We introduced Chanukah to Kitah Hay with what we called the “Chanukah tray,” composed of a wooden menorah with removable candles and flames, toy latkes and frying pans, and pretend gelt. Unsurprisingly, the friends in our class found a plethora of ways to utilize this tray!
Central to dramatic play, the Chanukah tray was used to act out the lighting of the menorah. Students played “family,” all taking turns lighting the candles and simultaneously strengthening their social-emotional skills through cooperative role play. During morning table time, students would practice flipping latkes, or even serve some to their classmates or Morahs for breakfast! Mirroring the observations children witness in their daily lives, dramatic play helps the students internalize their roles in the world and practice their real-life skills.
Sannel decided to open up a Judaica shop one day during manipulative centers time. “Get your menorahs here!” he cried, as he offered up the contents of the tray and dreidels to his classmates -- for a fair price, that is! Generously, Sannel accepted a variety of payments -- gelt, paper money from our classroom cash register, large cardboard dollar bills, and legos.
The Morahs supply the props, but the direction of dramatic play is directed by the students and their interests. The open-ended nature of play empowers children, as they forge their own opportunities to learn life skills through cooperative play that is meaningful to them. Sannel’s Shop created a space where students could build up their negotiation skills, practice the math skills that were required to calculate the “monetary” exchanges, and discuss the values of different currencies, including money.
Not only does our Chanukah tray help us practice rituals, it also helps strengthen our counting, adding and subtracting, and sequencing muscles.
Daily, at morning table time and circle time, we have class family conversations about the number of candles we lit last night. “How many candles did you light last night? In what order? How many candles will be left after tonight? How many candles will you light tomorrow? How many candles did you light, including or not including, the shamash?”
To build strength in the arena of number sequencing, the Morahs created a tray that helped students visualize the candles burning on each night of chanukah visualizing the number of burning candles, the Morahs shared a tray which challenged students to arrange the menorahs in order from the first night of Chanukah to the last.
Kitah Hay’s calculations didn’t end with candles! We used dreidels to broaden our mathematical perspectives and sharpen our fine motor skills. From spin, spin, spinning these cube-shaped wonders with both our left and right hands to organizing and sorting the dreidels according to size and color to using them as helpers in solving addition and subtraction problems during morning table time, our class never fell short of a lesson that didn’t involve dreidels!
Additionally, our classroom dreidels enhanced Hebrew literacy skills as we learned the meaning of each side’s Hebrew inscription, and they acted as paint brushes in an art project.
Seeping into our science curriculum came oil. We were amazed to learned that a tiny amount of oil lasted for 8 days. As Morah Mussy described the special, pure oil used to light the menorahs of the Beit Hamikdash, we noticed some brows furrowing and faces scrunching. Almost immediately a student in the class wondered aloud, “How can olives make olive oil?”
One question triggered a series of inquiries and declarations: “How does that little olive make oil? Can you eat olives off of the tree? How many olives does it take to make a bottle of oil? I have a HUGE can of olive oil in my kitchen at home!”
Staying true to our Reggio philosophy, the Morahs wove this question into our curriculum. After reading a “How It’s Made” story about olive oil and watching a video, the students in the class still wanted to know what olive oil is LIKE. How does it feel, taste, smell, and does it mix with other liquids, like water?
The students asked and the morahs listened! We devised a science activity in which we experimented with the properties of oil.
Each child received a pipette, jar of water, smaller jar of oil and a piece of white paper. They squeezed water and oil in turn onto their papers and observed the results. The water and oil absorbed differently into the paper and left differing residual textures. We discovered how paper reacts when it meets oil, and that oil is lighter than water.
The students talked through the learning process with their peers and Morahs, sharing with one another what they were noticing. “The water is like a bubble,” said Adom. “Water runs away from oil,” said Yonah. “It’s like a lava lamp!” exclaimed Lily. “Oil is darker,” observed Ben.
After observing the behaviors of water and oil on paper, we moved on to test tubes -- yes, real-life test tubes -- like the ones a researcher in a science lab might use!
We drip dropped our food coloring of choice, some of us choosing to mix food coloring for fun, into the water. Then, using the pipette, we extracted both water and oil into one test tube. Once we sealed the tube close, we could shake, shake, shake our test tubes and try to mix the two substances. Try as we might, they just never mix! Again, we noticed that the oil floated to the top. Now we can see that oil is lighter than water.
To further investigate the oil pressing process, we turned to community resources. Wise in the ways of the olive press and a kind parent of IJP, Robbi Sollish offered to come to our school and press REAL LIVE olives into REAL OLIVE OIL right before our eyes!
The students met the long awaited olive press day with excitement and glee. Outside, our class family bundled up, formed a semi circle around Rabbi Sollish, and sang Chanukah songs as we waited for the pressing to begin. On the playground, he set up a big wooden olive press on a table. First, he passed around baskets with fresh, raw olives that are a mix of green and purple - they did not look like the ones we have seen in a can or jar before! Each student warmed an olive with their hands.
Next, each student made a wick out of a cotton ball. As we rolled our wicks, a helper, Riva, turned the handle on the press to squeeze juice out of the olives. The juice, not oil, and came out of a spout on the front of the press. The juice was purple. It was a pretty color, but we cannot use juice to light candles -- we need OIL! To make oil, the juice was put into vials and into a centrifuge, which spun the vials around so fast that it separated the oil from the rest of the stuff. When it was finished we had three vials of pure olive oil!
Rabbi Sollish poured oil into the menorah and used our wicks to make candles, just like in the times of the Beit Hamikdash! Finally, he struck a match and lit three candles!
Thanks to our Reggio philosophy and community resources, our class family was able to construct a unique, engaging, educational, and far-reaching Chanukah curriculum.
