Dear Parents,

 This week in the Green Room we wrapped up our 7 days of creation unit and jumped right into Parsha Noah. Along with our Judaic learning, the Green Room friends worked on math skills and created another beautiful self portrait. Here are some highlights of the week:

Day 4

 Hashem created the sun, moon, and stars. Our friends were invited to create a starry night and a sunny day painting. First we used white crayons to design our moon and stars and sun. Then we we took black and orange watercolor paints and painted over the our drawing. Our friends were surprised when the paint touched the paper and the their drawings with the crayon were revealed!  Finally, while the paint was still wet, our friends added salt to the top of their papers creating a reaction and adding dimension to their work.

 

Day 5

Birds and fish were created. Our friends were invited to build their own bird nest with sticks, leaves and clay that we gathered outside during our time in the outdoor environment.  

Day 6

Hashem created animals and people.

Our friends were invited to create their own habitats for people and animals while we discussed the sixth day of creation. The class enjoyed getting messy and discussing which animals lived where. 

Day 7

After all those days of work, Hashem need rest so he created Shabbat! On Fridays, we always have Shabbat parties. 

    After finishing the Days of Creation, Morah Felicia also explained the Parsha Noach in our morning Daven circle. With props and puppets, she created an interactive experience that made the story come alive to our friends. We learned long ago when Hashem created the world he wanted everyone to make good choices and do the right thing. Not long after Hashem created the world, most people were making choices that were unsafe and could be hurtful. There was one man that wasn't like everyone else. He chose to do the safe, right choices and he taught his family to make good choices too. This made Hashem happy. He wanted all the people to be like Noach. Hashem told Noach to build a teiva, we learned this means a big boat, to hold 7 mommy and 7 daddy kosher animals, a pair of mommy and daddy non-kosher animals, and Noach's family because Hashem was going to bring a mabul, a flood, to wash away all the not-so-nice things in the world. Noach tried warning all the people of the flood that if anyone wanted to stay safe from the flood, there was room. No one listened to Noach. The day came when rain started to fall and didn't stop for 40 days! What a long time. After the rain, a rainbow appeared. Hashem promised Noach that he would never bring a flood again and the rainbow was a symbol of that promise and how important it is to always try your best to make good choices.

Self Portraits

This week our friends were invited to create a monthly self Portrait of themselves.

 

Math

Our friends work on one to one correspondence 1-10 with these counting works. 

We have had such a great week. We are very excited to welcome Morah Maya to the CJP team! She will be the the new Lead teacher in the Green Room and I will be returning to the Blue Room. I'm going to miss all my friends so much, but I know they will be in great hands with someone who will nurture and help them grow and learn to their best potential. 

As always, have a peaceful and restful Shabbos.  

Love,

 Morah Felicia

Days of Creation

Dear Parents, 

 

This week and next week our unit of interest is Parsha Bereishis, the story of creation.
We took the story and incorporated it into our centers. We focused on the first two days of creation this week and will continue with rest next week. 

Long ago in the very beginning there was NOTHING! Only Hashem, no world, people or animals, no trees or stars, no water or light. Hashem didn't want things to stay like this. He wanted to create a beautiful place where people could do only good and a place where he would be recognized. Since there was no such place, Hashem decided to create it.

On the first day he started by creating light. Hashem made the light shine part of time, called day and made dark for part of the day called night. Then on the second day he created water then he created space in the middle filled with air called sky. Next he made dry spots of sand, clay, and rock called land that divided the waters into oceans, lakes, and rivers. He created trees and plants that live on this land.  Then Hashem created two great lights to tell us when it was day and when it was night, the sun and the moon. Next he created creatures to swim in the seas, fly in the skies, and crawl on land. After this he created animals and finally created the first people. Hashem saw that he created such a beautiful place just like he planned and he gave the people the responsibility to keep it beautiful and good by showing kindness and practicing mitzvos.This would make Hashem recognized and comfortable. Now Hashem's work was complete so he rested and made Shabbos a time to rest. It would be a time to celebrate all of Hashem's beautiful work, his creation of life and world.

Light and Dark

Monday and Tuesday our sensory trays had white beans and black beans to represent light and dark.  We had some sun, moon, and star shapes in various sizes along with spoons and buckets. The Green Room Friends hid the shapes as well as scooped and poured into buckets, developing and strengthening their fine motor skills, self regulation, and vocabulary. Once the beans were mixed after playing, our Friends sorted the beans putting all the white beans in a pile representing "day" and the black beans in a pile representing "night". We took this opportunity to have a conversations about Hashem creating day and night. Then we asked questions like "What do you see in the sky in the dark time?" "What do you see in the sky during the light time?"  Hashem created all of it!

On Day 2, Hashem created the waters in the skys and land.

Our friends had fun splashing in the water in the sensory table.

