Well, this was quite the week in kindergarten! Benny had a short trip from New Jersey to present the letter Jj to the children. He was in a jolly mood and wanted to show them how to juggle, but unfortunately he was still wearing his cast from last week's disaster. The children learned to write the letter in its upper and lower case form and do projects and activities to reinforce the letter and its sound.
We were all jumping for joy Monday morning when we heard chirping in the incubator and found one little black chick had hatched! The children were fascinated, and they have enjoyed watching him eat and grow this week. He also loves to listen to stories, although he peeps rather loudly without raising his wing to ask a question! He also stands very respectfully for the Pledge of Allegiance! The children have held him and practiced be very gentle. Some children decided to make a lego house for him, and he seemed pleased to play in there this morning.
This was not a good year for hatching, however, and unfortunately one chick couldn't make it out of the shell. He tried desperately to stay alive, but he did not survive. We had a long discussion about how things don't always work out the way we want, and that sometimes when things grow, they don't develop properly. We will continue the discussion on Monday.
The children have been practicing with number lines and skip counting. They have also done projects to reinforce short and long vowel sounds.
In math, they have been working on more challenging combinations and practicing counting up using paper money.
Of course we have been practicing for our kindergarten breakfast on June 16th. The children are so excited to be performing for all of you!
Shabbat Shalom!
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As I'm sure you' ve heard, we have a baby chick in our classroom! It arrived sometime early Monday morning. He is healthy and happy, and we know he loves to listen to stories, because whenever I read, he chirps as loud as he can! We will be concentrating on the letter J this week and continuing to work on skip counting, practicing vowel sounds, sequencing, and working on addition. As many of you have heard by now, Benny the Alphabet Bear took quite the fall on Monday. He was trying to get to Texas and New Mexico for a little R&R before coming to Marblehead to teach the children about the letter X, and he thought he had time to go skateboarding before he left. Unfortunately, he forgot to wear his protective gear, and he fell down. I took him to the vet, and they took an X-ray. On Tuesday, we got the bad news. Benny had a broken leg and needed a cast. The children and other members of the faculty have come down to sign it and to try to make Benny feel better. The children had a chance to look at many real x-rays of human bones, some of which had actual breaks. They tried to match up the bones to their own bodies and looked at them on the light table as well. They wrote the letter X and brainstormed some words that had X in them. Because there isn't a lot to learn about the letter X, Benny also introduced the children to the letter Q this week. They practiced writing the letter in upper and lower case forms, brainstormed words that begin with qu, and wrote and read qu words.
They have also been practicing counting up, counting by 5s, etc., and skip counting. The children really enjoy simple word problems as well as mental math challenges. This week we were honored to have Naomi Griffin's aunt visit our classroom. Laurie Jacobs is a local author who has written a children's book called Silly Frilly Grandma Tillie and came to share it with the class. The children listened to the story and were able to ask questions about what it is like to be a real author. They also danced the Conga like Grandma Tillie! Our trip to the museum is tomorrow, and the children are so excited!! I promise to post pictures in next week's blog! This week in Hebrew, we started the letter "samech". We will be learning several vocabulary words with the letter and doing many projects to re-enforce our learning next week. We finished the last Torah story for our hand made Torahs about the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. The class will be working on a cover and you will be able to see their work at our Kindergarten breakfast on June 16th. It is a beautiful compilation of most of the stories that we worked on this year in class. The class finished their visit to Israel in Jerusalem (the Golden City). Each child put their wishes in the Kotel (Wall). The students learned that Jerusalem is a city for people of all religions, not just Jews. We discussed that all buildings in Jerusalem must be built with the same kind of stone (Jerusalem Stone). This stone is what keeps Jerusalem looking "golden". We then took the long journey home on an El Al flight. It was a fabulous time for all, as you will see when you look at their journals from the trip. Please see the last few pictures of the trip below. Benny was hiding under my desk Monday morning because he was so upset that his flight home from Utah was delayed. He cheered right up when he heard the excitement of the children when they saw that they were learning the last vowel, U. Our discussions focused on the formation of the upper and lower case Uu as well as its long and short sounds. The children read books and did many projects to reinforce the sound of this letter. They also practiced writing short u words in their best lower case kindergarten writing. They are making their last vowel book, The Ugly Bug Book, which they are excited to share next week with their parents and families.
