Etzim Shabbat

Sustaining Connections with Our Families

At TBSCC we prioritize family-school connections. In the Etzim class, one way that children were encouraged to bring their family lives into the life of the classroom is through the family apples they created last week. Each child filled an apple with all of the members of their immediate family. Hung at child level in the wall, these creations have been attracting a lot of attention.

"Dad! That's my dad!" said Jacob, heading over to the board. Josh quickly joined him, asking questions about Jacob's apple and then reviewing his own. Soon a small group gathered around, examining all of the families, discussing each one, and explaining their own. Be sure to ask your child to give you a tour of the family apples the next time you are in the classroom.

What is Tashlich?

On Monday, the Kohavim children read the story, Tashlich at Turtle Rock by Susan Schur. In the story, a child leads her family on a hike through the woods in order to perform taslich, the ritual of throwing crumbs into flowing water which represents casting aways mistakes from the past year. As the family walks they remember good things, discard some mistakes, and make a promise for the coming year.
              
Make your own slide show at Animoto.


On Tuesday, we decided to have our own tashlich ceremony by going out into the "woods" outside our classroom. First, we each looked for a stone and thought of something we wanted to remember from the past year. We painted the rocks to represent are memories:
    Lily: I went to my dance recital even though I was scared.
    Rachel: I learned how to ride my bike with only one wheel in front and one in back.
    Dylan: One time my mom hugged me because I did something right.
    Max Goldberg: I wanted daddy to give me tuck, tuck and he did.
    Eliza: When my brother put a helmet on me.
    Ezra: When my brother gave me a starship.
    Ryan: I found the biggest slug in the world.
    Molly: I remember making cards for Lauri
    Eli: Lauri wasn't feeling well. I am going to make a card.
    Zack: Mommy helped tie my shoes.
    Max Greenstein: I asked daddy if I can ride my bike and my brother put a helmet on me.
    Noah: That I got a new bike and learned how to ride it.
    Hannah: When my sister was sad I helped her by being funny.
    Jacob: I went to the party store.
    Brett: When I went with my family to get pumpkins.

Next, we worked together to build a stream! Some children dug the channel where we would pour the water, while others collected large stones to line the edges of our stream. Once the stream was constructed, some children add branches to be bridges and we poured the water! We each tossed a piece of bread into the water and washed away our mistakes. We then talked about what we were hoping for in the upcoming year.

What do you want to remember from the past year? What would you "toss away" in a taslich ceremony?

What are the Lulav & Etrog?

Important ritual objects used during Sukkot are the:
Lulav (pronounced loo-love) and
Etrog  (pronounced et-rog).

The lulav is actually made up of four different parts: a palm branch, a myrtle branch, a willow branch and a woven palm handle that keeps them all together. Lulavim (plural of lulav) are grown, prepared and shipped throughout the world from Israel, arriving fresh just in time for the holiday’s
celebration.

An important tradition and mitzvah is to say a special blessing and shake the lulav in six directions—north, south, east, west and up and down—to symbolize that God is everywhere. While doing this, we hold the lulav in our two hands along with an etrog. An etrog is a citrus fruit that looks like a big bumpy lemon and has a sweet fragrance.

Each of our classrooms is sharing a lulav and etrog from Israel with another classroom. Get ready to see us shake them!

Adapted from the Union for Reform Judaism's Holiday Happenings.

The Etzim Shakers

Do the Lulav Shake

Sukkot is a harvest holiday
The celebration lasts for seven days
We build our sukkah
Then we decorate
A special booth in which we congregate. 

Do the lulav shake (shake, shake, shake) (3x)
Do the lulav shake.

The symbols of sukkot are quite unique
They show God's presence the entire week.
The etrog's smell it gets into the air
We wave the lulav everywhere.

Do the lulav shake........

Hadas and aravah on either side
Surround the lulav that we shake with pride.
To north, the south, the west and to the east
We celebrate and then we feast.