On Day 3, Hashem created plants, trees, and flowers. We used sand and other loose parts to create our own trees and flowers. Loose parts are any materials that can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up, taken apart and put back together in multiple ways. Loose parts can be used alone or combined with other materials. There is no set of specific directions for materials that are considered loose parts. The friends led the direction.  

Process Art

All of our friends had such a great time creating marbleized paintings with watercolors and oil this week. First, we invited our friends to add water colors and oil to a tray with eye droppers; then they put a piece of paper on top and lifted it to see what happened! We discovered that the oil and water don't mix no matter how hard we tried! Morah Felicia explained that water only likes water and oil is non-polar so it's afraid of water and only likes things that are non-polar like them. This was such a great opportunity to create something beautiful and explore a little science as well - and all friends led! 

Next week we will continue exploring the days of creation followed by Parsha Noah. 

Welcome back! 

It was great to everyone after our break. Wishing you a restful Shabbos!

Morah Felicia

Sukkot

Dear Parents, 

 Here are the weekly Highlights:

Fine Motor/Sensory
Sukkot provocation: We used small wooden sticks, tiles, and slime sand, to create photos of Sukkahs. Our Friends built their own Sukkah and we got some amazing results. The Green Room Friends really enjoyed working with the texture of the slime sand. We talked about how a Sukkah needs 3 walls and a roof made of Schach. We also talked about how the Sukkah is symbolic to hashem's love and he is always around us. We celebrate with friends and family. 

   

"Look, Morah Felicia, I made my Sukkah." - Yehonathan

Art

Our Friends made their own Sukkah decorations that were sent home for your family to enjoy. We used flowers and other loose parts to embellish a styrofoam ball, another great fine motor activity that everyone enjoyed.  

   

Literacy 

David and Shai practice writing their names. We practice always starting at the top when writing letters. As we traced the letters we also went over the phonetic sound of each letter.  

   

We hope you have a wonderful break. See you all soon. 

 Morah Felicia

Yom Kippur

 Dear Parents, 

This week in the Green Room, we explored the next high holiday, Yom Kippur. During Rosh Hashanah, we learned that we want to ask Hashem for help to be the best we can be.Yom Kippur is when we ask all our friend's forgiveness for any wrong we may have done towards them. During Yom Kippur we also hear the story of Yonah and the Big Fish. Morah Felicia told the story of Yonah and his journey to Ninveh.

Social Emotional

This week in circle we discussed mitzvahs vs. mistakes, and on Yom Kippur we take time to realize our mistakes and ask for forgiveness; asking for forgiveness means saying sorry.  Our friends used a scale to demonstrate how we want our mitzvahs to weigh more than our mistakes.That means we need many more mitzvahs than mistakes.Then we talked about how we could be better in the new year, like taking turns and using gentle hands, and helping our mommies and daddies at home.

Fine Motor

This week our friends cleaned pennies for tzedakah. Not only is it a mitzvah to give extra tzedakah on Yom Kippur, our friends have noticed how dirty the coins are and wanted them to be extra shiny. We used baking soda and vinegar to clean our coins and as our friends were cleaning, they discovered when they mixed the baking soda with the vinegar, a chemical reaction was made! They saw bubbles forming and heard sizzling sounds! They were all so proud of their discovery and work when the pennies shined in the light.

Also this week, our friends poked holes in the side of a lemon and carefully inserted cloves into the lemon. The room was so fragrant and smelled like Fall with the cloves. The children enjoyed smelling the cloves and lemon together. They also discovered that the cloves were poky and they had to be extra careful while putting them into the lemon.

For our moms and dads to smell them on Yom Kippur fast.

Smelling Besamim on Yom Kippur has been a long standing custom. As we fast, it is a challenge to complete the "100 Brachot" we strive to make each day; smelling Besamim helps us along to reach that goal.

Thanks for another great week. Wishing you a peaceful Shabbos.

Morah Felicia

Honey Tasting

This week we wrapped up our Rosh Hashanah unit.  Here are some highlights:

We tasted 4 different types of honey and documented our experience.  First, the honey was labeled with numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4.  Some things the Green Room Friends discovered were the honeys all looked a little different. Honey number 1 was in a tray and also had real honeycomb! The color was very light and transparent. Honey numbers 2 and 3 were both the same yellowish color but the textures were different. And honey number 4 was very brown was compared to looking like syrup. After we compared and contrasted the look and textures, it was time to taste!

Of course all of our friends enjoyed all 4 honeys but they all had their favorite:

Shai said,”Honey number 1 is my favorite, it tastes like ice cream.”

David said honey number 2 “Tastes like the honey at my house. My favorite one is the black one. (4)”

Lia pointed to her favorite honey which was also the dark honey. (4)

Ella said,”Honey number 3 is my favorite.”

Yehonathan said, “Honey number 3 is the best one. It’s really honey!”

We discussed how we dip apples in honey on Rosh Hashana to ask Hashem for a sweet New Year!

