Miss Deana & Morah Raizel - 4's

FROM MISS DEANA 

What a great week we had! Our letter of the week is the letter “Ww”. Our Sign Language words this week are: water, watermelon, and whale. During our morning circle we played the game “What’s Missing” using our name cards. It was a bit tricky but the children got the hang of it and some of the children were able to help a friend if it was their name that was missing.

On Monday, the children learned a new game called “Sleeping Fish”. The children lay down and freeze. If they move they are “out”. The game of freeze offers children a platform to improve various skills. It enhances gross motor skills, coordination, and spatial awareness. Children develop agility, balance, and control over their body movements through freezing.

The brochot this week is Haetz (food that grows on a tree).  The children painted an orange for our bulletin board. We started learning about Tu’Bshvat. On Thursday we made a fruit salad out of fruit that grows on a tree. The children helped by washing the fruits, then cutting up the different fruits that everyone enjoyed.

We spent some time learning all about hibernation. What it means, how the make their den, and which animals hibernate. We used some packing paper and trash bags in our library to create a den. A big thank you to Miss Lisa for sharing some moss with our class.  We added it to our sensory trays with our paper plate den and some animals that hibernate.  A few books we read were:

• Hibernation Station by Kurt Syrus
• Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett
• Sleep Black Bear Sleep by Jane Yolen

Fun fact: only pregnant polar bears hibernate!

I hope you have a restful Shabbos,

FROM MORAH RAIZEL 

Hooray!  The Jewish people are finally free and are allowed to leave Egypt.  Their destination?  The desert!  But how did they know where to go?  They had no maps.  A cloud led them by day, and a fire led them by night.

A few days later, who changed his mind?  King Paraoh!  Even though he was the king and did not have to do anything on his own, he saddled his own horse to chase after the Jewish people.  Oh no!  The Jews were trapped!  Don’t worry!  Hashem took care of them and split the sea!  They walked across, on dry land. 

The Jewish people thanked Hashem by singing and dancing.  The birds helped them and sang along.  This week is called Shabbat Shira, the Shabbos of song.  We have a custom of feeding the birds before Shabbos, which is why we made bird feeders.

The Jewish people had a special diet in the desert.  It was called mann!  It fell from the sky and tasted like anything you wished.  The only day it did not fall was on Shabbos.  There was a double portion that fell on Friday.

The bracha we explored this week is haeitz.  The children tasted various fruits and looked at picture cards of common and uncommon fruits of the tree.  They were also encouraged to participate in sensory and art activities involving fruit.

Tu B’Shvat, the new year for trees, is coming up on Monday!  This week, we talked about the significance of Tu B’Shvat and the seven species Israel is blessed with.  We read many books,  Dear Tree by Doba Rivka Weber, A Tree is Nice by Janice May Udry, and Picture a Tree by Barbara Reid.

Shabbat Shalom!