Writing this blog is often an eye-opener for me. As I tell about the weekly happenings in Kindergarten, I am amazed at how much goes on here in only one week, and this week is a perfect example.
The children learned about the letter L. Benny came all the way from Louisiana, but the flight was too long and he was feeling a little lazy lately. We had to wake him up to find out about his trip and how he got home. The children brainstormed words in different categories that begin with L. They also practiced writing the letter in its upper and lower case form. Many projects and activities were done which reinforce the letter.
We continue to discuss dinosaurs in general as well as those of the Jurassic period. The children do math, writing, and science activities in keeping with the dinosaur theme.
In science we are discussing light in relation to energy, and the children enjoyed doing their homework assignment with their families. On Wednesday, we focused on Earth Day, and we read books, did a project, and discussed ways to help our environment. The children realized that bringing a spoon or container from home is better than taking a new plastic utensil every day. They understand that every day should be Earth Day, but it does serve as a reminder to do things that we may have forgotten about, such as not leaving the water running while brushing our teeth. We also went to the school STEM Expo in the MPR to see the science projects done by the upper school. The children got to see how poised and confident their buddies and friends have become and how they presented their projects so proudly! I, as one of their former teachers, was amazed at their accomplishments.
The children brainstormed ideas in math of how one can be more than one. They came up with fascinating ideas, such as one alphabet has lots of letters and one pair of shoes has two shoes. They each illustrated their idea, and these papers will go in a class book. They are also looking at and discussing three dimensional shapes such as a cube. They will be practicing drawing these and other 3-D shapes as well. They continue to work on measurement and weight, using dinosaurs and other objects in the classroom.
We started Wednesday and Thursday mornings with a memorial service and then a celebration of Yom Ha'Zikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut. More of this in the Hebrew/Jewish studies section below.
The children were introduced to a new artist, Leonardo da Vinci. They heard about his life and enjoyed the presentation about his many interests and areas of experimentation. We looked at his paintings and drawings, focusing on his portraits and technique. They saw a replica of Mona Lisa as well as a photograph of the real portrait that I took in Paris. I explained how a portrait is painted, and then I painted one of the students in da Vinci style. Now the children are in the process of painting each other's portraits which will be displayed on the bulletin board above their cubbies as well as on the walls of the MPR at the kindergarten breakfast the last week of school.
There are two important dates to mark on your calendar. The first is the kindergarten trip to the Museum of Fine Arts on the morning of Friday, May 29th. The second is the Kindergarten Breakfast on Tuesday, June 16th. There will be more information in the coming weeks.
In Hebrew, we continued the letter "Mem" and "Mem Sofit", and the children were learning several vocabulary words and making projects for the letter. We will complete this letter at the beginning of next week. We have only 7 more letters to learn before finishing the entire Aleph Bet.
In T'filah, the students continued to work on making their own Siddur. We added pages for the prayer for washing of the hands and also the "Modeh Ani" (thanking G-d for giving us another day). The Kindergarten students are becoming experts!
We celebrated two holidays this week. On Wednesday, we celebrated Israel's Memorial Day (Yom Ha'Zikaron) at a school celebration. It was very moving for all of the students. The Kindergarten students were so attentive and respectful at the school wide memorial service, and I was so proud of them. As a class, we discussed how important it is to remember those who fought to protect the citizens of Israel, which is our country too.
On Thursday, we celebrated Israel's Independence Day (Yom Ha'Atzmaut). To celebrate, we had a morning program of celebration (including Israeli music and dancing). In class, we talked about how Yom Ha'Zikaron and Yom Ha'Atzmaut are back-to-back for a reason. We have to remember never to take anything for granted and without those who fought for Israel, there would be no State of Israel at all. Yom Ha'Zikaron fills our Yom Ha'Atzmaut with meaning.
Shabbat Shalom!
The children learned about the letter L. Benny came all the way from Louisiana, but the flight was too long and he was feeling a little lazy lately. We had to wake him up to find out about his trip and how he got home. The children brainstormed words in different categories that begin with L. They also practiced writing the letter in its upper and lower case form. Many projects and activities were done which reinforce the letter.
We continue to discuss dinosaurs in general as well as those of the Jurassic period. The children do math, writing, and science activities in keeping with the dinosaur theme.
In science we are discussing light in relation to energy, and the children enjoyed doing their homework assignment with their families. On Wednesday, we focused on Earth Day, and we read books, did a project, and discussed ways to help our environment. The children realized that bringing a spoon or container from home is better than taking a new plastic utensil every day. They understand that every day should be Earth Day, but it does serve as a reminder to do things that we may have forgotten about, such as not leaving the water running while brushing our teeth. We also went to the school STEM Expo in the MPR to see the science projects done by the upper school. The children got to see how poised and confident their buddies and friends have become and how they presented their projects so proudly! I, as one of their former teachers, was amazed at their accomplishments.
The children brainstormed ideas in math of how one can be more than one. They came up with fascinating ideas, such as one alphabet has lots of letters and one pair of shoes has two shoes. They each illustrated their idea, and these papers will go in a class book. They are also looking at and discussing three dimensional shapes such as a cube. They will be practicing drawing these and other 3-D shapes as well. They continue to work on measurement and weight, using dinosaurs and other objects in the classroom.
We started Wednesday and Thursday mornings with a memorial service and then a celebration of Yom Ha'Zikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut. More of this in the Hebrew/Jewish studies section below.
The children were introduced to a new artist, Leonardo da Vinci. They heard about his life and enjoyed the presentation about his many interests and areas of experimentation. We looked at his paintings and drawings, focusing on his portraits and technique. They saw a replica of Mona Lisa as well as a photograph of the real portrait that I took in Paris. I explained how a portrait is painted, and then I painted one of the students in da Vinci style. Now the children are in the process of painting each other's portraits which will be displayed on the bulletin board above their cubbies as well as on the walls of the MPR at the kindergarten breakfast the last week of school.
There are two important dates to mark on your calendar. The first is the kindergarten trip to the Museum of Fine Arts on the morning of Friday, May 29th. The second is the Kindergarten Breakfast on Tuesday, June 16th. There will be more information in the coming weeks.
In Hebrew, we continued the letter "Mem" and "Mem Sofit", and the children were learning several vocabulary words and making projects for the letter. We will complete this letter at the beginning of next week. We have only 7 more letters to learn before finishing the entire Aleph Bet.
In T'filah, the students continued to work on making their own Siddur. We added pages for the prayer for washing of the hands and also the "Modeh Ani" (thanking G-d for giving us another day). The Kindergarten students are becoming experts!
We celebrated two holidays this week. On Wednesday, we celebrated Israel's Memorial Day (Yom Ha'Zikaron) at a school celebration. It was very moving for all of the students. The Kindergarten students were so attentive and respectful at the school wide memorial service, and I was so proud of them. As a class, we discussed how important it is to remember those who fought to protect the citizens of Israel, which is our country too.
On Thursday, we celebrated Israel's Independence Day (Yom Ha'Atzmaut). To celebrate, we had a morning program of celebration (including Israeli music and dancing). In class, we talked about how Yom Ha'Zikaron and Yom Ha'Atzmaut are back-to-back for a reason. We have to remember never to take anything for granted and without those who fought for Israel, there would be no State of Israel at all. Yom Ha'Zikaron fills our Yom Ha'Atzmaut with meaning.
Shabbat Shalom!