Friday & Today

Challah measuring, shaping and baking. A favorite Friday activity.

Parshat Hashavua - We read in the Parsha Big Book about how Hashem counted the Jewish people because he loved them so much. Each of the Jewish people gave a half a shekel (to be used for the mishkan) and the half sheckels were counted to know how many Jewish people there were. The Yeladim each put their tzedaka in a bowl and then we counted out the coins to know how many Yeladim were in our class.

 Thank you to Moshe and his family for being the fruit family this week! The delicious and healthy assortment of fruit and vegetables goes very well with March being National Nutrition Month!
Today's snack menu:
Yellow peppers
 Blood oranges & clementines
 grape tomatoes
white, purple and orange carrots

At first the Yeladim did not take much but after some time the colors were tempting and by the time 

snack was over they had finished it all! 

Moshe: These oranges are blood oranges but deer is no blood in it.

Ronny: I don't like this orange....its tastes like blood.

:)

With all the new vegetables and colors our snack had lots of new words and letters!

Today we drew up a web on what the previous knowledge the Yeladim have about Purim. Before drawing a web on the white board and listening to the Yeladim's ideas the Yeladim had time to close their eyes and think about answers to the questions Morah was asking to help them remember. After talking about it out loud the Yeladim drew pictures of what they had remembered in reference to the story of Purim. 

Math & Literacy

We are now working with 'teen' numbers. Bella is choosing which material (rocks,bead,or pompoms) she will count '13' of to fill the jar.

Ronny counted out 11 pompoms.

Zalman is tracing sight words with a bingo marker.

When Ronny was called up to circle the 'Mem's' on our snack board she included the 'Mem Sofit!'

These pattern play blocks are a great introduction to math concepts like sorting, matching, symmetry, congruence and fractions. Its unusual angles in the ends of the blocks make it a work that requires deep thinking and build spatial skills

Shmuli and Ofir worked hard to complete the design they chose. When they compared it to the card, they realized something was off. They figured it out and changed it. Can you find the difference?

 Often the children will try to fit a block in a triangular area just based on visual cues. Then the child realizes something is not correct according to the picture. It takes multiple times of thinking of new ways to try to fit it. Its amazing to watch them think and brainstorm. Like Ofir said, 'This is hard!'

But so gratifying when figuring it out!

Moments In Our Day

Watermelon at snack. The Yeladim made the letter 'w' with their fingers!

At snack the Yeladim enjoyed reading 'The Giraffe Goes to Preschool.' Illustrated and written by the Yeladim in our class!

A walk outside. Moshe noted that the grass in the puddles looked like sea weed.

After reading and loving Mo Willems series the Yeladim have been reading through a wonderful Jewish author's books - Chani Altein. She authored; Benny's Mitzvah Notes, Hashem Is Truly Everywhere, and Wherever We Go.

In the book Wherever We Go there is a giraffe at the zoo. That gave the Yeladim some ideas of what final touches we will add on to our paper mache giraffe!

Bella: I know there is a little Purim because my Daddy said.

Today is Purim Katan! Since we increase in happiness on Purim Katan, the Yeladim danced to Purim music today. They also counted 30 more days until the 'real' Purim!

Sensory Letter Writing

One of today's favorite centers - writing Hebrew letters in colorful sand.

Shmuli is concentrating as he is making a 'Mem.'

Ofir made a 'Hey!'

Bella made a 'Hey.'

Moshe and Ronny are waiting patiently for a turn.

Thank you to Shmuli and his family for being the Fruit Family this week! The kiwi was a favorite at snack today!

Today the Yeladim learned a new Hebrew snack fruit - Kivi!

Moments In Our Day

Word writing.

Ronny wrote 'cat!'

Bella wrote 'dad!'

Sand sensory play.

Ronny traced an 'H' with yarn.

Finding Hebrew & English letters in our snack assortment!

February Self Portraits:

This time around in the self portraits the Yeladim are adding more details.

I noticed fingers, teeth, and a tongue! 

Thank yous!

We welcomed back Ofir today who returned from a trip to Israel! At lunch he told us all about his trip. He went on a plane, a train, and a bus.

Morah: Where in Israel did you go? Yerushalayim...?

Ofir: No, in Israel.

Ofir was so thoughtful and brought back a new manipulative for our class! He felt very proud of it. Before I knew it, he had opened it up and already found a basket to put it in :).

Thank you Ofir and his mom Osnat for the thoughtful gift!

The Yeladim use the new manipulative creatively to build things. They even made letters from them!

Who is the fruit family this week?

Morah asked Bella if she would like to pass it out to her friends. She declined saying she didn't want to spread germs but she could take the bowl around and offer it :).

Thank you to Bella's family for being the fruit family this week and bringing such a delicious variety of fruit!

Authors Unit Continued

In addition to the Yeladim working on their book about teaching a Giraffe the nice way to act in our classroom, Moshe has been thinking about incorporating some paper mache. Today the Yeldim set out to create a giraffe made out of paper mache. This giraffe will stay in our classroom and be a constant reminder of how to act.

Morah Johna who has some background with circus helped the Yeladim construct a balloon giraffe as a base for the paper mache.

But what are the ingredients? Moshe had originally gotten the idea from some art the 2's class did with paper mache. The 2's class would therefore be a great resource! Zalman and Bella visited Morah Sara's class and asked her for the ingredients. They wrote it down on their clipboards.

When Zalman and Bella returned to the class they read aloud to their friends the ingredients needed.

Preparing the paper mache practicing fine motor skills through cutting newspaper strips.

Dipping, sticking......and dripping! The main part was it was extremely fun and engaging.

The Yeladim worked collaboratively to paper mache the giraffe's body.