February 2012
41 posts
February 28
WELCOME BACK ARCADY AND ASHER!!
During Morning Work Time, your children continued with their projects from yesterday, though now their Purim characters are in book form. Each child has his or her own “My Purim Book” that they can work on every morning. The children who painted their paper plates yesterday got to help staple and fill their groggers with rice. The sand table was open...
February 27
During our Morning Work Time, your children had the opportunity to begin to make two different Purim crafts. The first was to make a grogger. This is a multi-step project that will take approximately two days to complete. Your children decorated one side of a paper plate with dot markers and/or Purim symbols dipped in tempera paint. Tomorrow they will fold, close, (an adult will staple together)...
February 24
During our Morning Work Time, many of your children re-visited the dramatic center (kitchen area) to use our new items. I observed the children using our teapot to pour “grape juice” into a cup to celebrate Shabbat. I also observed your children using our dry erase boards to write and scribble on. Scribbling is the foundation of artistic development and is linked with language...
February 23
During our Morning Work Time, each child drew a picture for Merav - Happy Birthday! The children who worked in the kitchen center used ceramic cups, saucers, dishes, and a teapot for the first time. I observed how careful your children were when they worked with these new items. I noticed that many of the children, after building a train track or a structure with blocks or magna tiles look to add...
February 22
During Morning Work Time, your children had the opportunity to re-visit and explore the textural properties of Gak. They discovered the stretching quality of the product as well as its ability to break apart into many small pieces and be put back together again. Your children also worked, practiced, or had one-on-one help with using a scissor. To avoid wasting paper, we used play dough that was...
February 21
During our Morning Work Time, we made Gak (some like to call this material “goop”). Your children experimented with the feel and texture of this new substance. They described it as “wet, sticky, and cold.” I observed the children watching the substance slide, stretch, and ooze through their fingers. The Writer’s Table was supplied this morning with dry erase markers,...
February 16
During our Morning Work Time, your children had the opportunity to work at the science table testing a number of materials for magnetic attraction. As I worked with the children, we would look at an item (for example, a rubber band) and hypothesize whether or not the material would be attracted to the magnetic wand. Your children also used their imaginations to build with the magnetic items. For...
February 14
During our Morning Work Time, your children had the opportunity to work with eye droppers, water, white absorbent paper towels, and colored tissue paper for color mixing, fine motor work, and creative expression. The children also enjoyed working collaboratively with the bristle blocks, specifically creating modes of transportation (thank you Arcady and Asher for helping your friends). I observed...
February 13
During our Morning Work Time, your children had the opportunity to work with rolled clay and pipe cleaners. I overheard and observed your children creating a variety of imaginative pieces. Emma, after carefully pushing in a number of short pieces of a pipe cleaner, declared; “I made a sun.” Asher and Ben, each using and flattening three pieces of clay created “turtles.”...
February 10
Your children readied their classroom this morning to prepare and clean for Shabbat. Working as a team, we first removed each item from the shelf, dusted and wiped the shelf, and then replaced the items! Ben’s mother (our special Shabbat guest) noticed and commented on what we were doing. Each Shabbat is special, as was this one. We were fortunate to have with us Ben’s mother,...
February 9
During our Morning Work Time, your children had the opportunity to visit the science table to examine the roots, bulb, stem, and flowers of a hyacinth. We also felt, smelled, and rolled the dirt between our fingers. Many of your children chose to work with the knobbed cylinders. I observed as each child finished one set, they would push it towards the person next to them for an exchange. Your...
February 8
Happy Tu B’Shevat
During our Morning Work Time, your children worked with many materials made from wood—thank you trees! The block center was used today by Asher, Max, Arcady, and Teddy. Max created a boat while Asher and Teddy designed an ocean. Arcady built a road for the boat to travel upon. Ilan, Asher, and Teddy worked with our doll house. The dramatic corner of our classroom, the...
February 7
During Morning Work Time, your children had the opportunity to create a paper tree to help celebrate the holiday of Tu B’Shevat. Your children decided first what color to make their trees and then chose the art materials they thought would work best for their crafts. Our trees are on display inside the classroom! We had another fine motor material available: a variety of dressing frames...
February 6
During our morning Work Time, your children examined pieces of cut wood from a tree. They also, working with Merav in Hebrew, identified and then colored in the different parts of a tree. The numbered pegs were explored by some of the children. After counting and then filling in the number of pegs needed in the corresponding wood counter, they then placed each of the pegs in numerical order. Our...
February 3
During our morning Work Time, your children worked to strengthen their fine motor skills with six new lacing cards featuring a variety of trees to continue with our discussion and celebration of Tu B’Shevat. They also noticed and commented about the two new picture charts depicting many different types of trees by their Meeting area. The dramatic corner was busy with the sounds of Shabbat...
February 2
Groundhog Day Announcement: 9:45 A.M. Brooklyn, New York
· The Luria groundhog, when taken out of his burrow, DID NOT see his shadow. Therefore, the 3-4 Class proclaims that there will be an early spring!
During our Morning Work Time, many of your children took part in two different groundhog craft activities. One project was a pop-up groundhog. The first step was to look at various...
February 1
During our morning Work Time, your children made Groundhog masks. The first step was to look at pictures of groundhogs. The second step was to paint a paper plate. Your children then decided what color ears their groundhogs would have (brown or black). They added a nose and lastly, whiskers (again choosing between brown or black). Our sensorial materials were very popular this morning. Your...
January 31
Welcome Back Eitan!!
Today your children had the opportunity to explore the capital letter B by using buttons as a fine motor and sensory activity. The writer’s table was busy with your children using dry erase boards and new colored markers. The block area was used for train building by Eitan, Asher, Teddy, and Max. Asher and Yael worked in partnership to complete one of the more difficult...
January 30
During our Morning Work Time, your children had the opportunity to make bear stick puppets. The craft was not the ultimate goal of this project. The goal was to have your children use their puppets for dramatic play and to engage with each other differently than they have been (which they did!). They also discovered a new set of lacing cards that feature a variety of bears. Merav worked with a...
