  The idea of death is something discussed with some frequency in our room, from reminiscing about relatives who are no longer with us to clarifying that Torah personalities are 'dead now'. Today we had a frank discussion about how even though our neshama [soul] goes up to Hashem when we die (no one asked where bodies go, so that was not discussed) our "stuff" stays right where it is.
Then we explored how over time our things could get covered and hidden and archaeologists dig for them.
The students tried an excavating in the sand.

 And making rubbings of their findings.

And did more archaeology during recess.

We read  which is about excavating in Modiin and finding ruins from the Maccabees. If we had more time, further exploration of the Hannukah history uncovered in archaeology of Israel.

Eating Up Hannukah

Each day of Hannukah we will be focusing on different aspect of Hannukah. (Since we lose two school days of festivities, yesterday we did this super fun activity.)

Today we looked at the food of Hannukah. When I asked the students to name 'Hannukah foods', their answers were great.
They practiced making some of the Hannukah foods out of play dough.

 We went to the multi-purpose room and joined K-2nd in decorating (and eating) Hannukah cookies.

Then we decided to make latkes. 

"Where do we get potatoes?" I asked.

"The ground!" Elchanan accurately announced. 

"Yes! But we don't have any in the ground around TDS. So where else can we get them?" I asked.

"The kitchen?" Elazar suggested. I told him there weren't any.

"MacPhersons!" Naftali cheered! Because of last week, we are experts in MacPherson's.

We marveled over the many types of potatoes and purchased an assortment.

Back at school, we began a 'grate' task.

While half the group cooked, the other half worked on a frying pan craft project. Those of you who have one, the game is meant to work on coordination and numeracy. Mostly it is just fun.

 When our great work was done, Morah Racheli set off to the kitchen to make latkes. We had a discussion about how when we made pasta, we needed water+heat to cook them. For popcorn we only needed heat. For latkes we need the special Hannukah ingredient: oil!

 The students took turns supervising.

 And then we ate! We had the latkes, jelly donuts, and bumelos. 

You might not believe me, but many of the kids were more enthusiastic about fruit, veggies, and grains, than they were about these treats. Many described the latkes as slimy (the correct terms would be oily and delicious), didn't like jelly, and wouldn't try bumelos. 

Tomorrow we will just have carrot sticks, apple slices, and whole grain crackers ;). Just kidding. But tomorrow we will be talking about Hannukah, history and archaeology.

The Festival of Lights

In a physical, historical, and spiritual way, Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights.

It is hard to appreciate light without darkness, so today we celebrated light (ohr) and darkness (chosech).
I blacked out our windows before the students arrived, and set up our 'brightest' activities.

 The light box with stacking tubes.

 The Lite Brite.

 Bubbles with glow-sticks solution inside.

 The students LOVED it.

 Here they took the flashlight (for shadow puppets) and were exploring their magna-tile creations.

 Loving the Lite Brite.

 Combined stacking tubes with magna-tiles on the light table

 Everyone got a glow-stick. Although this picture looks like a rave, they are actually a Channukiyah, with the shamash lighting each student/light and them holding their stick up high.

 Morah Racheli prepared snack in the dark, with the cutting board on the light box.

And we ate in the dark.

Did I mention I loved it? From a sensory point of view, the experience was phenomenal. The change in sensory input was marked and caused for more relaxed environment.

We had a lovely discussion about what we value in light and in darkness.

MacPhersons

Ideally, when learning about fruits and veggies, children should harvest and pick produce. 

For various reasons, that wasn't a possibility right now. 

So we did the next best thing; enjoying the incredible produce selection on a field trip to MacPhersons. 

 The students were wonderfully well-behaved.

The Great Rabbi Chait

As you see, we do many excited things in the classroom. But one area where we lacked was a genuine, guided, interactive musical experience.  And I knew I do not have the skills to provide it. 

I interviewed a few candidates.

But no one in our class had the repertoire, musical capability, or professionalism really necessary. 

Down the hall, I found someone who was! The Great Rabbi Chait!

Once a week Rabbi Chait and I swap spots. I teach 3rd grade and he brings his guitar to the preschool. The Great Rabbi Chait leads an incredible sing-along. I could tell you how much the children love it, but ask any of them, as their reports are glowing!