Shabbat Breakfast !

MATH      The number 0 was the focus of our lesson. We concluded by spotting zeros on a number page. We continue to practice counting objects from 1-20.

SCIENCE    After reading the book, Why Are Animals Yellow (Stewart), we talked about camouflage and how animals protect themselves against prey. When learning about zebras, words like herd, habitat, hooves, grasslands, foal, mane, etc...

SOCIAL STUDIES     Continuing with the book Why Are Animals Yellow, we used the maps at the end of the book that showed what part of the world each animal lives. Individually, each child examined the maps and asked questions.  We spotted Africa on the map when exploring zebras. We talked about the climate and geographical features.

CIRCLE/LANGUAGE   Using Handwriting Without Tears, the letters Y and Z were introduced. Using yellow yarn each child "built" a letter when the sound was given. They are progressing beautifully.  Individually, we worked completed a portfolio page about foods that are yummy and yucky.

ART      We decorated Y's with all things yellow like tissue, yarn, and pom-poms. We served up a plate of egg yolks. A marbled painted zebra was used in our zebra habitat project. Our Shabbat Breakfast costumes were very time consuming but so worthwhile. They thoroughly enjoyed creating their family trees. 

BOOKS/SONGS    "Make A Y", The Yak Who Yelled Yuck (Martin), Go Track a Yak (Johnston), "Zip Zap Zing", What If Zebras Lost Their Stripes (Haines), Zebras (Wilsdon), A Bad Case of Stripes (Shannon)

CELEBRATIONS     A huge thank you goes out to Becky Goldberg (Yael's Grandma) for visiting our classroom and donating Build A Bear sewing cards for our room. She shared her sewing talents with all of us. Thank you all for attending Shabbat Breakfast. To say the least, it is a very special day for all of us and the children were so proud to share their accomplishments.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK      During gym class...."galloping is one of my talents!"

Alligators, Arks, Lions and Lemons!

MATH      We all enjoyed adding with Apple Jacks cereal. This activity was sent home. It was a counting exercise and "slight" introduction to addition. We played the game, "Al the Alligator Always Eats More". This activity was about recognizing more or less.

SCIENCE      When we returned from break, we discovered mold on our bread. The children were amazed at how the mold grew and we compared results from the bread with water to the bread with no water. They were shocked to see that our yam dipped in water actually grew leaves. To demonstrate that air takes up space, we stuffed a napkin in a glass and inverted it into a bowl of water. The children were perplexed as to why the napkin didn't get wet! Now, they think I'm a magician! After making lemonade using lemon, water and sugar, a student exclaimed, "we drank our experiment"! Our conversation was about liquids and solids. We saw how water dissolved a solid (sugar).

SOCIAL STUDIES   After our paper lantern project, we read the book, Paper Lantern (Czernekci). We learned about some Chinese traditions. To conclude, we located China on 2 different maps and the globe.  Our lemonade stand is open for business!  The children were prompted by the book Lemonade Stand (Vaughn) to talk about selling, trading, and "marketing". Martin Luther King was introduced and a story was read to relate his significant impact on our society.
                                                                                                                          

SHABBAT    The story of Noah's ark was discussed in great detail. Please continue to contribute to our mitzvah board by recording their mitzvot that occur at home. Thanks! The book "The Shabbat Box" (Simpson) was read and each child will have a chance to bring our very own class Shabbat Box home with them.

CIRCLE/LANGUAGE       The letters "A" and "L" were introduced using Handwriting Without Tears. Individually, I dictated the letters we have introduced and asked them to write the letter and give their sounds.  The children liked the challenge and  did very well especially since there were no visual cues. Using the book, Is Your Mama a Llama, we continued to practice rhyming. The children responded well to the song,"Go Left, Go Right", which was used to practice oral directions and identifying right and left.

ART       Paper alligators gave us more cutting practice. Ants at our picnic project provided both fine motor and the "A" sound practice. Each child filled their picnic plate with foods that began with the letter "A". Our Noah's ark project is displayed in the hallway.Paper plate lions were a 2-3 day project with plenty of practice using scissors and pincers. We continued practicing with scissors when we cut our paper lanterns. We are beginning to work on our Shabbat breakfast "attire".
 

BOOKS/SONGS   "A Comes First", Alligator Boy (Rylant), Alligator Alphabet (Blackstone),Ants, Ants, Ants! (Sayre), Nobody Laughs at a Lion (Bright),   "The Lazy Lizard", Shabbat Box (Simpson), The Story of Martin Luther King Jr. (Moore),Young Martin Luther King, Jr. (Mattern)

CELEBRATIONS      Our mitten project with the kindergartners was a success. The 4 classes collected 82 pairs of gloves/mittens! We decorated cards with them to accompany all the mittens. Thanks for the donations. Happy Birthday to Daniel, Yael, and Ethan. Thanks for the delicious treats that were enjoyed by all.  Thank you to the P.T.O. for the Schoolhouse Symphony performance. What a treat for all the classes.

REMINDER     *** Preschool Palooza on January 16th from 9:30a.m.-11:30a.m.***Preschool and Kindergarten Preview Night on January 19th from 6:30p.m.- 8 p.m.***  Shabbat Breakfast on Fri. Jan. 28th.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK     After telling a student that
he/she is so smart, the student replied, "that's because I'm eating vegetables and food".