Garinim

Garinim went wild this week! Studying wild animals, that is. We learned all about what makes a wild animal wild- basically, that a wild animal is an animal you wouldn't normally see in someone's home or on a farm, but rather in nature or at a zoo. We talked about how some wild animals we see in nature here- like deer and owls- and some others, like lions and zebras, we only see here if they are in a zoo. Some animals were a bit tricky to pin down- like turtles or ducks- because they could be pets or live on a farm, but also live in nature. 

The children enjoyed working on puzzles of varying difficulty featuring animals like giraffes, turtles, tigers, and sloths. They made footprints in play dough using little animal figurines, and created zebra stripe and lion artwork. 

Some even more popular works included a sorting activity of how particular animals move around- walking, swimming, or flying, and a baby animal photo and figurine matching game. 

At morning circle time we are trying out a more challenging way of practicing our social skills, now that most children have mastered saying good morning. We have added "how are you?" and boy is it tricky! There is no right answer, so the children must think of how to answer it, and also remember to say thank you to the person who asked how they are. We will continue practicing this through the rest of the school year!

On Thursday during group time we played an animal sounds game. We thought surely it would be easy because we know so many animal sounds, but it was actually quite a challenge! We all learned quite a few new animal sounds- like a kangaroo, koala, and fox (it actually does not say wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow, if you were wondering!), and the children thought some were very silly! There was a lot of laughing and learning, and we did get some more 'classic' sounds correct, as well. 

Also on Thursday, Morah Dawn came to give her last lesson with the xylophone. The children enjoyed playing and listening to her play as well, while learning about something called an interval- the space between two notes. We learned that some intervals sound nicer than others- but ultimately, they all sounded pretty good according to the children, because the xylophone is such a beautiful instrument! We were sad to say goodbye to the xylophone but so excited to see what Morah Dawn brings for us next week. 

Garinim Judaics:

Monday we made delicious banana blueberry muffins/oogat mufine! Morah Jessica had some ripe bananas and some of the children donned their chef hats and helped make muffins. We did sneak in a few chocolate chips also!!!

Tuesday we planted parsley/petroaziliyah/karpas for Pesach/Passover! In our art center the children were able to take brown/chome, yellow/tsahov and orange/katom strips of paper to create lions/aryeh out of a paper plate. We colored brown and black/chome/shachor bears/dov with crayons.

Wednesday we were so busy making animal noises and stomping our feet/raglyim on the ground. We learned some of the animal names in both Hebrew and English. The children were very happy to be loud inside the classroom.

On Thursday we were lucky enough to babysit for Morah Marcia’s challah! So we made snakes/nachash and then formed the dough into braids for our yummy challah for Shabbat snack on Friday. On Thursday we played a hide seek game with letters from the alef bet. We sing the alef bet song and point to the letters while we sing and some of the children are recognizing that it could be a letter in their name. We searched for alef, bet and gimel. Ask your child who found the letters!

Friday it was off to the Chapel/Bait Knesset for Shabbat! We had so many amazing singers in the hallway and we really did a great job walking in a line!! Morah Lana spoke to us about this weeks Parshat , Vayakhel . She told us that Moshe assembled the Hebrew people to tell them that Hashem commanded to have a day of rest, Shabbat.  Moshe also asked for the Israelites to bring to the Mishkan gold, silver, copper and other offerings to adorn the Mishkan.

 

Alim

On Monday, we traveled to Europe and got our passports stamped.  We all boarded our pretend plane and landed safely there.  We reviewed all the new work that was placed in Practical Life.  We did new stainer work and folding work. We visited Coach Oren and we did races with the scooters. 

On Tuesday,  we got to know about animals of Europe and there was a worksheet available for the children to do.  The Sound of the week was Gg.  The Alphabet Book called Gorilla Be Good. There were letter formation sheets and sound association sheets available for the children.

On Wednesday, we had a nice work day with the children. There was Challah made in the classroom. 

On Thursday,  it was a busy work day.  Morah Dawn came into our room and taught the children about intervals with music on the xylophone.

On Friday,  we went down to the chapel and enjoyed songs with Morah Lana.  Then we went back to the classroom and enjoyed the Challah and grape juice. the Shabbat box went home with Silas and his family.

Alim Judaics   Animals around the world were  our theme for this week. We started the week learning the song Dod Moshe (Old McDonald) and talking about pets - Chayot Machmad. Farm animals - Chayot Meshek were our topic the following day and we read “If I Lived with Noah” by Pamela Moritz.

On Wednesday we made our Challah and saw pictures of wild animals- Chayot Bar. 

Friday we celebrated Shabbat with our friends and listened to the Parsha. We all participated and it was a lot of fun. 

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend and Shabbat Shalom.

Anafim

This week we jumped right into talking about Purim!  We listened to the story and watched Morah Wendy put on a puppet show as well.  The children were quite interested in the story and were excited about all the details.  The children were very excited to take some of the story into much of their work this week.  We often heard the children say they were creating pictures of Queen Esther or trying to be so kind and honest like Mordechai.  Keeping the theme of Purim in mind we decorated cardboard crowns with gems and foam shapes.  We also started work on our groggers (noise makers) that we will use to help drown out the name of the evil man (Haman) during the telling of the Purim story. 

This week in gym class we participated in a relay race.  The class was split into 3 groups and each group was given a plastic crate and a scooter board.  One by one each child sat or lied down on the scooter and moved across the gym to collect a bean bag from the communal crate and brought it back to their own crate.  Once back they passed the scooter to the next person in their group.  The children were very excited about this activity and enjoyed racing down to grab a bean bag, selecting one, and then scooting all the way back.  In the spirit of true friendship they even cheered on their friends as they scooted down!

We made challah this week so were very busy measuring, pouring and scooping.  Cracking an egg and mixing definitely seem to be the popular tasks on the first day and having the chance to braid is the popular second day task. 

Thursday was our last music class with the xylophone.  We worked on different scales and learned about firsts, seconds, thirds etc.  These are when you play two different notes at the same time.  The children really focused to try to play the proper notes together.  Whew it was tough.  We were sad to be done with the xylophone, however we are so excited to see what Morah Dawn brings next. 

On Friday we were joined for Shabbat by Mark’s family.  They accompanied us down to the chapel where we heard about the construction of the mishkan.  The different materials that were used and how it was done.  The children loved being able to help build our mishkan. We then enjoyed our delicious challah with some grape juice. 

Next week we will continue to talk about Purim!  If you have any empty tin cans at home (from beans or canned vegetables) please send them in as we will be using them for a project.  Thanks so much!

 

Keshet

Each morning after tefillah, and after sharing news, the children write in their journal.  Even before that, they think of activities in each area that they would like to do and write those down. This is working really well and keeping them busy, and on task. 

In Math we are working on pennies, nickels and dimes - exchanging dimes for pennies as we practice the concept of the Decimal System.  The children are enjoying playing ‘shuk’ (market in Jerusalem - addressing customers with ‘shalom, mah shlomech?) using real (USA?!) coins to pay for their fruit and veg. 

We painted our Purim mural and everyone took great pride in their painted area. We practiced the story, acting it out, though have not yet officially chosen the characters that will perform for you on March 20th. Plan to be amazed;) It is Purim after all, and we are instructed to be happy - mishaps and all. 

The Keshet Purim Schpiel is on WEDNESDAY, March 20 at 10am. 

See this week’s pictures here https://photos.app.goo.gl/AivurQjcDzpLH8sv7