Chanukah is coming

Dear Parents, 

  This week in the classroom we started introducing the Holiday of Chanukah.   Jewish Holidays give us the opportunity to remember something special Hashem did for us.  Some questions we kept in mind while planning this unit are, "What is Chanukah?" and  "How do you we celebrate Chanukah?"  Some of the activities we did this week were read books, hunt for oil, and play dreidel like the Maccabees. We will be creating an heirloom Menorah that will be sent home next week for you and your family to use for the holiday.  Here are some highlights of the week:

 

As the children entered early in the week we had a table top dedicated to all things Chanukah.  There were pictures of Menorahs, Chanukah books, pretend frying pan, some latkes, gelt, and dreidels and a Menorah with candles. The children were invited to explore everything on the table. Our friends loved taking the candles and putting them into the Menorah, taking turns spinning the dreidel, and flipping latkes.  We spun the dreidel so many times to see if we could land on each letter at least once. This was a great way to introduce and start recognizing more Hebrew letters.

Group discussion 

       Morah Felicia shared the story of Chanukah. We used the felt board to help tell the story. She explained that long, long ago during the the time of the second temple, the holy land was ruled by a mean Greek king named Antiochus and his people. The Greeks treated the Jewish people poorly. They took land from the Jewish people, destroyed the Beit Hamikdash, and made it illegal to study Torah and keep mitzvot, like Shabbat. The Jewish people would learn Torah while hiding away in caves, but when Greek soldiers came by they would quickly take out dreidels to play so they would not get in trouble.  No one could stand up to the Greek authorities until the brave Maccabees came.  They finally drove the Greeks off the land and took back what was theirs.  Being brave means doing something that may not be easy and we may feel a little afraid because it's new or different but we do it anyway. We can all be brave like the Maccabees.  

On Wednesday Morah told us about the miracle of oil.   First, the Maccabees thought the Greeks ruined all of the oil so they searched and found a jar with just enough oil to burn for one night. Because of Hashem's great miracle, the oil burned for eight nights! The Jews cleaned the Beit Hamikdash and began to serve Hashem again. On Chanukah we celebrate the joy that light brings when overcoming darkness by playing fun games like dreidels, singing songs, and eating yummy food. After reading the story, on Friday, our friends were invited to be like the Maccabees and search for the little tiny bit of oil in the classroom. Morah gathered the children in a spot of the room and they were encouraged to cover their eyes while the oil was being hidden. Then when the oil was hidden our friends got up and searched for the oil.

Art

This week our friends used paint and Chanukah stamps to create a painting collage that will be made into Chanukah cards for their families. The paint we used was so sticky the children enjoyed touching and exploring the texture.

Next week we will continue our Chanukah unit and start our Menorahs.  

Shabbat Shalom, 

Morah Felicia