Do the lulav shake........

Music and lyrics by Steve Dropkin 
Recording by Judy Caplan Ginsburgh

Shake, Shake, Shake!

The Tel Aviv class had a turn to shake the lulav, both indoors and out. Many children tried it and others decided to wait until next time, but everyone will get a chance (and many chances if they'd like) to thank God and celebrate Sukkot in this very special way.

Sukkah Building

Today in the Shamayim class we were very busy building a class sukkah with white tubes and individual sukkahs with sponges.  The class room sukkah took a lot of cooperation from our Shamayim friends.  Next week we will continue to work on our sukkah with decorations.  Make sure to stop by to take a look. 

Shaking the Lulav and Etrog

Ellen brought us a strange looking lemon and tree branch today for us to look at.  But when we got closer to them we noticed that it was not a tree branch and it was not a lemon after all, but an etrog and lulav that we use for the holiday of Sukkot.  Grayden enjoyed shaking the lulav and smelling the etrog, which according to Josh smells just like a lemon.

Learning to Shake the Lulav

Our lulav and etrogs arrived today from Israel! We talked about how they came on an airplane. The etrog was packaged in a soft little bed for the long journey. We unpacked all the parts, put them together and our lulav and etrog were ready to shake.

Max demonstrates how to do it. Hold your lulav and etrog (watch out, they are heavy!) and stand facing east. Then you have to remember all six directions, shaking it 3 times in each one:

1. In front
2. To the right
3. Behind
4. To the left
5. Up above towards the sky
6. Down towards the ground

Shaking the lulav is a mitzvah, a commandment, of Sukkot that all of the children at TBSCC will have a chance to complete this week and next. If you want to have a go, stop by and borrow our lulav for a shake of your own. Your child will show you what to do.

Learning to Shake the Lulav

Our lulav and etrogs arrived today from Israel! We talked about how they came on an airplane. The etrog was packaged in a soft little bed for the long journey. We unpacked all the parts, put them together and our lulav and etrog were ready to shake.

Max demonstrates how to do it. Hold your lulav and etrog (watch out, they are heavy!) and stand facing east. Then you have to remember all six directions, shaking it 3 times in each one:

1. In front
2. To the right
3. Behind
4. To the left
5. Up above towards the sky
6. Down towards the ground

Shaking the lulav is a mitzvah, a commandment, of Sukkot that all of the children at TBSCC will have a chance to complete this week and next. If you want to have a go, stop by and borrow our lulav for a shake of your own. Your child will show you what to do.

Sibling Love

 One of the aspects of TBSCC that I especially love is the flexibility and support children have for encounters with their siblings during the school day. When Julia entered the playground this afternoon, she spotted Ryan right away and made a beeline to his spot on the climbing structure. It was clear to all who observed this that she was on a mission. "Ry Ry!" she called. Ryan turned, and with a big smile on his face, greeted his sister with a big hug.

Learning to Shake the Lulav

Our lulav and etrogs arrived today from Israel! We talked about how they came on an airplane. The etrog was packaged in a soft little bed for the long journey. We unpacked all the parts, put them together and our lulav and etrog were ready to shake.

Max demonstrates how to do it. Hold your lulav and etrog (watch out, they are heavy!) and stand facing east. Then you have to remember all six directions, shaking it 3 times in each one:

1. In front
2. To the right
3. Behind
4. To the left
5. Up above towards the sky
6. Down towards the ground

Shaking the lulav is a mitzvah, a commandment, of Sukkot that all of the children at TBSCC will have a chance to complete this week and next. If you want to have a go, stop by and borrow our lulav for a shake of your own. Your child will show you what to do.

