Dear Room 13 Families,
What a wonderful, special week we had here in Room 13! We began our week, like we do each week, by celebrating Havdalah together with our Explorer community. We first said goodbye to Shabbat, welcomed in the new week and then had the joy of celebrating the last day of Hanukkah all together. After extinguishing the Havdalah candle, we then lit up the room with all 8 candles glowing brightly while we sang a few final Hanukkah songs. When we returned to the classroom, we had the joy of a guest reader joining us. With our group having a love for languages, it was wonderful hearing two fabulous stories in both Spanish and English. We want to give a big thank you to Vito and Carolina for reading to us in such a special way. With our Light Room continuing to brighten up our room, we thought it would be the perfect time to add a few new materials to the space. However, to do this, we needed to first create them. We gathered together during circle time and the children quickly and excitedly asked about all the materials they saw; the tubes, oil, glycerin (which they recognized from the snow globes), water colors, Oorbez, glitter, beads and pompoms. We told them that we would be preforming an experiment (which we know they love) to create something new for our classroom. We then dove right in . . .the children quickly suggesting what order to add the materials and what they thought would happen when we did so. We decided that we would add different ingredients to each tube and also in different orders. The children had a wonderful time sharing their hypotheses; the colors and water will mix, the oil will stay on top (they remembered from last weeks’ experiment), the glitter will float, the glitter will mix, the Oorbez will fly out, the Oorbez will sink and on and on. The forward thinking was truly flowing. The children were so excited to see the outcome within every tube. If you have not yet seen our new sensory bottles, please come check them out on the light table within the Light Room. Throughout our year, we have had many discussions on the Wise School Value of the year, N’divut Lev, Generosity of Heart. We continued these discussions this week, focusing on those in our community who help us and what we can do for them, since they do so much for us. We decided to start with our security guards, since we see them each day and the children have an understanding of what they do for us. As we talked about what a big and important job they have keeping us all safe, what could we do for them. The children right away said we could make something and bake for them. So the next day, the children decorated thank you cards. Using all of your extra gelt from Hanukkah, the children opened each piece, placing it in a giant pan. We then shared with the class that we were going to transform their Hanukkah gelt from a solid to a liquid and back to a soild in a new shape. Everyone was so excited! The children watched as the melted gelt chocolate became a heart shaped lollipop. Then with our cards and lollipops in hand walked around school searching for security guards to thank. The children were so excited to deliver them, but more importantly the guards were so thankful for this little special treat. We talked about the smile on their faces and how our little act of N’divut Lev, Generosity of Heart, brightened the day of our security guards (and office staff since we could not find all the guards and had a number of lollipops left over). On Thursday, we began our day with continuing to work on our Shabbat candlesticks that we have been creating. The children finished painting the tiles with glass paint and added on the candle holders. We will be sending these home next Friday for your families to enjoy, especially over winter break, reminding you of our Room 13 community. We ended our week with a beautiful Shabbat celebration with Vito and his family. We also had the amazing opportunity to attend the Beit Issie Shapiro Farmer’s Market. After a week discussing and putting into practice N’divut Lev, it was the perfect way to end. We, of course, reminded the children of why the Farmer’s Market is so important and where their Tzedakah goes (to help children in Israel that need a little extra help to learn and get around the way we do). They were all so excited and proud to take part in this very special experience. Shabbat Shalom, Hannah and Chen Reminders: *Please remember to sign your child in and out, with a legible signature, 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. *Tuesday, Dec. 18 – 10:00 – Library - Vito *Friday, Dec. 21 – Noon Dismissal *Monday, Dec. 24 – Friday, Jan. 4 – No School – Winter Break *Monday, Jan. 7 – Classes Resume *Saturday, Jan. 12 – 10:00 – Tot Shabbat
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