Dear Room 13 Families,
We began our week, like we do each week, with a lovely class Havdalah service. We discussed that even though we did not celebrate Shabbat together, it still occurred. This was a special Havdalah as we were separating the holiday week we had had from this new exciting week we were about to begin. Throughout our week, we began everything Hanukkah! We heard the story of Hanukkah, began learning Hanukkah songs, preformed Hanukkah experiments and even began creating Hanukkah art work. While doing each of things, we continued to learn them through the lens of our school’s value, us as builders. For Hanukkah, we are focusing on us as builders of light and builders of peace. All of these discussions and projects will continue over the next few weeks. While hearing the story of Hanukkah, the children learned all about King Antiochus and how he told the Jewish people of Israel that they could not pray in their Temple or celebrate their holidays! The children shared how they would feel if they were told they could not be Jewish or sing songs in their sanctuary, just like the Jewish people were told in the Hanukkah story. We discussed how the Jewish people, just like us, felt very sad, but also angry and mad and how they used these feelings to stand up to King Antiochus. They heard all about how the small, but brave army of the Maccabees fought against King Antiochus and his giant army to get the Temple back. The children then learned that, once again, the Jewish people felt sad and even mad, when they returned to their Temple and saw it was destroyed. The Jewish people worked hard to clean and rebuild the Temple. We spoke about the many miracles of Hanukkah, including how the Jewish people only had enough oil for one night and yet it lasted for eight whole nights, enough time for them to finish cleaning and get more oil. Hanukkah is a great time for experiments. While creating a giant class Hanukkiyah, we filled the bottles with water and then added different colors to them. The children helped decide with color would go in each bottle and thought about what was going to happen as the color was added. After seeing the colors diffuse into the water, we then showed the children different objects that we could add to the bottles; wooden beads, glitter, sparkles, feathers, plastic beads, etc. Before dropping the objects into the water, the children formed their own hypotheses about what might happen. Will the objects float, sink or even pop out of the water? After sharing their thoughts, the children were excited to see how the different objects reacted. . . some floating on top of the water, some quickly sinking to the bottom and some slowing swirling around in the water. Come check out our Sink or Float Hanukkiyah on the back window of our classroom! Throughout our week, the children began learning new and exciting songs for Hanukkah! They even created their very own torches to hold while we sing, “Banu Chosech.” This is a new song teaching us that as we stand alone, we are only a small light, however when we come together, we build a great, bright light. On Thursday, we had the pleasure of singing with Andrew, our music teacher. We ended our week by celebrating a beautiful Shabbat with Sammy and his family. Shabbat Shalom, Your Room 13 Teachers Reminders: *Please remember to sign your child in and out, with a legible signature, and the time in which you arrived and left EVERY day. If you have a high-lighted section, it means we need your signature or time in that space, as well as your normal spot for the day. *Light Up Literacy – Transform the lives of Guatemalan children by giving them the gift of reading. $10 buys 2 books/$25 buys 5 for these children and, in return, Wise School students will receive a hand-woven friendship bracelet as a token of appreciation. *Tuesday, Dec 5th – Library – Elizabeth and Hunter and Jennifer and Avery – 10:00 *Friday, Dec 8th – Shabbat –Riley, Avery and their families– 10:15 *Friday, Dec 8th – Tot Shabbat with the Beat Buds *Thursday, Dec 14th – Class Hanukkah Party with Parents – 9:15
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