Taking Turns

 

There are lots of different ways to play this Snail's Pace Race game. In the version Micah Gladstone, Micah Rosin, Noah, and Zachary and I played today, each of us chose a different colored snail. We took turns rolling the color die and if the color matched your snail, you got to move it along one space closer to the finish line. Simple board games like this one allow a small group of children can manage their own process, reminding each other of the rules, helping each other remember to take turns, and encouraging each other. Board games can foster the ability to focus and as you can see, this small group was quite focused as we played the game over and over again.

The Jonah Show

Reed invited me into the Etzim class today saying, "Ellen you are coming to our class today!" Not wanting to disappoint, I arrived with my whale. Some of the children knew the story from yesterday's Yom Kippur Young Children's Family Service and were excited for a replay. Others caught on right away, reciting the rhyme and using their puppets to help tell the story. Laura even got in on the action in the role of Jonah. This is a story perfect for retelling. Don't miss the video of a retelling in the Kohavim class and the words to the story so you can try it at home.

A Fall Walk...

Everyone enjoyed exploring and taking new risks in the woods, just beyond the TBSCC parking lot!  The children climbed on branches, turned over soil and rocks, in search of insects.  They collected sticks, rocks and a log to bring back to our classroom.  What a day!  We all can't wait for our next adventure out to the TBSCC woods!

How does writing emerge in young children?

Writing emerges in young children in predictable stages.  During the initial scribbling stage, children make global approximations of writing.  Next, in the linear/repetitive drawing stage, they refine their scribbles to appear more cursive.  Writing at this level often looks like scallops or waves.  This stage is followed by closer approximations of letters in the letterlike forms stage.  Next, during the stage of letters and early word-symbol relationships, children actually print letters but may use a single letter to represent an entire word.  Phonetic awareness becomes apparent in the following stage,  inventive spelling,  as children begin to write the sounds they hear.  Finally, children progress to the stage of standard spelling.

Children are excited about writing, especially when it serves a purpose, such as advancing their play or preserving important information.  Parents and teachers can capitalize on this natural interest in writing by designing specific materials to incorporate into play activities or planning to highlight the writing process.

During peace-out time in Lunch Bunch we provide journals for each child.   Most children seem to like the idea of having their own journal and it is another way to cultivate an enjoyment of writing.

Today Micah Rosin was so excited to write letters in his journal.  Micah shouted out, "Lauri, I can't wait to tell my Mom that I made lots of  "M's" in my Journal!"   He went on to say with volume," I can make an "E" ...do you want to see?"  " I can make all the letters in my brother's name!"   Micah's excitement about writing was just wonderful to behold!  

We will continue to provide Micah and his all his classmates with materials for explorations in writing!

Adam's Visit with Chester!

Adam's visit with Chester was fantastic!  They did it all!  Adam took Chester to the Fresh Beat Band at the "Life is Good Festival", they saw Josh and the Jam Tunes, spent time with family and friends during Yom Kippur, and last but not least Chester had a play date with Mia's Chester that she adopted when she was in the Tel Aviv classroom two years ago.

Tomorrow Chester will be going home with Micah Rosin.   Micah is really looking forward to spending time with you Chester!  Micah we can't wait to hear about your adventures with our friend Chester the Raccoon!   

Shaking the Lulav & Etrog

 

Not only is shaking the lulav one of the mitzvot (commandments) of Sukkot, it is tricky to do and lots of fun. The palm branches are quite tall and fairly heavy and with the etrog (the yellow citrus fruit) in the other hand the shaking requires both coordination and concentration. You can see from our faces and bodies how hard we tried.
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haolam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu al n'tilat lulav. 
Our praise to You, Eternal our God, Sovereign of all, whose mitzvot teaches us holiness and who instructs us to take up the lulav.

Thank you God for letting us shake the lulav.

Haifa Lunch Bunch

 

 

 We are having a wonderful time during our Haifa Lunch Bunch.  Last week we decided what type of stickers we wanted to decorate our lunch placemats.  Today we carefully arranged them, drew some pictures, and dictated stories to create our own lunch bunch placemats!  We'll use fewer paper towels, and we can read our stories during lunch!

