Purim, Freeze Clean-up and Mat Man!

Dear Families,

We have enjoyed our study of Purim this week. The concepts that we focused on are learning that Purim is a fun holiday and that we celebrate it by dressing up. We have also focused on learning the story of Esther. To that end, we have read several versions of the Purim story. We have even begun to act it out, dressing up as King Ahashueros, Queen Vashti, Mordecai, Queen Esther, and even Haman! It was fun to use our dress up clothes to make a story come alive as Morah Larissa read the book. Doing a “play” while a book is read supports children’s comprehension of the story.

The children have been very curious about the characters in the Purim story. It is fascinating for them to hear about Queens and Kings and brave “superheroes” like Esther and Mordecai. At the art table on Wednesday, we made crowns so that the children could pretend to be Queen Esther or King Ahashueros.

We have also been working hard building castles (such as the one Queen Esther might have lived in) at the block area. On Tuesday, at Morning Meeting, Morah Larissa demonstrated to the children how to use drawing to create a simple plan (or a blueprint) for a castle to build at the Block Area. First, the children contributed their ideas for the castle while Morah Larissa drew them. This was a great way to build mathematical vocabulary surrounding the unit blocks, and to build spatial awareness. Next, we built our castle together! The children learned how to translate a 2-dimensional plan into 3 dimensions. It was also a wonderful opportunity for the children to work cooperatively on a block building with teacher support.

We have also had a lot of fun making groggers, or noisemakers, this week. Traditionally, groggers are used to make noise when Haman’s name is read during the Megillah (or Book of Esther) reading on Purim. We made two different kinds of groggers this week: one made with salt in a sealed toilet paper tube, and one made with beans in a stapled-closed paper plate. On Friday, we will compare the sounds of our different groggers. This will be a fun science exploration and build the children’s sensory vocabulary. Meanwhile, a new favorite game for the children is to ask Morah Kate to say a list of names. When she says “Haman,” they shake their groggers!

The children have also experimented with some real groggers. On Wednesday, we played “Esther, Esther, Where’s That Grogger?” The children took turns pretending to be “Esther,” and hid in various places in the room. When the rest of the group shouted, “Esther, Esther, where’s that grogger?” we tried to use our sense of hearing to find the our missing friend with the grogger!

Another new fun game this week has been “Freeze Clean-up.” We put on a song during clean-up time, and the children clean up to the music. Just like in “Freeze Dance,” they have to freeze if we pause the music. This has really changed the tune of everyone’s least favorite time of the day! Sometimes adding in a fun game can engage children in routines that are important but otherwise not enjoyable for them.

We also learned a new fun song this week, “Mat Man.” This song and activity are part of the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum, which is used in the Brookline Public Schools in kindergarten. The vocabulary and routines that the children are learning in the Owls room this year will be consistent with what is used in the kindergarten classes. “Mat Man” is an image of a person created using the wood blocks that we have used when learning letters. (The blocks are various lines and curves that are put together to make letters, and each has a specific name that the children are learning.) The Mat Man song teaches the children about each different part of the body, and it builds body awareness as well as number sense. It is also a great way to teach the children how to draw more detailed illustrations of people. The children have had much fun drawing Mat Man!

Shabbat Shalom,

Morah Larissa and Morah Kate