March 05th, 2020

Newsletter  Room 9  March 2nd - March 6th 2020 
This week in Room 9 was a week of celebrations. Besides working on several Purim projects, we also celebrated Jacob’s 5th birthday and the birthday of Dr. Seuss. We asked the children to bring in a favorite Dr. Seuss book from home. The children were very excited to share the books and immediately asked the teachers to read them all.  As we read many of Dr. Suess’s books, we quickly realized that this great American author used words in a new and exciting way. We even had a visit from the Cat in the Hat! After his visit, everyone in the class made a funny pattern for snack with strawberries and bananas to imitate the Cat in the Hat’s stripped hat. 
During the week we talked about the importance of Mishloach Manot, the mitzvot of giving to others on Purim. We decided to exchange Mishloach Manot between the children in our classroom. The children picked a friend’s name out of a bowl. It was fascinating to see how much our children are connected to each other. Any name they picked they were so excited to get, as opposed to the beginning of the year when they only wanted a certain friend. It is apparent that they have become a real community. On Tuesday the children can dress up in costume to celebrate the joy of Purim and they will exchange their Mishloach Manot. 
When we introduced the story of Purim, many of the children shared that their family background is from Iran. We wanted the children to experience Persian food and we enjoyed a cooking demonstration by Tiffany, Evan’s mom on how to make Persian Rice with cherries.  
Tiffany’s presentation started with a book titled, “Hello Aaron Where Are You?” It was all about Aaron’s adventures all around the world, including Iran (or how it was known long ago, Persia). The children were very attentive, and as she read about different countries, we heard comments about them, such as: It is the longest wall in the world (about the great wall of China). I was in Israel, I’m going to Israel for my birthday, because the day we are going there is the day of my birthday. Hey, I was there! We also discovered that Evan’s uncle is an architect who designed many famous buildings all around Tehran, Iran. We followed the reading by making and eating the delicious rice. Thank you, Tiffany for coming in and sharing a great experience with us! 
Reminders:   Sunday, March 8th Purim Carnival 
                     Tuesday, March 10th Purim Dress-up Day 
                     Wed., March 18th Early Dismissal @ 12  conf.  
                     Thurs. March 19th No School P/T conferences 
                     Tuesday, March 31st Rm.9 Passover Seder @ 9:15 ​