March 12-16, 2018
We had a quick week filled with Passover activities. From the telling of the story, to learning about the Seder plate, to making our own Elijah’s cup, the children were quite busy. We began the week with our first Passover art project. We asked the children, “Do you know who Elijah is?” Carter quickly questioned, “Isn’t that Owen’s brother, Elijah?” While the other children agreed with Carter’s question, Elliot made sure to explain that we are not talking about the real Elijah. He stated, “This is the pretend Elijah!” Benjamin, then, asked, “What does he look like?” We were excited to see the curiosity flow from the children as we explained the concept of Elijah as a part of the Passover story. The children had the opportunity to decorate their own Elijah’s cup using tissue paper and glue. They used a variety of bright colors to create a festive glass to leave out for Elijah. As we continued to delve deeper into the story of Passover, the children expressed interest in the reason that Pharaoh would not let the Jewish people go. They could not understand why Pharaoh continued to suffer through the plagues, instead of letting the Jews go. We explained that the Jewish people were finally set free by Pharaoh, and in order to get out as fast as they could, they did not have time to let the bread rise. This is how matzah was created. The children enjoyed tasting matzah for snack and expressed interest in trying to make various snack creations out of matzah like pizza. While eating snack, Benjamin exclaimed, “Look! I made a matzah/cheese sandwich!” We continued to tell the story, and Michael showed excitement when Moses finally put his staff in the Red Sea! Michael exclaimed, “Then, Pharaoh and the others were washed away and could not get the Jews anymore.” Mason could not believe that the Jews entered a new continent, when he said, “But, they aren’t in Africa anymore?” We explained that we sing the song “Dayenu” at the end of the story to show our gratitude towards God for taking the Jewish people out of slavery. The children loved this song so much we heard them singing the chorus over and over again while cleaning up the Magna Tiles after hearing the story. We went on to discuss the symbolism of each item on the Seder plate. Since Benjamin loved the matzah/cheese sandwich, we explained that on Passover, some make a different type of Matzah sandwich using charoset. The charoset represents the mortar used to make bricks, which the Israelites used as slaves. During the Seder, we use the paste to stick together two pieces of matzah. Skyler said, “What is in charoset?” Since she asked, we had to make it into a cooking project! On Thursday, the children put their fine motor skills to work to cut up red and green apples into tiny pieces. Then, they exercised their number recognition and measuring abilities to combine sugar, cinnamon, raisins, and grape juice to make our very own charoset. Ask your children if they liked it! After discussing the Seder plate, we decided to make our very own Seder plates to use as decoration during our class and family Seders. First, the children chose two paint colors to dip a marble in and roll on a large clear plastic plate. After creating an interesting design and texture, we let the paint dry and glued plastic cups with labels to complete the Seder plate. We can’t wait for you all to see their great designs at the class Seder next week. We will continue to go over the Passover story next week and begin a new art project surrounding the Afikoman. We hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and Shabbat Shalom! Mari & Aaliyah Shabbat Family Schedule: 3/23- Kora After Passover Break: 4/13- Elliot 4/20- Wynter 4/27- Mason 5/4- Paisley 5/11- Benjamin Reminders:
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Pre-K Room 8Mari Greifer Archives
March 2020
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