coming full circle

About 6 weeks ago, we planted a flower garden in our classroom.  The seeds came from a store, but they originally came from flowers that were in the ground.  We watered our seedlings, kept them in the sun's rays through our classroom windows and rejoiced as the seedlings sprouted through the soil and began to grow.

Today, some of the Shamayim children helped plant our flowers back into the soil.  We chose a nice sunny spot outside of our classroom so that we can keep an eye on them for the next few weeks.

Some children opted out of participating in the digging, but still took part by encouraging us as we worked.

Planting A Pine Tree for Earth Day

 

 

Continuing on our theme of Earth Day, we planted a baby pine tree. Gardening is an activity that children often enjoy. Avi put the tree in the pot of soil, watered it, covered it with more soil and watered once again. With the greatest sense of accomplishment, he sits back to admire his handiwork. We looked closely at the pine tree to see the very tiniest pine cones. Avi asked if it will grow up and up until the ceiling. Yes, it will! We'll take it outside and plant it in the woods together.

Planting with our Seed Expert!!

Today the Tel Aviv class had a very special guest: Elizabeth the seed expert!   Elizabeth  and Sasha are friends from URJ Camp Kalsman where Elizabeth was in charge of the camp garden. Elizabeth read a book about how seeds grow during circle time and then everyone got a chance to plant! Using their excellent fine motor and balancing skills, the Tel Aviv kids filled up personal seed cups by using spoons to transfer dirt. Then, they planted some seeds that they found on the playground! Micah G. even brought in a whole bag of seeds from his house for our special seed planting day! Lastly, the group planted special flower bulbs in a Tel Aviv garden box that we will have on our window sill. Over the next few weeks we will be carefully watching our seeds, hoping that they will grow. Thanks for visiting us Elizabeth! It was a fun dirt-filled day and we loved playing and learning with you!

What's Growing in Kohavim?

The seeds the children planted in our classroom planter have sprouted! Pea shoots are growing tall and decorative corn stalks are not far behind. Every day the plants get a little bit taller, and the Kohavim botanists are ready to observe and care for the plants. They have been watering the planter each morning. They are also using rulers and yard sticks to measure the height of the plants. When you have some time, come by and see what's growing in our indoor planter! 

Parsley Planting

We got our hands dirty this week in the Kohavim class as everyone planted parsley seeds. Each child used a trowel to fill their individual planter with soil. They sprinkled parsley seeds on top and then pressed the seeds down into the soil. We gave our plants water to moisten the soil and placed them in the windowsill. We also made predictions about how long it will take for the seeds to grow. The children's predictions ranged from 7 days to 30 days. We can't wait four our seeds to begin sprouting! Hopefully, our parsley plants will be fully grown just in time for families to use at their Passover seders.

Science Talk...

Over the last several weeks the children have had multiple opportunities to openly explore how long it takes for beans to change and grow.  We have been closely observing the growth and development of the moist bean in a Ziploc bag.  Yesterday we planted some of the sprouted beans and apple seeds we saved from our group snack, in some fresh potting soil.   The children will continue to water and care for the plants and possibly observe the full life cycle.

During circle time we brought the children together passed around the celery and flowers that have been soaking in green and blue food coloring for over a week.  We talked about the changes they noticed in the in the leaves of the celery and the petals on the white flowers.  We asked the children...
"Do you remember how the celery and flowers looked before we soaked in them in the food coloring and water?"   "How did they change?"

  Most of the children noticed, before we placed the flowers and celery in the colored water, the celery was all green and the petals on the flowers were all white.  After the celery and flowers soaked in the colored water the leaves on the celery turned blue, and the white petals on the flowers where now white and green.

Stay tuned for more SCIENCE TALK...Tomorrow we will have the opportunity to explore a variety of fruits at our Tu B'Shevat Seder!

Preparing to fill the Planter

After collecting measurements and information about how to construct a bottom for our planter, Ryan took on the job of making a list of what we would need to put plants in the planter. He recorded a list of  things we would need to care for plants. He wrote soil, seeds, and water. He also represented seeds by drawing many tiny seeds. 

Dear Ellen,
We need soil for our planter.
Love, 

Next, Lily, Eliza, and Molly wrote a letter to Ellen requesting soil. They wrote, "Dear Ellen, We need soil for out planter." All of the children and teachers signed the letter. Then a group of kohavim children delivered the letter to Ellen's office. Stay tuned to find out when we receive our soil and what we decide to plant in our classroom planter! 

Measuring, Recording, and Reporting, Oh My!

When the children discovered the box in the middle of the Kohavim classroom was a planter, they realized they would need to construct a bottom. If we were going to build a bottom, we would need to know how big the bottom should be! Lily, Noah, and Molly took on the job of measuring. Measurement is something adults encounter in their everyday lives when they are cooking, hanging a picture on their wall, or purchasing clothes. When measuring the planter the children used pieces of white paper, which is a non-standard unit of measurement. As they continue to develop their understanding of measurement, they will begin to use standard units of measurement, such as inches or feet, which are measurements that are easily replicated.