Rohan "Makes Oatmeal" with Etzim

w

 

 

We love a day with Rohan!  When Rohan is not needed elsewhere she sometimes spends the day with us.  As you can see, she is a very welcome guest in our classroom.  We especially enjoy learning new songs in Hebrew from Rohan.  Check out Ellen's earlier post for the words to Grandma Makes Oatmeal or Savta Bishla Daisa.

Taking Care

In the Levana class, we are learning many different things everyday that you can read about in this blog.  We learn how to celebrate Jewish holidays, how to share, how to adjust to a classroom routine, and how to get along with others.  Embedded in our curriculum, too, is our desire to instill Jewish values into everything we teach in our classroom and share with the children.

One of the most important aspects of our daily routine, is to take care of ourselves and our classroom as we transition from activity to activity.  There are learning moments in each transition, one of which is cleaning up our classroom space to get ready for whatever is coming next.  Our students learn the Jewish values of "Shmirat HaGuf" taking care of ourselves and "Shmirat HaTeva" taking care of our environment, as they learn to put toys away, wash their hands, or clean our tables to get ready for snack.

Ellen puts kitchen items away as we get ready for circle.

Samantha S. puts the books she was reading back into the book basket.

Lindsey, Samantha L., and Harold wipe the table before snack.

Hayley puts the game away when she's finished playing.

Sukkot preparation and other activities in Levana!

Today in the Levana classroom, we started to prepare for the upcoming holiday of Sukkot. Piper, Hillary, Abby, Hayley and Ellen all worked very hard painting our Sukkah. It's always fun to paint a giant box! The children will soon collect items from nature to glue onto the top of the Sukkah.
Today we also had some matching games to choose from "Goodnight Moon" and "Baby Animal Lotto" the children love to find the pictures on their boards and say "Me!" when they have a match.

Of course, free play was going on all throughout our busy morning. Avi and Nicolas read together on the couch, and Samantha prepared food for her baby in the kitchen area. We will continue painting tomorrow for those children who haven't had a chance yet!

Two Fisted Fun

Ethan started his day off with gusto and hot pink paint.  The children are entering the classroom more easily as they get used to the school routine.  Ethan and his brother, Harrison, were dropped off and walked down to the classroom with Rohan.  After storing their jackets and backpacks, they were off to start their day.

Circle Time Fun

We got on our feet during circle time today.  Everyone joined in today as we pretended to be apple trees.  We shook the trees until the apples fell, "Mmm Mmm they were good!"

Jonah & the Whale

adapted from the picture book Jonah and the Whale (and the Worm) by Jean Marzollo

A long, long time ago, God needed a prophet. A prophet is someone who helps God teach people how to behave. So God chose Jonah! "Jonah, you will be my prophet!" One day there was a big problem in Nineveh, the royal city. The Ninevites had captured the lands of many people. The Ninevites were doing bad things.

So God called Jonah:
1-2-3-4 Jonah listen a little more
5-6-7-8 Jonah help me, don't be late

God needed Jonah's help. "Go to Ninevah. Warn the Ninevites that if they didn't stop doing bad things, their city will be destroyed." Jonah said, "Ninevah? I don't want to go to Ninevah. It's too far. It's to much work. It's too dangerous. I don't care what you say. I WON'T go! Can't you just do it?"

And God said again:
 1-2-3-4 Jonah listen a little more
5-6-7-8 Jonah help me, don't be late

But Jonah was scared. So Jonah tried to run away from God. "I'm going to get on a boat and sail away in the opposite direction!" Jonah got on the boat and fell fast asleep. He was trying not to think about the fact that he had disobeyed God.

