This week we have continued our study of Shabbat by building a strong understanding of the story of Creation, which explains why we celebrate Shabbat and that on the seventh day of Creation, God rested and made that day holy, commanding us to rest as well. We have used a sequential set of images on the felt board to tell the story. The images make the story more concrete and accessible for young children. We have also been singing a fun song about each day of Creation, and what God made on that day. This has allowed the children not only to understand the story of Creation, but also to continue to build their sequencing skills. Sequencing is important to the children’s ability to organize themselves to carry out a plan independently, as well as to increase math skills and reading comprehension. At school, we often use sequencing to break down a task for the children to complete by saying, “First…then…and last…”
We have had fun combining our study of Creation with science activities this week. We have spent some time conducting an in depth study of each day. First, we began studying light (on the first day, God created light), and experimented carefully with flashlights at the Science Center. Next, we moved onto the second day, on which God separated water from the sky. We experimented with water at the Science Table, and borrowed a tornado tube from the Bears classroom. It was fun to watch the water moving down as we turned over the tornado tube.
During our study of the third day of creation, in which God separated land and water and created plants, we tried moving all of the water from one water table to another. We also used magnifying glasses to study plants, and drew our observations.
Next we studied the fourth day of Creation, on which God created the sun, moon, and stars. We put together a huge puzzle depicting outer space, and used paper towel tubes to make telescopes. At the Science Center, we looked at books about outer spaces, and were fascinated to see photos of black holes, supernovas, and different planets.
When we studied the fifth day of Creation (on which God created fish in the seas and birds in the sky), we used feathers and a variety of other art materials to make our own birds. During our study of the sixth day of Creation (on which God created animals and humans, we used non-fiction literature to study a wide variety of mammals, insects, and other animals.
We have also spent much time this week preparing for our Family Day Celebration Breakfast. We enjoyed practicing familiar songs that family members might know, writing a book about families, baking banana bread, creating checklists of things to show our visiting family members and making our guests beautiful paper flowers to welcome them to our classroom. We are so grateful to all of you who could join us, and those who thought of us from afar. It is wonderful to have you all in our “Owl” family! 
This week, we have continued to support the children in becoming more independent in negotiating and solving problems with each other. As the children become more able to resolve their own conflicts, we use the strategy of “mini-meetings” more and more. When a disagreement arises between two or more friends, they join a teacher in a “mini-meeting.” Each child is asked to stop playing and to take a turn speaking about how they are feeling and what the problem is. They are then each asked to suggest a solution to the problem, and to ask each other for consent to that solution. It is wonderful to see the children moving beyond taking turns and sharing on command to this next step, in which they are able to take ownership over their own solutions to problems. This is a deeper level of teaching than coercing children into sharing or taking turns because it is the rule, and teaches them to do so because of how it affects their friend’s feelings.
Shabbat Shalom,
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