The children have been discussing and drawing the development of the chicks as we approach the end of the second week of development. We are also reading many chick and farm books, both fact and fiction. We were delighted to have a visit from Oliver's family this week. His Great Grandpa Joseph and Grandma June read an adorable story to the children and even donated the book and a little toy to our class. Mom, Dad, baby Madeline, and Grandma Deanna came to visit as well, and we all had a wonderful time! The upper school invited us to their presentation on recycling. The children heard a lot of information about composting, recycling, and pollution. Shabbat will be spent celebrating Shavuot and Memorial Day. This morning the children took part in a musical celebration and sang "This Land is Your Land" as well as the Star Spangled Banner! Each child in the school made a "brick" and wrote his or her wish for the world. These were hung on the wall as a wall of peace in honor of the day. We have been busy practicing for the Kindergarten Breakfast on June 16th as well as reading books and discussing our trip to the Museum of Fine Arts on May 29th. In Hebrew, the class finished the letter "resh" and its vocabulary words "rakevet" (train), "ramzor" (traffic light), "rosh" (head), "raglayim" (feet) to name a few. We discussed the holiday of Shavuot and the excitement that it brings each year to the Jewish people. We have counted the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot, building up our excitement as we get closer to the day that we received the Torah from Moshe on Mount Sinai. We continued our trip in Eretz Yisrael, visiting the Kibbutz, going to Eilat, shopping at a shuk and visiting the holy city of Jerusalem. Have a wonderful weekend! Chag Sameach (Happy Holiday) and Shabbat Shalom! This week in kindergarten we will be focusing on the letter U, our last vowel to learn. The children are making another book called The Ugly Bug Book, and they will be practicing short u family words during the week. They will also be doing projects and activities related to chicks and our farm unit. We will be continuing to read chain tales and moving on to fairy tales by the end of the week.
In Hebrew and Jewish Studies, we will continue visiting different places in Israel learning more about its history and culture. The children will finish learning the letter "resh". We will also be talking about the upcoming holiday of Shavuot, when the Jewish people received the Torah. Well, Benny the Alphabet Bear had a short distance to travel to come visit us this week. Many of the children have been to New York and knew that you could drive, take a bus, a train, or fly from New York to Boston. He traveled pretty light this time, bringing only a few yams and a yoyo. As always, the children practiced writing Y in its upper and lower case form and did many projects to reinforce its sound. They also began to learn how to put words in alphabetical order. This was challenging in the beginning, but the more they practiced, the easier it became. Now they are putting each other in alphabetical order as well! They felt extremely proud of this accomplishment, and I was amazed at their perseverance! They are also practicing writing their last names as well.