The boat set sail. God sent a mighty wind over the sea. The terrified sailors threw cargo overboard to lighten their load, but it didn't help. The storm went on. So the sailors prayed, but that didn't help either. The storm went on. Finally the captain woke up Jonah. "Jonah, there is a terrible storm. How can we stop it?" he asked. Jonah replied, "I'm a prophet who ran away from God. God sent a storm to punish me! If you want to be saved throw me overboard." The captain didn't want to throw Jonah overboard, so he told the crew to row harder. The storm only got worse. Finally, praying for forgiveness, the sailors threw Jonah into the sea. "Goodbye Jonah! Good luck!"

As soon as Jonah hit the water, the wind stopped and the sea flattened. The sailors were relived, but Jonah was terrified! Seaweed wrapped around him as he sank down, down, down. "O God, please help me!" he prayed. God sent an enormous whale to swallow Jonah up so he would be safe.

Splat! Jonah bumped into a soft, wet wall. He was alive! Jonah opened his eyes. "Where am I? Inside a cave?" he asked. He looked around. He was inside a whale! Jonah was so thankful that he was alive that he began to pray. For three days and nights Jonah prayed. "Thank you God for saving me from drowning. Please help me. I promise I will do what you want. I will go to Ninevah." God heard Jonah's prayers and God wanted to give Jonah another chance.

God said to Jonah:
 1-2-3-4 Jonah listen a little more
5-6-7-8 Jonah help me, don't be late

 "I will help you God!" said Jonah. So God spoke to the whale and asked that whale to spit Jonah out. With a tremendous flick of its tail, the whale then leaped up and coughed Jonah into shallow waters. Woosh! Splash! Jonah dried himself off.

And he heard God again:
1-2-3-4 Jonah listen a little more
5-6-7-8 Jonah help me, don't be late

So Jonah started walking across the desert to Ninevah. He walked for days. Even though he didn't want to go, he wanted to do the right thing. He wanted to help God. "I am going to teach the Ninevites how to do good things," he said. And even though he didn't like the Ninevites, he continued on. Finally, he reached the royal city of Ninevah. All of the people came to hear him. "I am Jonah the prophet," he said. "I have a message for you from God. You have forty days to stop doing bad things and start doing good things. If you don't behave, God will destroy your city!" And the people listened. They stopped doing bad things. They started doing good things. Jonah helped God teach the people how to be kind, and to love each other, and to help others. And finally, the whole city was good. God saved the city.

And that's the end for now, although if you are interested in more, I recommend the following children's books:

 Jonah and the Whale (And the Worm)
Oh No, Jonah! 
Jonah and the Two Great Fish
Jonah's Whale

Sukkot is a Time for Tzedakah

During Sukkot, we are encouraged to also invite those in need into our sukkah to remind us that we have a duty to help those less fortunate than we are. This tradition provides a great opportunity for activities to reinforce our obligation to help feed the poor.


Try these ideas:
• Use a cardboard box to create a small sukkah at home to provide a space to collect nonperishable foodstuffs to donate to your local food bank or other shelter.

• Make a sukkah tzedakah bank by decorating a small box or berry crate like a sukkah and collect money to buy food for the poor. When it is full, either present it to the food bank or plan a trip to the grocery store to purchase a meal for a needy family or ingredients for our Rosie's Place casseroles.

From the Union for Reform Judaism's Holiday Happenings.

Tickle Me!

Rohan is teaching us an Israeli tickle game called Savta Bishla Daisa, Grandma Cooked Oatmeal.  

Savta Bishla Daisa
Savta bishla daisa
Natna laze,
Natna laze,
Natna laze
 Ve natna laze!

Tickle Me!

Rohan is teaching us an Israeli tickle game called Savta Bishla Daisa, Grandma Cooked Oatmeal.  

Savta Bishla Daisa
Savta bishla daisa
Natna laze,
Natna laze,
Natna laze
 Ve natna laze!

Tickle Me!

Rohan is teaching us an Israeli tickle game called Savta Bishla Daisa, Grandma Cooked Oatmeal.  

