Shana Tova Purple Room families! The children are so excited for Rosh Hashana! Read on to see how we are preparing for the holiday!
We discussed the greeting “shana tova” and what it means. The children created shana tova cards for their grandparents, which we mailed this week. This literacy activity also let the Morahs note each child's’ letter recognition, letter formation, and interest in writing.
We made Honey Play Dough for our classroom, to have a sweet new year of learning. The children measured and mixed the ingredients, and observed how it smelled and felt:
Carmel: It feels like honey. It smells like honey too.
Jonny: It feels puffy!
Natan: It feels like a sticky, spinny thing. It smells like play dough to me.
Daniel: It feels like peanut butter, but it smells like honey.
Yehonathan: I think it feels like honey and smells like honey.
Ella: It feels like chocolate. I think it smells like a chocolate cake.
Shepherd: It feels like a sticky marshmallow.
Harvey: It feels like hot, warm, sticky stuff. It smells like challah.
Rylan: It feels soft. It smells like play dough.
We read the book, Mitzva Hands and talked about how we can use our hands to do mitzvot. We discussed what miztvot we can use our hands to do in the new year. Here are some of the students’ ideas:
“Dip apples in honey”
“Give hugs and high fives”
“Eat with our spoons”
“Give tzedakah”
“Wash our hands”
“Give stuff to people that they need. And share”
“Help spread out the morning meeting rug”
“Make decorations for our classroom”
For our Rosh Hashana project, the children made collage place mats for the apples and honey on the Rosh Hashana table. Because the students had shown an interest in combining painting with collage, we examined the collages of the artist, Romare Bearden, who used this technique.
First, the children painted their placemats. There was a lot of interest in color mixing, which led to a read aloud of the classic book Mouse Paint.
Next, the Morahs provided many cut out images of Rosh Hashanah items. The children collaged these items onto their placemats. These images also sparked conversation about what each item might be for-- a kiddush cup, a round challah, a pomegranate, a bee…
We added the brachot for the apples and honey, and the finished artworks are being sent home today.
Math Exploration
The Morahs set out several activities to promote matching numerals to quantities. In one activity, the children used fine motor skills to clip a clothespin to the number of items on a card. In another more active game, the children rolled a die and then toss a bean bag at the corresponding number on the wall. Observing the children’s play gives the Morahs useful information about each child’s math understanding. Who subitizes the number of dots on the dice, and who is still learning to count with one to one correspondence? Who rolls two fives and says, “I have two fives! I have to hit the 5 two times!” and who rolls two fives and tries to hit the 10? This type of game gives students of many different abilities the chance to play together and learn.
Literacy Learning
We read aloud three times a day. During Read Aloud the children build reading readiness skills by following a plot, discussing characters and their feelings, and connect ideas from the text to their own lives.
The Purple Room has been fascinated by, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, which we read aloud frequently this week. The children took the book out for a lunchtime read aloud on Thursday, and before the Morahs could start reading they were retelling and discussing the story amongst themselves. The Morahs also put materials in the Dramatic Play area for acting out the story. The children discussed who would be the troll and who would be a goat crossing the wooden bridge over the fabric river. Did you know being able to retell a story is an important part of learning to read?
Gross Motor Exploration
We go outside for at least an hour each day, and also play movement games in the classroom. Morah Shaina leads a game of tag. These types of games help students learn to cooperate with rule play, negotiate with each other, and also get plenty of energy out!
We wish you a wonderful Shabbos and a very sweet New Year!
Morah Shoshi & Morah Shaina
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