Dear Parents,

 

Were were so lucky to have Alice Goldstein visit our classroom last week. She told her unbelievable account of surviving the Holocaust in Germany. We taped most of her conversation and a viewing link is provided below. She truly is a gem and I hope you all will watch her amazing story.

Melissa

What a great time we had decorating our room for Purim – a festive holiday filled with lots of noise costumes, decorations, masks, sweets, and good deeds.

We learned that the Purim story took place in the town of Shushan, Persia (currently Iran). As a result, we studied the architecture and art of both ancient Persia and the Middle East and adorned our room with pictures of ancient Persian architecture.

During our research, we saw pictures of intricate mosaics and many bright blue windows and doors. We learned that domes, columns, geometric shapes, nature-based patterns and vibrant colors are a rich part of Iran’s art and architecture.

Building upon these observations and deepening our understanding of patterns and sorting, we filled our science table with small toys, buttons, shapes and gems.  We practiced sorting these treasures according to size, color, kind, shape, texture, width or height (and we’re still thinking of other classifications!)

We also created patterns on paper using supplies from our Art Center!

Utilizing this experience with creating patterns, as well as our knowledge of Persian architecture and art, we decided to recreate our very own vision of Shushan in our classroom using wood, screws,  paint . . .

. . . tissue paper, oil pastels, cardboard, glue, paper . . .

. . . jewels, glitter, markers and stickers.

We have made domes, arches mosaics, and palaces.

In addition, to transforming our classroom, we also changed our appearances by creating masks. When creating these masterpieces, we not only improved our math, literacy and fine motor skills, but we practiced working collaboratively, strengthened our working memories and honed many other executive functioning skills (like impulse control and goal-directed persistence).

Deepening our understanding of the Purim story itself, we created some of its characters from paper and fabric.

This project required that we reflect on each character’s role in the story, his/her influences and responsibilities, and his/her choices. This helped to deepen both our literary skills as well as our empathic abilities. If you are interested in a trip back to ancient Persia, we invite you to visit our classroom! We look forward to giving you a tour.

We’ve been enjoying some very busy weeks in Kindergarten!

We read Then and Now and learned how things we use today are different from things we used long ago.

Then

• Children played with toy cars molded out of metal

Now

• While metal toy cars still exist, now we can also play with remote control cars.

Then

• Children built with wooden log sets (We can still build with wooden log sets and we even have one in our classroom!)

Now

• We can build with construction kits that have wheels, gears, and motors to make machines move on their own.

Then

• Children played games such as hopscotch.

Now

• Although hopscotch is also still played, now we have playground equipment with different activity areas such as climbing walls and zip lines.

Then

• Schools were very different. Children of all ages used to sit next to one another on benches and listen to the teacher.

Now

• Children work at centers, tables, and desks, and learn from one another as well.

Then

• People used handwritten letters to correspond with people living far away.

Now

• We can send emails and correspond via webcams. (We also learned how webcams have changed).

Then

• Children went to school by horse and buggy.

Now

• We can get to school by walking, taking the school bus, cars, bikes, etc.

Then

• A long time ago, telephones didn’t have buttons or dials, and operators had to connect calls by plugging in different wires.

Now

• People can use cell phones/smart phones to make calls from anywhere.

Then

• People did laundry by scrubbing wet clothes on washboards in large tubs and hanging them to dry.

Now

• We have washers and dryers

Then

• Phonographs were a popular way to play music

Now

• Now we can download music.

Then

• People listened to adventure stories, funny skits, and mysteries on the radio.

Now

• People watch movies and shows on televisions.

Some of our Amazing Words:

• gears
• handwritten
• headphones
• webcam
• phonograph
• newspapers

New sight words:

• they
• you
• of

The children practiced counting objects by twos and fives and started organizing groups of five using tally marks.

 

Each child was given a bag with an ice cube and had to figure out the fastest way to melt it.

Between our resting mats:

Inside a puppet:

 

Underneath a lamp:

 

In the sunshine:

 

Over the heater:

 

Under the warm water:

 

Afterwards, the children wrote and illustrated the ways in which they attempted to melt their ice cube.

We celebrated our 100th day of school! We took our 10 bundles of ten, put them together with an elastic band, and moved them to the hundreds column:

Each child selected three “prizes” to represent the three digits in the number one hundred. We counted out one hundred M&Ms and enjoyed cupcakes!