Savta Bishla Daisa
Savta bishla daisa
Natna laze,
Natna laze,
Natna laze
 Ve natna laze!

Using our whole body to draw!

Drawing at the easel takes a lot of skill, you have to stand and reach your arm up and down in order to create your design. Often times drawing at the easel and at the art table are lumped together of both being fine motor activities but Adam shows us here how easel painting can be a whole body experience as he reaches up high to get the tippy top of his paper filled in. I love seeing how he lifts his back leg up to keep balance. Nicely done Adam!

The Tel-Aviv Tuna Factory!

This week in the Tel Aviv class we have been talking a lot about ways to be nice people. So we decided what a good week to make a tuna casserole for Rosie’s Place!? The Tel Aviv kids loved watching the pasta boil and enjoyed being part of each step of the casserole making process. We learned how to use a can opener and then Noah, Elias and Josie each took turns opening our three cans of tuna. We use plastic knives to cut the butter and quickly Micha Rosen learned that even if the butter is stuck to your knife, if you dip the knife in the pasta then the butter will melt off!! Elias thought the tuna would melt in the hot pasta as well, but after a bit he realized that we needed to stir the tuna around so that it would be even-it wouldn’t just melt evenly. Lily did a great job pouring all the cheese on and we were able to watch the cheese melt as well. Who knew the cooking could lead to such  great scientific  discovery!

 After our dish was made we carried it up to the kitchen so we could freeze it until next pick-up. 

Great work Tel Aviv friends! What a great way to start the year!

Happy Birthday to.....Bugs?!

Molly and Charlotte created a birthday cake out of mud! I thought it might be for me but no...it was for the bugs! They even sang the bugs "Happy Birthday!" Check it out!

Happy Birthday to.....Bugs?!

Molly and Charlotte created a birthday cake out of mud! I thought it might be for me but no...it was for the bugs! They even sang the bugs "Happy Birthday!" Check it out!

Happy Birthday to.....Bugs?!

Molly and Charlotte created a birthday cake out of mud! I thought it might be for me but no...it was for the bugs! They even sang the bugs "Happy Birthday!" Check it out!

Clean-Up Helpers!

Yesterday we noticed that apples in our sensory table were going to be soft soon and that it was time to throw them away. Molly and Charlotte filled up the bowls with apples and then brought them across the room to the trashcan and poured the all the apples from the bowls into the trashcan. It was such a big help and it was great that the girls worked together to gather the apples and to try to figure out what was the best way to reach up high into the trashcan to throw them out. Nice work ladies! We knew we could depend on you to be awesome clean up helpers!

It's a new week!

This past Monday, the Tel Aviv friends got the opportunity to experience the first Havdalah of the year. We walked down to the community room and were soon met by Ellen and the Etzim and Shamayim classes! We listened to some familiar music and followed along with the service sheets to know what prayers were coming next! Zach and Elias were great helpers and held the candles up high for all to see! We can’t wait to continue this tradition as the year goes on, together we will experience and learn about this beautiful tradition of Havdalah.

getting by with a little help from our friends

It has been a pleasure to watch the shamayim children become aware of and care for their new friends in our classroom.

On Monday, during our playdough time, Max was using two knives.  Ilan said, outloud but not to anyone in particular, "I want a blue knife".  Max got out of his seat and walked all the way over to Ilan and handed him one of the knives that he was using.  Recognizing the needs of others is an important skill to have!  Great job, Max!!

At the end of the day, Bennett realized that a hat to his Lego guy was missing.  He was extremely upset about this and, although we searched everywhere (or so we thought), we could not find it.  The children were scanning the room and suddenly Sonia moved quickly to the rug which was where Bennett said he had been playing.  She quickly dropped to her knees and retrieved the TINY red hat from underneath the radiator.  We could not believed she spotted something so small and so tucked away.  Bennett was quite happy to have found the cap and the pride in Sonia's face as she saw how her actions impacted her friend was amazing.  Kindness counts!!