Thank you, Weldon!

We wrote a thank you note to Weldon this week. Weldon works at the corporate office for Dunkin Donuts and had sent us many Dunkin Donut products for our dramatic play area. Adam, Micah G, Samantha, and Jolie worked together to write a letter to him. They wrote:

Dear Weldon,

Thank you. How do you make donuts? 

Love, 

The whole Kohavim class signed the letter. Together we put our letter, some photos and blogs of our pretend Dunkin Donuts, and a list of questions in an envelope to send to Weldon. Some of our questions included: 

- How do you make coffee? 

- How do you choose which donuts to sell? 

- What are the people who make the donuts called? 

- Do you get to taste the donuts? 

- Do you bake the donuts in the store? 

- How do you make the flavor of the donuts? 

- How do you decide the prices? 

We asked the Markley Family to deliver our letter, because Michele teaches with Weldon's wife. We hope Weldon sends us a response back! 

How much for a box of munchkins?

As soon as the Kohavim Dunkin Donuts opened this morning, it was swamped! The teachers came to buy a whole box of munchkins. While Josie carefully placed the munchkins into the box, Micah G. wrote out a receipt. He wrote, "M1" to represent Munchkins for $1. Taking on the role of the cashier and donut maker at the pretend Dunkin Donuts, Josie and Micah acted out their understanding of how a store or donut shop works. It also provided the opportunity for the children to use literacy in a functional way, writing out a receipt for an order. 

Another Dunkin Taste Test

As we have continued our exploration of Dunkin Donuts, we decided to do another taste test of a product they sell at Dunkin Donuts stores: Hot Chocolate. Many children shared that they have had hot chocolate before and knew they would like it. Others were not sure if they would like how it tastes. The children were eager to sip the hot chocolate and record their preferences. On Monday, we will tally our preferences. You might want to ask your child if they liked the hot chocolate or have a taste test of your own with your family!

Apple Cider Taste Test

We have been so busy in our pretend Dunkin Donuts in Kohavim! This week, we decided to taste one of the products we are selling- Apple Cider! The children sipped the apple cider and determined if they liked it, did not like it, or liked a little bit. They then wrote their name on a post-it note and charted their preference. Taste tests encourage us to try new things, provide the opportunity for a sensory experience, and enabled us to compare and contrast the children's preferences. There are more taste tests inspired by our Dunkin Donuts menu to come!

We need money!

We noticed a problem in our Dunkin Donuts today: our pretend money was no where to be found. Micah G. had a solution. He decided to make his own money with markers, paper, and scissors. He drew rectangles with dollar signs and then cut his money out. One of the many benefits of dramatic play is that it develops abstract thinking. Children begin to use props or objects as symbols to represent things. For example a doll is a symbol for a baby and in this case, the piece of paper with writing represents money. Creating and using symbols within pretend play furthers children's understanding of symbols, which will support them as they use alphabet letters and numerals, which are symbols too! 

Dunkin Donuts and Literacy

As Kohavim prepared the new pretend Dunkin Donuts, they agreed they would need a menu. With a teacher's help, the children looked through the Dunkin Donut website and selected different types of drinks and food they would like to sell in their Dunkin Donuts. After printing the images, we realized we would need to label the different items. Lots of the children wanted to help with this job!

While writing labels, the children demonstrated their individual literacy development. Some children used a strategy of copying words seen in the photograph such as "latte" or "coolatta." When children copy print, they are developing an understanding of what words look like and how letters and words are formed.

Some of the children used invented spelling with the help of a teacher segmenting or sounding out the words. When an adult "sounds out" a word, they are stretching the sounds or phonemes to help children identify and represent them with alphabet letters. When a child begins to use conventional alphabet letters to represent sounds they hear in words, they often begin by just writing or representing the initial consonant in a word. For example, if a child was writing "donut" they may just identify and write the "D." They then will move to representing words with the initial and final consonant in the words. For example, they would write "DT" for donut. As their writing continues to develop they continue to add more of the consonant sounds and then begin to add the vowels as well. For example, above ice tea is written "IS-TE" and oatmeal is written "OTMEL."


Creating a menu for our pretend Dunkin Donuts provided the perfect opportunity for the children to display their emerging literacy skills. The children were excited and motivated, asking to make more and more labels. Confirming the children's attempts and strategies for writing helps their confidence as writers. It is so wonderful to see the children's confidence, motivation, and love of learning blossoming!