FROM MS. KRISTINE
This week we worked on the sound for /L/. As we move throughout the alphabet, some sounds become more challenging. /L/ is easy enough to hear, but for some, it is hard to say. We practiced isolating the sound, along with listening for it in words. We made lovely llamas for our books. The children painted a vibrant background and made cute llamas with yarn for hair. We concluded with our word match. Everyone did their best work and felt successful during the process.
For literature, we read The Lion Inside, by Rachel Bright. This book is about a tiny mouse who feels unseen and ignored. He wants to be loud and noticed like the lion, so he gets the courage to ask him if he could teach him to roar. When they come nose to nose, he finds out the lion is actually afraid of mice. Once they talk and understand each other, they realize they can both be seen, and heard without shouting or roaring. A brave little mouse can have a lion’s heart, while a big lion can also be gentle and misunderstod. Our children learned that everyone, regardless of size, has inner strength by being kind and brave. We also read Llama Llama, Red Pajama, along with many other books by Anna Dewdney. This series is always fun to read to the children.
For geography, we learned basic facts about planet earth as we explored our very cool classroom light up globe. We learned that the equator is the imaginary line that runs through the center of the earth and this is "generally" the hottest climate on earth. We talked about how the sun is always directly overhead the center of earth, making it so hot. As we move further north, or south, the weather gets cooler. And, once you get to the very top (North Pole), or very bottom, (South Pole) we get ice, and the coldest weather on earth. We learned that some animals live there, such as polar bears in the north and penguins in the south, but never together. The children were also pleased to know they live somewhere in the middle of these two extreme climates. For our connection, we colored our earth and labeled it with N, S, E, W. To finish it off, we placed a polar bear on the top, and a penguin on the bottom. Everyone did an amazing job and they were able to explain their work. It was fun to see their excitement. The children also colored, cut and labeled a globe with North Pole, South Pole and equator.
On Wednesday, I sent home a letter talking about a new 'Take Home' activity we will be doing called The Adventures of Avi. When your child is selected at random, they will get to take home a cute bag with a classroom stuffy, a journal and a book for one week. Every child will get a turn, but as it is a random selection, you will be surprised along with your child. Please refer to the letter for the details. I have more copies if needed.
Thank you,
FROM MORAH RAIZEL
This week, we focused on the bracha, Hagafen, said before drinking grape juice. We read the book From Vine to Grape Juice, written by Meish Goldish. The book goes through the entire process of making grape juice. We also read When I Fell Into My Kiddush Cup by Sashi Friedman. Besides creating hagefen-inspired art, the children got to make their own grape juice by crushing grapes in a ziploc bag using a wooden rolling pin. It required a lot of upper-body strength, and the children got very creative with their crushing methods. Many friends were fans of the juice. Surprisingly, they said it tasted like grapes!
The children created their fourth self-portrait in honor of the new Hebrew month of Shvat. Being that this is a monthly activity, it is incredible to see the children’s skills improve, even from the previous month. The children used chalk pastels to add colors to their self-portraits. They learned about smoothing the pastel with a finger or two to blend in the color.
In this week’s Parsha, Bo, we learned about the last three of the ten plagues. We learned about the lamb that the Jewish people brought into their homes, which they later roasted. The blood of the lamb was painted on their doorposts so the angel of Hashem would pass over their houses. We also learned about Pharaoh running out in his pajamas in the middle of the night, telling Moshe to leave Egypt immediately! Moshe told Pharaoh that the Jewish people would leave Egypt during the day, when everyone would be able to see.
The Shabbos Backpack is in rotation! Over the next nine weeks, every child will have a turn to bring it home.
Tu B’Shvat is coming! We will begin talking about the New Year for trees next week!
Shabbat Shalom!
