Chanukah Inspired Works

Chanukah is in the air and I put a few works into the classroom to start preparing the children.

Here is a dreidel spin plate I purchased and spray painted on e solid color to cut down on visual distraction. The children use this plate to perfect their "spin". On the shelf next to this work is a graph for children who want to record which letter lands "up" on each spin.
















This is a dreidel sorting work with gold and silver miniature dreidels. The children simply place one color on each side of the ceramic bowl. It is a good work for grasping, and the metallic dreidels really draws the children to this work!















This is a neat little wooden dreidel puzzle that the children can take apart and assemble in any order they wish.















This is a wooden Chanukah-themed puzzle that the children enjoy doing. The small pegs encourage a three-finger grasp which is great for preparing little fingers for writing one day.















I like to create two-person games that reflect a theme. In this game, the children take turns rolling the die that have the letters nun, gimmel, hey, and shin which appear on the dreidel. When they roll the die, the letter showing is the letter they need to move their marker to. This game does not require reading or counting, so even the youngest of our students can play it independently!















Lacing activities that reflect our Chanukah theme were a welcome addition to our practical life shelves.















This basket serves as an activity to promote language around the Chanukah theme. The children can receive a lesson in naming the various objects if they aren't already familiar with them.















I placed this bucket of beautiful metallic Chanukah candles next to our spindle boxes for the children to count.
















This is napkin rolling with Chanukah-themed napkin rings! The napkins are festive and enticing and the napkin rings have dreidels hot-glued to them.

Focus on the Prepared Environment

Trish Wymore
11/13/10

I took the following pictures as I sat in four different areas in my current classroom. (Since I am acting as the class guide, the set-up is my own, and reflects my own limited understanding.)

The Shalom Shelf

This shelf features our “vered shalom”, or peace rose, used in our peer conflict resolutions. Above the shelf, I placed an original painting that I created by tracing hands around the words “peace begins with you and me”. There are also calming activities in this area, such as a rock garden. While looking at this shelf from the child's point of view, I felt attracted to the colors and inviting layout. I might like to spend some time looking at the colorful painting.

0-9 Math Shelves

These two shelves contain materials to help the child attain 0-9 competency. When looking at these two shelves, I see that they are fairly organized, and I would like to explore them more. I feel that the shelves are not too crowded, and are easy to keep organized. I can reach everything and carry the baskets easily.

Geography Area

My favorite part of this area is the large framed map of the world hung above the shelf. It calls my attention, but I am too small to see the top!

Hebrew Language Activities

These shelves represent the first stages of our Hebrew language curriculum. Sitting on the floor, I did not feel drawn to these materials. I think it looks too cluttered and I am not sure what to choose first.