 

 

Rosh Hashana continues

This week in the Green Room we continued our Rosh Hashana unit. Here are some of our highlights this week.

Group Projects

This week our friends worked on creating their own keepsake honey jar! First our friends covered their jar in glue and then used tissue paper to cover the outside of their jar. This created a stained glass collage look. Our friends really enjoyed the getting sticky with glue and working with a new medium.  Each child will be sent home with one next week. 

On Friday our group project was a still life shofar painting. Still life drawings are valuable because our friends use something that is real and meaningful as a guide for their own creative expression. This activity challenges our friend's ability to look at the finer details in the everyday objects that are familiar to them.

Another group project this week was apple stamping. Our friends created apple prints while following a two step direction and using eye/hand coordination. Moving their hand from the paint plate onto their paper requires our friends to focus and coordinate their hand movement with their eye movement.  Lastly, this activity teaches cause and effect - demonstrating to our friends the plain apple and what happens after dipping it into paint to create a print on their paper.  

This week we conducted our first science experiment. We made apple eruptions! First, Morah Felicia cut out the core of 3 apples leaving them whole. We mixed some watercolor in vinegar and took out some baking soda. Each friend poured about 2 teaspoons of baking soda into their apple and before they added the vinegar, Morah Felicia asked the group, "I wonder what will happen when we add the vinegar?" As each child added the vinegar to their apple they discovered the mixture made fizzy sounds and overflowed their apple with bubbles! They were truly amazed saying, "whoa!" and giggling with excitement as they repeated this at least 6 more times. Science should be viewed as thinking and trying to understand how things works and how the world works. It's not the time to memorize facts. Our friends need multi-sensory approaches to learning. Therefore, science experiments involve asking questions, probing for answers, conducting investigations and collecting data. Our job as Morahs is to give children the opportunity to construct their own ideas.

During circle time, Morah Felicia introduced a special prayer book used on Rosh Hashanah called the Machzor. Our friends took some time to explore, flipping through the pages, discovering most of it was in Hebrew and also how the book opened wasn't like what they were used to.  

Looking forward to another great week. Wishing you a restful Shabbos,

Morah Felicia

Dear Parents, 

    We've had great week of exploring and discovering.  Here are some highlights: 

 Rosh Hashana

With Rosh Hashana around the corner, this week we introduced some concepts about the Holiday through our centers and morning circle times.   In morning circles we discussed how Rosh Hashana is the new year, a new beginning.  Just like we had a first day of school we have a first day of a new year. We ask Hashem for help to become our best self and for a sweet new year. We do this by blowing the shofar, eating sweet foods like apples dipped in honey, or sending cards to our family and friends, saying Shana Tova to wish them a sweet a new year too.  The Morahs explained the shofar comes from a Ram and when we blow the shofar we can think of a mitzvah that we can do to be a better friend and more helpful.  Rabbi T has made visits to our classroom to blow the shofar.  All of our friends giggled at the sound it makes.  They all agreed it sounds funny.   Our friends investigated the shofar in our classroom.  Some friends take turns trying so hard to blow and others feel the rough bumpy texture. 

Discovery table

We set up a discovery table with all things Rosh Hashana related such as apples, honey, shofars, and a variety of pictures.  Our friends were invited to explore the materials. The discovery table is one of the first things the children see when they come in in the morning.  Through exploring and investigating these authentic objects, our friends begin to build their own experiences with them.  Our friends also explored through sensory play this week pouring, scooping, and smelling oats and apples.

Shana Tova Cards

 We started off by painting with honey on apple shaped cardstock.  We encouraged our friends to dip their paintbrushes into honey and then use it to paint the paper. The Morahs pointed out how the paintbrush and honey stuck to the paper.  We discovered the honey was so thick and not so easy to work with but very yummy to lick! Another group project this week was apple stamping.  Our friends created apple prints while following a two step direction and using eye/hand coordination.  Moving their hand from the paint plate onto their paper requires focus and coordinating their hand movement with their eye movement.  Lastly, this activity teaches cause and effect.  Demonstrating to our friends the plain apple and what happens after dipping it into paint to create a print on their paper.  The end product will be Shana Tova cards for our family and friends.  We are learning to say Shana Tova which is wishing someone a sweet new year in Hebrew.

Outdoor Environment 

Our friends did a sink and float experience in the puddles they found with natural materials found outside we discovered that rocks sink to the bottom of the water and wood chips,stick, and leaves float on top of the water. We've enjoyed spending the morning exploring the outdoors and hope to continue to spend more time outside as the weather gets cooler.

Along with introducing Rosh Hashana our friends worked on recognizing and writing some letters of the alphabet and alef bet, as well as some math with number recognition and one to one correspondence. Next week we will continue to explore more concepts of Rosh Hashana. Thank you all for being so responsive and getting any extra materials we have requested for activities we do in the classroom.

We are looking forward to another great week of learning and growing. Wishing you a peaceful Shabbos.

Morah Felicia