Etzim-Israel Connection

Today Tina came into the Etzim classroom to share her wonderful connection to Israel with our children (please read Tina's blog below!). Tina shared the book she had made of her trip last year, which included photos of some students in Israel. We then traced our hands next to their hand tracings, creating virtual handshakes. Many questions followed such as "Do you think my friend plays in the snow in Israel?". Steve helped us write our Hebrew names which was followed by more discussion. We'll certainly be exploring this topic more thoroughly. Thank you, Tina!

Aleph, Bet, Vet!

Yesterday the Tel Aviv class walked into the community room for gross motor play and found this giant foam puzzle of all the Hebrew letters! They immediately took the puzzle apart and took each Hebrew letter our of the square that it rested in. After they took it apart they let it sit, and then continued to play. However,  we decided that we had to put the puzzle back together before we could leave the community room. I showed them a piece and we talked about each shape is a different Hebrew letter and that the color of the letter is different from the color of the square that it rested in. They were fascinated by the Hebrew! It was incredible! "Which letter is this?" "What's this shape?" Charlotte went on a hunt for a Shin because it is the letter that her name starts with! Micah Rosin got excited when he found the Gimel from the dreidal! So neat! After they put the puzzle together we realized it was the perfect size and shape to make a hop-scotch board!  Such a fun way to clean up and transition from the community room! 
We hope to explore more Hebrew soon!

The Last Unicorn

Most of the Haifa Lunch Bunch children were in the Unicorn class last year. At least once a week someone will ask why the class name was changed to Etzim. Today Ben asked if Etzim means Unicorn in Hebrew. We talked about the the meaning of the names of different classrooms, Etzim (Trees), Levana (moon) and classes named after places in Israel (Tel Aviv, Haifa.) but everyone was still wondering how to say Unicorn in Hebrew. Allison came by and helped us and then Rabbi Todd picked it up from there, leading a conversation with a captivated Haifa lunch bunch. Rabbi Todd told us "The English word unicorn has it's roots in Latin, with "uni" coming from one and "corn" meaning horn.  The Hebrew borrowed the second half from the English and replaced the first half "uni" with the Hebrew word for "one", echad.  The Hebrew word for unicorn is chadkorn.  Just like in English -"one horn."  The children thought about this and, upon Rabbi Todd's departure, used their lunch items to make unicorn horns.  Abby lamented "We were the last Unicorns."  Thanks Rabbi Todd, for some wonderful spontaneous learning!  

Boker Tov, Levana!

During circle time, the children of Levana always sing a special good morning song with their friends. We call it the "Boker Tov" song, which in Hebrew means "Good Morning." This is a nice way of becoming familiar with everyone's name and taking turns. Also, introduces Hebrew language to the classroom. We recently incorporated passing around our soft, stuffed Torah as we sing, to give it a big hug! The song is very catchy and it's great when we hear any of our friends singing it on their free time. The song goes as follows, if you're interested in singing it with your children at home..

Boker Tov Song: sung to the Tune of "If Youre Happy and You Know it.."
"boker tov to (insert name) boker tov.
boker tov to (different name) boker tov.
boker tov to (name), boker tov to (name), boker tov to (name), boker tov!"

Enjoy!

Rohan "Makes Oatmeal" with Etzim

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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.

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!

circle time with Unicorn class today

Today I had the pleasure to lead circle time at the Unicorn classroom.

During circle time, we decided to build a structure from colorful transparent blocks. Each kid was given a block to hold, and on their turn they were asked to put it dwon to a collaborative structure.  While children put down their block, I taught them the names of the different shapes and colors in Hebrew.

The shapes we used are:

Square= Ribua

Triangle= Meshulash

Rectangle= Malben

The colors we used were:

Red=Adom

Blue= Kachol

Green= Yarok

Yellow= Tzahov

Hebrew Colors

From

Click the photo to start the music video.

Hebrew with Rohan!

