Animals and pets

Dear Parents, 
     This week we did school collaboration if animals and pets! Some morahs brought in their own pets and Morah D hosted different animals each day. The children had fun and really enjoyed engaging with all the furry friends and critters.  Our friends also enjoyed shopping for books at the book fair.  Here are some highlights of our week.

We started the week with  an animal  sorting game.  In the block Center we made a chart, one side was for pets the other side was for wild animals. We talked about how some animals can live as pets and some animals live in the wild.  We even discovered that some animals can be pets or live in the wild, like fish. So we made a new spot on our chart for those special animals.  One question asked was can seals be pets? Our friend Hammond says, "yes because I have a pool outside in the back yard."  Then we discussed how seals need special ocean water to survive.

Monday was for mammals.  In our class Morah Felicia's pet guniea pig, Trevor, made a visit. First our friends said hello through his cage. Once Trevor got comfortable morah Felicia took him out so our friends could pet and touch him. We practiced using gentle hands.  Our thought he was soft.  We talked about some of the foods guinea pigs eat. We discovered they love fruits and vegetables just like we do! His favorites are spinach and strawberries.  After we held Trevor our friends had the opportunity to draw their own picture of Trevor. Some friends chose to use the magnifying glass to get a closer look.  Then it was off to Morah D's class to meet her dog brownie.

Tuesday was for fish. Our friends investigated goldfish and guppies. They looked different in color and size but they were both fish.

Wednesday was for birds. Our friends got to hold baby chicks and ducklings and sing with Morah D's birdie.  Morah D even put the chicks and ducklings on our heads.  Our friends were so brave and gentle when holding the birds.

We also went shopping at the book fair.  We took turns searching for the perfect book.  Once each child found the one they wanted the children handed their money to Miss Michelle and waited for their change and a bookmark.

Thursday was for reptiles, the special guests were lizards and turtles.  Morah D explained that lizards can lose their tails if they are pulled on and lizards eat bugs like crickets.  In the wild, lizards need to protect themselves by laying very still so that bigger animals leave them alone.  This is called a defense mechanism, so cool!

Friday was for insects.  Morah D brought in hissing cockroaches and horned worms that turn into moths.  Our friends were a little hesitant to see them but warmed up to them after some time.   

We hope you all have a restful Shabbos.  Shabbat Shalom.  Morah Felicia and Morah Kayla

Dear Parents,
Along with introducing some Spring concepts we talked about Community Helpers. What are community helpers? What can we do to be community helpers?  Here are some highlights of our week.

Clay Table
What are our community helpers missing?  Our friends used clay to create their own faces on the community helpers. 

Community Building
We can't have community helpers without a community. In the block Center our friends created  little community using roads, cars, and buildings.

Dramatic Play 
Our friends really enjoyed dressing  up in the Dramatic play center. Early in the week they started off using the the Dr. kit on each other and experimented with all the tools.  They used a stethoscope to listen to heart beats.   By the end of the week our friends created a Dr office with a bed and used the babies as patients.

Literacy

One of the books we read this week was, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar.". The morahs prepared a game to go along with the story.  We created a caterpillar from an empty can and pasted pictures of the fruits and other foods on plastic bottle caps.  Our friends took turns searching for the foods then adding them to the caterpillar as we read the story.  Reading aloud to children in an engaging manner builds emergent literacy and vocabulary. The more a child is read to, the more we condition the child's brain to associate books and print with something that is pleasurable. With this skill we set children up for greater academic success.  

Art

This week our friends used bath lufas and paint to create a cloud painting.  We dipped the lufas in the paint and then created cloud prints on their poster board.  We used cloud pictures for inspiration

 Flower Investigation 
We used magnifying glasses to investigate a variety of flowers and then had the opportunity to draw what we saw and make nature prints on our papers with mallets. As some of our friends studied the flowers up closed they discovered different patterns on the pedals lines on the leaves. They enjoyed smelling the flowers and dissecting the parts of the flower to smash on their papers.

Thanks for another great week.  Have a restful weekend. Shabbat Shalom Morah Felcia and Morah Kayla

Welcome Back!

Dear Parents,

Welcome back families and friends. We hope you all enjoyed your breaks. This week we focused on getting back to our daily routine.

Clay table

At our clay table this week we used rolling pins and alphabet cookie cutters to make letter "cookies" Hana took a ball of clay rolled it flat with a rolling pin then searched through the letters until she spotted the letter "H". She used it to cut the clay and then said, "Look, Morah Felicia, I did it! H for Hana!"  

On Thursday our friends used loose parts to create more open-ended fun. Tzippi took a handful of craft sticks and shaped a piece of clay into a long log and then stuck the sticks on top and said, "I made a challah." Saya took a piece and shaped a pointed mound. She put pom poms all around and stuck rocks and sticks on top and said "I made a dragon house." Mina grouped sticks together on her lump of clay and said, "Look, Morah Felicia, I'm making four ballcanoes."

Block Center

This week Morah Felicia invited some friends to play with animals in the block Center. Morah Felicia asked "How should we play with these animals?" Mina asked for a bandage because her horse had a boo boo. We then turned our block area into a pet hospital, and we all pretended to be veterinarians. Our friends put bandages on all the wounded animals. As Jemma put a bandage on a giraffe she says "He's all better now". Hammond found a buffalo missing a leg, he patched up the leg and said "Hey, I got to stick". Morah Felicia asked "I wonder how this buffalo got hurt?". We played well into clean up time. This provided great opportunities to expand exploring community helpers for the near future.

Scissors

Our friends are improving with their use of scissors. This week we cut scrap paper that we will use later for a project. Cutting assists with bilateral coordination- using both sides of the body while performing a task.

We had a great first week back! Next week we'll start exploring Spring along with community helpers. We hope to see you all at the Open house This Sunday 4/15/18 3pm-5pm.. Shabbat Shalom, Morah Felicia and Morah Kayla