Benny was fun, but by far the most exciting thing to happen this week was the arrival of one dozen fertilized eggs! The incubator was heated up and ready to go, and I placed the eggs in on Monday afternoon. With any luck, we will have some baby chicks in twenty-one days! We have been discussing how chicks develop from fertilized eggs, not the ones in the supermarket. The children have been making a book that documents the development of a chick, and they will bring these home after the chicks hatch. They are also reading books, both fact and fiction, and doing math and writing that connect with our farm unit. We are also reading chain tales this week. A chain tale is a story that keeps adding on characters, such as "I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" and "This is the House That Jack Built." They also played with a toy "Old Lady" that one child at a time could wear while others put the characters into a pocket. They are comparing and contrasting these stories as well. They enjoyed putting together a chicken life cycle puzzle and sharing it with their friends. The pattern blocks were a big hit as some of the children designed farms and cities on the rug. In math, they brainstormed things that come in three's. Some of their ideas were triplets, tricycle wheels, and silverware (fork, knife, and spoon). It is fun to see their excitement when another idea pops into their heads while they're working or playing! Those minds are constantly working! This week in Hebrew/Jewish Studies, we have been in Israel. On Monday, we boarded our El Al flight and we have been "on the go" since. Tuesday, we visited Tel Aviv. Wednesday we floated in the Dead Sea. Thursday, we visited the Negev (desert area) and Friday, we learned all about the Kibbutz and created our own model of a Kibbutz. We are keeping a journal so when we return home you will be able to read about all of the highlights of the trip. We will be spending one more week in Israel - seeing, enjoying and writing about all of the sights! Shabbat Shalom! This promises to be a very exciting week in Kindergarten! We are beginning our farm unit, and we will be celebrating the arrival of one dozen fertilized eggs to put in the incubator in our classroom. We hope to have some chicks twenty-one days from the time the eggs are placed in the incubator. The children will be making a book to record the growth of the fertilized eggs before they hatch.
The letter Y will be our focus this week, and the children will be doing many projects to reinforce this letter sound. They will continue to work on number combinations for 10 and other math concepts such as story math. As always, the children will continue to work daily on their reading and writing skills. In Hebrew, we will be finishing up the letter resh and visiting Eretz Yisrael! Benny came to kindergarten and kicked up his heels this week! The children were delighted that he came all the way from Kansas to visit them, and when they heard his song, they learned that it's okay to kick a can and kick a ball, but it's never okay to kick a living thing! They kicked up a storm and danced to his song (see picture), and believe me, the Rockettes in NYC couldn't hold a candle to these kids! We brainstormed words that begin with K and practiced writing it in upper and lower case form as well.
In science, we discussed kangaroos and koalas, and the children enjoyed learning how tiny these baby animals are and how they crawl into their mom's pouches. They learned that koalas are not bears but marsupials, animals with a pouch. They also looked at the map and found where the kangaroos and the koalas make their home. They also heard that kangaroos are grazers and koalas eat eucalyptus leaves for food and the water they provide. As we finish up our unit on dinosaurs, the children found possible fossils in the sand table (!), which they are still digging out and assembling. The Ollie Octopus Books have been completed and sent home. Please have your child read it to you if you haven't already. They worked very hard illustrating and reading these books all week. In math, the children are working on combinations of 10 and using hands-on projects to reinforce the concepts of addition and subtraction. They are also practicing writing numbers and enjoy playing the game "Roll the Dice" as they do this. They also brainstormed things that come in 2's, like twins, shoes, and bicycle wheels. The weather has been beautiful this week, and the children have loved being able to play outside every day. However, it is easy to get sunburned in a very short time. I suggest that you put sunblock in your child's backpack so that they can apply it before we go outside. I will help them if they are unable to do it by themselves. We have also been practicing for the Kindergarten Breakfast on June 16th. Hope to see you all there! In Hebrew, the children are learning the letter "Raysh". They created projects for "Ramzor" - (traffic light) and "Rakevet" (train). We also have been doing projects to review all of the letters that we have learned thus far. We have been practicing a Hebrew story that we will be telling at the Kindergarten Breakfast. We have also been practicing T'filah every time that we meet, getting ready for our Kindergarten breakfast. Thursday morning, the school celebrated Lag Ba'Omer. The class learned the story about Rabbi Shimon Bar Yocahai and we created a project about the holiday. We celebrated together as a school, ending with a sing-off! Everyone had so much fun! Next week, is