Newsletter Room 9 April 1st - April 5th 2019
This week in room 9 has been all about the holiday of Passover. On Monday, when the class went out on the big yard, we entered the ‘desert’, where several classes became the Jewish slaves and the teachers were the taskmasters. The Jewish slaves needed to make the bricks to build the cities. The first step was to haul a huge bag of dirt to a wading pool and put large amounts into it, all the while hearing, ”Work, work, work, don’t rest, don’t stop!” Then they added some sand to the mixture. The last ingredient was some hay, which they first had to break up into smaller pieces. When all the ingredients were added, the slaves added water and proceeded to mix it all up by walking around in it with their bare feet. The children really loved doing this fun, immersive activity by playing the role of the Jewish slaves and hearing what it must have been like to have to work so hard without a break. Now the bricks are drying out in the sun, and we are all waiting to see how they turn out. We have been retelling the story of Passover, using pictures, puppets and books. The children know much of the story and will raise their hands to add their point of view. They are fascinated with the plagues that befell the Egyptians and with how baby Moses gets rescued in the river by Pharoah’s daughter. The class has been busy making a special Passover project. They have been deciding between making either a beautiful cup of Elijah, or a lovely Miriam’s cup. Both Elijah and Miriam were important heroes in Jewish history. Elijah because he was the hero who could call down miracles, and Miriam because she gave new life to the Israelites (namely water) as they struggled in the wilderness. Following up on our spring discussion, we asked the children to create symbols for spring. They were to follow a few steps: first, they traced and cut out flowers or butterflies. Then, they water-colored their cutout choice. The last part was adding glitter. The following day, when the children arrived at class, they found a very large piece of butcher paper on the window. They asked right away – “Why do we have the paper on the window?” We explained that they are to create a spring mural. They had to pay close attention to details. We wondered whether flowers can float in the air or do they need to be connected to the dirt? How do flowers connect to the dirt? It was interesting to observe how the children worked together as a team and tried not to disturb or color over their friends’ work. Once spring sprung on our window mural, the children got further inspired. They put some chairs in front of the mural and decided to have a spring show. Some children volunteered to create the tickets, some created the food for the theater, some children created the costumes and others accessorized, while others created the story line. They had an announcer announcing, “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the show is about to start.” “Please turn-off your cellphones.” The plot of the show was a car running over a spider, and the purpose of the story was to teach people how to drive. The children kept visiting the mural, adding to the spring scene, making new shows, and having fun while learning important skills. During P.E. with Coach Danny, Room 9 has begun learning a new sport, Volleyball! It is a wonderful learning experience which builds on their previous skills, such as hand-eye coordination, and adds more skills as well. They were able to experiment with beach balls, volleyballs, and a softer ball as well. Many of the children were able to bump the ball with enough force to get the ball over the net! They were exhilarated and excited when it happened. Peter Pan is the Spring Musical that the Elementary School is putting on this weekend and next week. It will be a fantastic show to take your family to. It runs Saturday, April 6th at 7:00pm, April 7th at 3:00 and Tuesday, April 9th at 7:00 pm. Here is the link if you would like to purchase tickets: https://www.showtix4u.com/events/1290 Reminders: Shabbat Family: Emrani family 4/12 Passover Seder Room 9: 4/11 9:15 Library reader: Flamm Family 5/1 Spring Break: 4/15-4/28
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Pre-K Room 9Linda Gafni Archives
March 2020
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