During the month of November, the Mater Christi School pre-school students were immersed in the concept of friendship, family and community. We used the old folk story, Stone Soup, to illustrate the intangible meaning behind this topic.

After reading three different versions of the story, we listed the similarities and differences between each of the authors’ unique deliveries of the tale. All the students agreed that it “takes a village” to foster success.  Next, I asked the students the following questions:

• “What does it mean to be a friend?”
• “How do we help one another in our classroom?”
• “How do we help one another at home?”
•  “How do we help our friends?”

Afterwards, we acted out the story and created a practice pot of Stone Soup with our vegetables from the dramatic play area.

Lastly, the students created a list of real items to make Stone Soup in our classroom. Every family signed up to donate an item for the soup. The culmination was inviting our pre-school families in for a “Thankful Lunch” to enjoy the community Stone Soup. The children made the soup with Mrs. Gazo’s “magic” stone, practiced a special song to sing, rearranged the classroom for our guests of honor, set the tables, and finally, opened the classroom door and invited their families in for lunch. It was a morning filled with excitement!

Our “Thankful Lunch” was a huge success with many guests. For our finale, we serenaded our guests with the song, “Simple Gifts”… a preface to December.

Mrs. Beth Gazo
Pre-School Teacher