Rohan stopped into the classroom to teach us some Hebrew today! She started with one of our favorite songs "Sevivon, Sov, Sov, Sov". She taught us that Sevivon means dreidel and Sov, Sov means turn around in Hebrew. Then we pretended we were spinning dreidels as we sang "Sevivon, Sov, Sov, Sov". We sang the song again as we were spinning real dreidels. Everyone picked the color they wanted and started spinning away...Ah-dome (red), Ka-chol(blue), Tzahol(yellow), Segol(purple), Yah-roke(green), Katom(orange). Thanks Rohan we had a lot of fun!

Savta Bishla Daisa

Today the Tel Aviv class got to have an extra special time learning Hebrew with Rohan! Every child in our class sang "Savta Bishla Daisa" and got a chance to be Rohan's special helper and be tickled. We also sang the "Uga Uga Uga." The Tel Aviv class is captivated by Rohan's singing and they has really begun to retain the words and motions from week to week. Thank you Rohan for sharing songs with our class!

Tickle Me

Rohan is teaching us an Israeli tickle game called Savta Bishla Daisa, Grandma Cooked Oatmeal.
Savta bishla daisa
Natna laze, Natna laze, Natna laze 
Ve natna laze
Enjoy!

Tickle Me

Rohan is teaching us an Israeli tickle game called Savta Bishla Daisa, Grandma Cooked Oatmeal.
Savta bishla daisa
Natna laze, Natna laze, Natna laze 
Ve natna laze
Enjoy!

A Day with Rohan!

Today Rohan spent the day in our classroom. We had a wonderful time practicing a song she taught us in Hebrew, Savta Bishla Daisa, which means Grandma Cooked Oatmeal . The song ends in a tickle, which meant everyone wanted a turn! We then made oatmeal for a delicious and filling snack!














We also learned to count to five in Hebrew - echat, shtayim, shalosh, arba, and chamesh!





Did you know Rohan is from Tel Aviv? We're going to get out a map and find it! Thanks Rohan. We had a great day!

Hebrew Vocabulary for Sukkot

Sukkot is coming and we are learning so many new words to help us celebrate this joyous holiday.  Learn them along with us.


From The Jewish Parent Page of the Union for Reform Judaism

Smadar Reads to the Tel Aviv All Stars!

Last week Michele Markley came to visit and let us borrow a few books that are written in Hebrew. We asked Smadar to come in to read a few of the books to us, as we all know Smadar was born in Israel. Last Thursday, Smadar came in and brought a few of her own books in to read. The first book was about a fish that was lost, and was looking for his ee-mah and ah-bah. The second book Smadar read was about a very familiar friend, BIG BIRD! Everyone enjoyed listening to Smadar read in both English and Hebrew.

Smadar- thanks for coming in to read to us! What a treat it was!!!!!!!!

Better Late then Never!

Right after arriving in Israel, some friends noticed that the airplane needed wings, so we made wings for the plane. We had fun finger-painting decorations on the wings and they will be ready for the return flight next week. Today was very sunny in Israel, so we also built a tent for some shade.
We are getting ready to celebrate Israel’s Birthday- you might want to ask your child how old Israel is. We learned a new song about the Israeli flag. The name of the song is: kachol V’ Lavan-Blue and white.
More photos from a wondeful journey

A Rainbow Birthday Celebration

Happy Birthday, Lizzy!

Thursday we had the pleasure of a visit from Lizzy's parents. They brought two favorite stories from home to share as part of our celebration of Lizzy's 3rd Birthday. Everyone was surprised when Lizzy said that she would like to be the first to read to the class. She shared a story, then her Dad read to us, and her Mom wrapped up the reading. We sang Happy Birthday first in English, then in Hebrew. It was a wonderful morning and a special celebration.

All in Hebrew

While we were in Jerusalem we had story time. Lyn Lustig and Lee Doron came to read to us in Hebrew. It was a funny story about a dachshund dog. Lee read in several different voices. The children were spellbound.

We even recognized a word that we knew. Echad, which means one, was in the story.
He read the Hebrew and then translated to English.

Thank you very much to Lyn and Lee for enriching our curriculum and keeping the children enthralled with your story.