Making costumes

Our dramatic play area was very busy today as the Unicorn children pretended to be on their way to a Purim carnival. We made our own costumes, which included a "headband with a bow" for everyone. We also made Purim masks, but we love glue soooo much that it might be next Purim before they are dry enough to wear!

Together We Can Build Skyscrapers!

One of the guiding principles we continually reflect on in our classroom is "We Help Each Other." As we work with children to help them understand what it means to help each other we begin to see more examples of this in our daily interactions. We then discuss all we can and will accomplish as a class when we work as a team. Micah started building a skyscraper and, with Nathan's enthusiastic help, was able to make it taller than the teachers! This teamwork then spread to include Drew and Max. We talked about all we can do when we help each other - even build skyscrapers! .

Unicorn Dance Party

Unicorn Dance Party

Gross motor time in the Community Room!

Gross motor time in the Community Room was lots of fun! Some of the children used the mats to do forward rolls. A few could independently do a forward roll and others need a teacher to coach and spot them (we helped them tuck their head and roll). The balance beam was very popular and it seemed like most of the Tel Aviv children have had experience walking on a balance beam before. So I challenged the children to walk backwards on the balance beam (toe heal as opposed to walking forward, heal then toe).

The Unicorn children joined us for about 15 minutes and joined in on the fun!

Old Friends...

What a precious sight! Lily and Eli finished their snack, threw out their garbage and made their way over to the pool area. As they walked side by side Lily reached out and to hold Eli's hand. They walked and continued to hold hands, then stopped in front of the basketball hoop. They noticed me smiling at them as I took their picture, Lily looked up at me and said, "We were in the Unicorn class together". Eli chimed in with," Yeah and we are going to be All Stars!" There is nothing like an old friend!

Our Lemonade Stand was a Big Hit!

The Lunch Bunch Lemonade Stand was a big hit! The Scientists, Sunshine/Unicorn, All Star groups all had their part! At our curriculum meeting yesterday the All Stars decided to make a lemonade stand. Today Tel Aviv and Haifa children made fresh lemonade from scratch. The Unicorn/Sunshine friends provided pennies for everyone so they could buy their own cup of lemonade. The money we collected will go directly to Tzadakah. The Scientists were kind enough to organize and run the lemonade stand. (They collected the money and poured the lemonade into cups.)

At peace out time Jesse and Daniel took pleasure in creating a colorful lemonade sign. While we were making the lemonade Aaron started chanting, "Lemonade for sale, fifty cents a cup...Does that sound familiar? Out on the playground we all started chanting, "Lemonade for sale fifty cents a cup!" Making a lemonade stand sure is a lot of fun!

Snap, Crackle, Pop?

Lizzie, Jacob, Eli and Tina joined the All Stars for some afternoon fun! We made Rice Krispies Treats, and Tina taught the children how to roll out and then braid the play dough. Some of us took a walk down to Simon Hall to get some well needed exercise (running, galloping, hopping, swimming and more galloping).

Unicorns Go High-tech

This week the Unicorns used some high-tech ways to communicate with friends around the world. The Unicorns used the Internet program named Skype to have a video chat with Ellen, who is visiting in Israel. All the Unicorns were very excited to see and speak with Ellen in Jerusalem over the computer in our classroom.
Ellen told all the kids about her trip to Israel with her travel companion Flat Stanley. We also found out that she saw Zack and his family, while just walking around the streets of Jerusalem. The kids had so much fun seeing and speaking with Ellen. It is really a small world and with amazing technology like Skype connecting people, it is getting even smaller!
By the way, Skype is free and all you need to speak and see anyone in the world is an Internet connection. It is a great way to connect with friends far away, without any long distance charges! Just go to Skype.com and download the software and have the person you want to speak to do the same. After you set up a free account and choose a Skype user name, your friends can look you up and start a conversation. Have fun!

Good bye to Sukkot

We welcomed our new week- "Shavua Tov" to all of our friends. We said good bye to Shabbat and good bye to our Sukkah we so diligently worked on. Just as we worked on building our sukkah, we worked cooperatively to take it down. One friend said, "We are doing a Mitzvah, we're cleaning!" They have really embraced all aspects of helping each other, from passing juice, pouring water for each other, and working cooperatively to clean up. Making decisions who holds the dust pan, who holds the brush, taking turns. All part of learning to be a good friend to each other.