one of the highlights of the year! We will be going on a "real" pretend" transatlantic trip to Eretz Yisrael. We have packed our suitcases, the tickets are ready and passports have been created. We will be keeping a journal of the trip and will do many wonderful projects as we tour our homeland. Please watch for postcards from each destination. Our El Al flight takes off next Monday afternoon and we promise to keep in touch! If you have any pictures of Israel from a trip you have taken, or perhaps artifacts, books, etc. that we can display in our Israel Museum, please mark the items with your name and send them in with your child. Shabbat Shalom! Benny had a long flight this week! The children figured out that he had come all the way from Oregon to visit our kindergarten and teach the children about the letter O! They also decided that Benny had made a good choice taking the red eye, because driving or taking the bus would have taken way too long. As always, we brainstormed words in different categories that begin with the letter O and did many projects and activities to reinforce the long and short sound of the letter. The children are making a new book called The Ollie Octopus Book. As they illustrate each page, they read it to me and as a class. These books will go home next week
In science, we discussed owls and their many interesting characteristics and habits. The children made owl puppets and wrote some facts on the back of the puppet to help them remember the information they heard. They also listened to a book about opposites and made their own book with a few examples as well. We had discussions about the Cretaceous Period and compared this to the other two Periods they had already studied. They found out that the dinosaurs had gotten bigger and more fierce. To their delight, they finally got to see the appearance of T-Rex! They completed a background of the Cretaceous Period and included flowering plants, lush vegetation, and the new dinosaurs. In math, the children have been exploring each number from one to nine through a variety of activities, discovering the possible arrangements and combinations for each number. These experiences help each child gain an understanding of quantities. As you may have noticed from the papers coming home, we have been working on the concept of addition and the use of mathematical symbols to describe this process. We will continue in the weeks ahead to explore the number combinations up to ten and to break these numbers down into their component parts. We will also continue to explore the concept of subtraction and will work on learning to solve simple word problems. We will also be practicing counting up and back, and doing mental math challenges. As promised, I'd like to give you a little more information about our field trip and the kindergarten breakfast. On May 29th, we will be leaving school at 9:15 and taking a school bus to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The children will have snack when we arrive at the museum. We will leave the museum at 11:45 and be back at school by approximately12:30-12:45 in time for lunch. If your child has a school lunch, rest assured it will be waiting for them. As much as I'd like to invite you all to come, we are allowed two chaperones for a group this size, and Morah Beth will be coming as well. I will give you more detailed instructions about snack as we get closer to the date. The Kindergarten Breakfast on June 16 will begin at 8:15. There will be performances and announcements followed by breakfast. The entire program will most likely conclude by 9:15 at which time the children will go back to class. In Hebrew, Bentzi (the class turtle) came to visit us to start the letter "Lamed". The students learned how to write the letter "Lamed" and they learned "Lamed" vocabulary words. The vocabulary words this week were "Laytzun (clown)" ,"Lamah (Llama)", and "Limon (lemon)". We are almost finished creating our Siddurim (prayer books) that include all of the prayers that we do in class. By next week, we will be using them when we pray. The students have been preparing for our upcoming imaginary trip to Eretz Yisrael. We created Passports, maps (to keep track of where we go on our trip) and journals (to write about our trip). I will send out more details about the trip when we get closer to the date of departure. The class is already getting so excited! Shabbat Shalom! This week will be another busy week in kindergarten. The children are learning another vowel, the letter o, in its long and short sound. They will be making another short o book called The Ollie Octopus Book which they will illustrate and read every day. They will also be practicing short o word families. By midweek we will begin to practice the long o sound.
In science we will be discussing owls and making a project that the children can take home and use for playtime. Our dinosaur unit is just about done, and the children will be working on the Cretaceous period dinosaurs for the rest of the week. As always, they will be reading, writing, and working on many different math concepts. In Hebrew, we will finish up the letter "Mem" and begin learning the sounds and vocabulary words of the letter "Lamed". The class will continue to work on their Siddurim (Prayer books) that include all of the prayers that we learned this year. At the end of the week, we will discuss our upcoming imaginary trip to Eretz Yisrael. We will create passports for the trip. |
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