"Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel... I made it out of clay!" ...we all have this ear worm after learning about Hannukah this week! And if we were going to sing about dreidels made out of clay, we were going to MAKE dreidels out of clay. But we decided to use some pre-made dreidels for trying out the game with our big buddies. It was a hit! So much fun to be had with such a little toy. We were so inspired that we came up with a design all on our own for perler bead dreidels and some of us even started writing Hebrew letters all over other projects. Our dreidels served as a great springboard for learning all about the origins of Hannukah. We found Israel on a map and some of us remarked that we had heard the grown-ups talking about a war happening in that country right now. Madame was able to have a delicate (and very simplified) conversation with us about how just like sometimes we, as children, get into arguments, sometimes powerful people who lead countries/groups get into arguments, too, and they are not able to find good strategies for getting along. We are hoping that Israel and the Palestinians find peace very soon. An interesting fact about Hannukah is that it follows the Lunar calendar (it's based on the moon!) so the dates change every year. This ties in well with what we have been learning about the moon. All these crazy facts about space are so mind-blowing! Did you know??... the Earth is constantly spinning and does one full rotation every 24 hours, which is how we get our days! But while that spinning is happening, the Earth is also slowly rotating around the sun every 365 days, giving us our measurement for one year. But, wait!... there's more!... while all THAT is happening, Earth's moon is spinning around our planet every 29.5 days, giving us our months! And all of this...just...happens. Every day. Like while we're sitting here eating our fishy crackers and bear paws, we are actually spinning in space. *Minds blown* We had to act it all out, of course! Another crazy fact!... the moon doesn't actually give off its own light. It just reflects the sun's light! We had fun replicating this in different ways... with a mirror and flashlight, with a bouncy ball, etc. And since we're learning about the moon, why not have an outer-spaced themed STEM project? Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to give your two aliens (les extra-terrestres) a safe and soft landing on the moon. Here are your materials! And, go! Some of us were so excited about our group project that we spontaneously came up with a cheer! :-) This was particularly a win because we started out having disagreements about design and whose turn it was to take charge, but we were able to figure out how to speak with each other respectfully and make compromises, and in the end we were so happy with our successful results! And we are happy to report that all aliens landed on the moon unscathed. We also spent some time in the forest this week again, discovering all kinds of different mushrooms, finding "fairy houses", building homesteads, and playing tag. We were having so much fun that even Madame didn't want to leave and luckily we got back to school 1 minute before the bell rang. Extra pics...
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