Go Fish! The Benefits of Playing Cards

The children in Kohavim have been using playing cards! Children have counted the shapes on individual cards, placed the cards in number order, and matched cards with the same numeral. They have also been playing games such as "Go Fish" or a game some people refer to as "War," where they determine which player has the card with the highest or lowest numeral.  Some of the wonderful math opportunities playing cards provide for young children are to count, compare, and think about sequence. When engaging in card games, the children are also following a set of rules and developing good sportsmanship. When Brett noticed Zack had a large pile of cards he had won during a game he exclaimed that Zack was really good at these games. Zack then explained to Brett, that in the game of "war" you aren't good or bad, it just depends on the cards that you are dealt. You might want to get out the playing cards at home and explore them with your children!

First You Buy the Wood

The Unicorn children have been learning about making a plan before they enter into play. This helps children to organize their thoughts, define roles when entering play, and explore the centers in our classroom with greater meaning. Today we reviewed the many steps involved in Kira's plan when making menorahs to bring into our classroom. We learned that Kira went to the store, bought the wood, sawed the wood into pieces, used her drill to put holes in the wood, and THEN brought the menorahs into our classroom for us to decorate and paint. Our menorahs can hold candles or crayons, and we had a great time learning how they were made and decorating them for our families.

I have an IDEA !!!

It all started with Teddy Fox telling me he wanted to make a birthday card for his brother's birthday. His brother likes sports and he asked if we had any stickers. Luckily we had some stickers w/ hockey, his brother's favorite sport!! Then other children wanted stickers too. As we weren't anticipating this request, there weren't a lot of stickers available. Well, what could we do? Jesse said that he had an idea; he wanted to make his OWN stickers. Great idea, but how was  HE going to do that? He came up with using TAPE. He explained the process. First you draw what you want, cut it out, cut the tape, fold it, and put it on the back and viola you have a sticker!! Teacher Jesse had many students. See following blog. Thanks Jesse!!!

It's Challah Time ~ Via Teacher Sadie Visual

Every Friday our Unicorn friends make Challah. We have taken many pictures through out our challah making, one of which was of Sadie actually braiding the Challah. We decide to put the picture in sequence out on the table for the children to follow the visual independently. As one can see they eagerly embraced the concept and with limited assistance, proceeded to braid and make their delicious challah!!!

What is an edible Torah??

It is all about food in the Unicorn Class!

To complete our Simchat Torah celebration we decided to make edible Torahs. We learned that "edible" means you can eat it.

You might want to ask your children what ingredients we used to make our Torahs. And what they needed to do first, second, and third in the preparation process, before they could say "It's delicious!

Such great chefs.