After they layed out the pieces of white paper they counted to see how long and how wide the planter was. Lily recorded the planter was 5 pieces long and 1 1/2 pieces wide. The children then reported their findings to the rest of the children.




 After sharing the measurements of the planter, Lily, Noah, and Molly made a list of materials and tools they would need to construct a base or bottom for the planter. They wrote wood, saw, glue, nails, and hammer.

With the measurements collected and a list of tools and materials written, it was time to start thinking about what we would put in our planter. Many children thought we could plant flowers or vegetables, but we would need to think about what else we would need to take care of those plants. To find out what happened next, read the blog post "Preparing to fill the Planter."

Planting Parsley on Tu B'Shevat

 

In Israel at this time of the year on Tu B’Shevat new fruit is beginning to form, signaling the beginning of spring, the birthday for the trees. We can’t plant trees here in Boston right now but we can honor the holiday by planting parsley to be used on our Passover seder plates.

Time for Planting Bulbs

It was a beautiful snowy day today on the playground, which made for the perfect day to plant some bulbs! Sabrina, Brett, Hannah, Eliza, and Max Goldberg spent the morning planting bulbs. First, the children prepared the planters by pulling weeds, clearing out leaves, and tilling the soil. Then they added hyacinth and tulip bulbs to the planters. Together they arranged the bulbs, dug the holes, and planted the bulbs. Lastly, they decided to make some signs for everyone to know what would be growing in the planters. Hannah, Sabrina, and Max wrote the words "Tulips"  and "Hyacinths" so everyone would know what we planted. They also wrote, "No Digging" so children would know that there are bulbs growing in these planters and they should find another place to dig. We can't wait for our bulbs to bloom this spring!

Let's Plant a Seed!

Noah Sussman and Jacob Shaw came up to me with seeds that they found. We decided to find some shovels and plant the seeds in our new dirt bed. The shovels were heavy and made of real metal and it was nice to see the group work with real tools and work together to plant the seeds.
 Many seeds got planted and we will seeds were planted and we will see what happens! 

Tender loving care

Teddy and Mia work together to make their garden grow. Hopefully these sunflower seeds will take root so they can be planted outside by the adult B'nai Mitzvah class in June. It was very heart warming to see these two friends so gently watering the small plants, making sure not to pour too much water in any single plant. Together we nurture to see tomorrow's growth.

Helping the adult B'nai Mitzvah students plant

 Thank you Ellen for the opportunity to do some planting of sunflower seeds today. We had a number of very enthusiastic planters, with Teddy Friedman leading the group. He would have planted all morning if possible. Our plantings will be in the window sill in the lobby of the Center until they are planted outside at the end of May. Hopefully we shall see much growth between now and then. Stop by and take a look.

Seeds From Snack

The Levana class enjoyed a cantaloupe for snack today. We noticed all the seeds in the center of the fruit; it reminded us a little of a pumpkin. Since Tu B' Shevat, the children are very aware of growing things, and we have planted seeds of various types in our window box. We talked about adding the cantaloupe seeds, and Eliana was quick to volunteer to sow them. We'll be watching and hoping for sprouts!

"Look what I found!" -Eliza

Eliza became very excited and shouted out, "Come see what I found!" Lily, Hannah and I came over to see what Eliza was so excited about. She pointed to one of the lima bean plants and said, "Look it's growing!" I said, "Yes look the lima bean is growing; the dry white bean took in water from the soil, some wonderful sunlight and is now a new a new lima bean plant!" We will continue to make observations as we care for our classroom plants.

Partner Planting!

Today we asked the children to plant with a buddy. We called the children over two by two and asked them to plant flowers (Delphinium). One teacher stayed with the two children and coached/helped them work smoothly with each other. Each day they will care for their plant together.

Giving children plenty of opportunity for dyad play will prepare them for the more hectic and involved play with three to five children.

Planting parsley

Many living things start from a seed. This morning, the Rainbows planted some tiny parsley seeds in light, fluffy soil. We are hoping that with the addition of some water and light from the sun, we will see them sprout and grow.

As you can see in the photos, Sami had to manage the scoop in the bin of soil, lift the scoop without spilling the soil, and gently tip the scoop to get all of it to pour out and into her pot. The development of eye hand coordination is happening here. Sami was very focused and was pleased with her work.

Bean and plant!

Last week we placed bean seeds in a wet paper towel , placed them in a plastic bag and put them on the windowsill in our classroom. Each day we moistened the paper towel. On Monday we noticed a tiny root growing out of the seeds. Today most of the children planted a few of their bean seeds in soil and will continue to observe their bean plants.

We placed them back in the windowsill and will water them everyday! Stay tuned for a bean plant update!