Dear Parents, 
It’s been another busy week. As the year winds down we are working extra hard. We have implemented a new seating arrangement in the classroom. There is now a variety of flexible seating options. We have bouncy ball chairs, milk crates (still looking for more if you have any) and of course regular chairs. Children have the opportunity to try each out and see what is most comfortable for them. This seating allows for those children who need a bit more movement have it and for those who feel as though they need a bit more support to have it as well. So far the class is really enjoying their new options. 

Open Circle: 

Continuing with the “Traffic Light” symbol we discussed what each color stands for. When faced with a challenging situation the children are asked to “red light” it. This means that they need to STOP what they are doing. They may need to tell their friend they are “red lighting” and take a break. After preventing themselves from making a poor choice they begin the “yellow light” process. This can be challenging. At this time children need to calm themselves down and begin to think or brainstorm with their friend, of other ways to handle their situation. Once they think of some options they can begin to “green light” it! With their friend try other options. Each color represents a step in being able to solve a problem. Throughout the next few weeks we will be implementing this process in an effort to most effectively solve classroom problems. There was a wonderful example of this system this week. Two children wanted toe same seat at the same time. They were unable to come to an agreement. They each decided to use the rock paper scissors  strategy to solve their dispute and it worked beautifully. 
 
Secular Studies:
Math Centers:
Things 1 began with a review of making a ten with addition and subtraction equations. They are also continuing to practice making fact families.
Things 2 began a very exciting unit on time. They are learning the difference between the hands on the clock, and different forms of time. Ask your child these questions…
What is the difference between digital and analog?
How many seconds in a minute?
How many minutes in an hour?
How many hours in a day?
How many days in a week? 
How many weeks in a month?
How many months in a year?
  All of the children worked on some “Mother’s Day Math”… that you will besting soon 
 
Science: 
We are continuing to observe our caterpillars as well as out plants…. both seem to be at a standstill right now, although we are hoping to come in on Monday to butterflies and sprouts! 
 
Spelling/Sight Words:
Things 1 had new sight words this week. /were/, /yes/, and /sit/ The children are doing a really good job learning  to read and write these challenging words. 
Things 2 are working on pasted tense verbs (-ed words). They have already learned the root of these words so this week was a good assessment of retention. 
 
Writing/Reading Groups and Language Arts: 
In terms of writing I will not give too much detail about this particular area for this week… Lets just say that you will see what the children have been doing come Sunday May 13th!!!
Reading groups are continuing with group reading, independent reading and age appropriate follow up activities that coincide with the book theme. 
 
Judaic/Hebrew :

This week, we watched the Godcast and together made color-coded lists including the practices of 4 of the Holidays described in the parsha: Shabbat, Rosh Hashana, Succot and Pesach.  For our Keshet Improv Role Play, the children were split into 4 groups, and each one presented one of those holidays in an improv sketch using one prop (toy Lulav, Shofar, Shabbat bag, and bag of plagues).  The sketches were fun, funny, and insightful.  The follow-up writing and art exercise depicted the child’s favorite of those 4 holidays, in written and artistic form.  We then created our Keshet Emor Museum, and each “artist” presented their work in a Gallery Talk.

 
For Lag B’Omer, we prepared and then celebrated with books, song, Shimon Bar  Yochai Role Play included our Classroom Cave, learning centers (mini indoor bonfire with sing-a-long, artwork, word search, and writing exercise about the book Ari Ant), and culminating in our preparation of the Gooey S”mores with robust singing, and the outdoor celebration at which we consumed the delicacy.  We made sure to sing songs about the Torah, and discussed the centrality of the love for Torah study that we are sustaining in our classroom.
 
Parsha Vocabulary:
bread  לֶחֶם  head רֹאשׁ  blind  עִוֵּר  altar  מִזְבֵּחַ  sacrifice  קָרְבָּן
 

Please enjoy this week’s photos…

Thank you, and Shabbat Shalom!!