Guess Who?

Happy Purim from the Tel Aviv class to all of you!!!!

Chag Purim Festivities

With the Jewish holiday of Purim approaching, the friends of Levana are preparing by making masks. In the book of Esther, a royal ball took place at the kings palace in which Esther had to conceal her Jewish identity. That is why masks are traditionally worn and masquerade parties are thrown in honor of this holiday, even though we are all proud and happy to be Jewish people.

Good Morning to Your Friends

Havdalah

Shabbat Carl Visits the Shamayim Friends

There are so many wonderful things that make Shabbat a special day.  We bake challah, we sing Shabbat songs and we bless the candles, juice and the challah and we go to the sanctuary with the entire school and sing more songs with Rabbi Jay and Rabbi Todd.  We also have a new friend in the Shamayim class room that each of us gets to take home for the weekend.  His name is Shabbat Carl, although sometimes he becomes Shabbat Carla, however either way he is a lot of fun to bring home and spend Shabbat with.  Last week Shabbat Carl went home with Sonia, and we got to read all about their adventure at circle time.  Shabbat Carl helped out with the cooking at Sonia's house.  This week, Shabbat Carl went home with Josh.  We can't wait till next Friday to hear all about Shabbat Carl's visit with Josh's family.  Shabbat Shalom!
 

 

 

Creating an Etzim Birthday Tradition

Josh Green had a birthday last week.  His mom, Liz, came in to help us celebrate by bringing Josh's favorite song, My Name is Cheech, and I Am A Schoolbus Driver.  We think this is a wonderful way to celebrate a birhday in our classroom and invite all Etziim families to bring their child's favorite song in to share when their big day arrives!   Josh also brought in the family birthday frog, who makes an annual appearance on birthdays as he croaks out Happy Birthday!  The children all enjoyed this celebration, and singing and dancing with Josh so much!  Thanks Josh and Liz!

Havdalah Helpers!

The Tel Aviv class had two wonderful Havdalah helpers today: Ezra and Rachel! Ezra was last weeks “stick person” and since we didn’t have Havdalah last week he and Rachel we able to both help with Havdalah today. Each one held a Havdalah candle. I was impressed by how carefully and respectfully they held their candles. It was neat experience for each of them to hold lit candles. Both dipped their candles in the grape juice and Rachel said she made it “Sizzle” Thanks so much Havdalah helpers! You both were great examples of what to do at Havdalah!

A Time of Year for Questions?

"Lauri guess who I am?" Ruby asked. Then Sam R grabbed me by the hand and asked, "Guess what I made?" I said to myself, this is the time of year for questions! Right? Ruby was proud to tell me "I am Batman with goggles of course and this is Bat dog!" Sam, the trip to the Fire Station still fresh in his mind, "This is a fire house!"
Our question of the day was...What are the items on the Passover Seder Plate?

Getting ready for PassOver

The Unicorns, have become very familiar with Passover through many books , songs and stories. We learned that our people left Egypt in a great hurry. They did not wait for their dough to rise before they baked it, so it became Matzah. We also learned about the Seder plate and how the different foods remind us of the Passover story. We dipped the parsley in salt water to remind us of the tears our people cried when they were slaves. The hard boiled egg and the parsley reminded us of the new life that comes in the spring. The Maror reminded us of the bitter life of the slaves. The Charoset reminded us of the clay used to make bricks. We sewed an Afikoman holder using hand-eye co-ordination. We learned that one piece of Matzah, the Afikoman, is hidden during the Seder for the children to find. We were so excited to find them in our room. They will be able to contribute to the Seder table,parsley, Afikoman holder, cup for Elijah, Matzah cover and beautiful Kipot (Yarmulkes). Jewish items became a vehicle for counting, hand-eye co-ordination, artistic expression and a retelling and teaching a love of Jewish tradition. Check out our Passover photos

Cleaning the Classroom for Passover!

At circle time we discussed with the children that when the Israelites rushed out of Egypt, they had no time to let their bread dough rise before baking it. Instead it baked right away in the hot desert sun. It became the flat crackers we call matzah. That's why during the week of Passover we do not eat any hamets~foods that need to rise, such as yeast breads and other baked goods. So before Passover we empty our cupboards of bread, cereal, crackers, cookies, pasta and pretzels.

We invited the children to help us get our classroom ready for Passover by removing the hamets, cleaning the shelfs, the stove, the dishes and refigerator. They were happy to grab a sponge and clean the classroom with their friends and teachers!

Happy Birthday, Jacob

The Sunshine class celebrated Jacob's birthday today with a visit from Jacob's mom, dad, and baby brother. We enjoyed hearing the tale of Curious George in the City; we can see that Jacob dressed in the theme of the story! It is always a special time for us when families come to visit. The children love to see one another's parents and siblings; we all value the relationships that we are building, not just among the children, but with whole families of our TBSCC community.

Setting Up for Shabbat

Naomi and Alex were charged with setting the Shabbat table in the sanctuary.  Knowing that Rabbi Todd would soon arrive to lead us in lighting the Shabbat candles lent a flair of  importance to their work.  Each took one of the beautiful silver candlesticks and set it high on the table, inserting new white candles.  Soon we were ready with a beautifully arranged table for the whole group to enjoy.

Extinguishing the Havdalah Candle

Noah had a popular role in this week's havdalah ceremony.  After we say the blessings over the grape juice, the sweet smelling spices, and the bright fire of the candle, we extinguish the fire in a little bit of the juice.  Each week the fire goes out with a satisfying sizzle.  When we hear the sizzle, we all know it is time to say "shavuah tov" and wish each other a good and sweet week.

I have an announcement!

Lauri called the children to attention for Mia's announcement.  "OK.  Everyone.  It's my mom's birthday tomorrow.  You can make a page for the birthday book I am making.  I have everything set up over on the table."  Aden and a few others quickly headed to the table to contribute to the project.  Observing the scene, I found two elements interesting.  First, after only a month of school, that the children are so grounded in the class tradition of making a birthday book that Mia would think to extend the concept to apply to a book for a family member.  Second, that the children feel comfortable and see themselves as fully competent in initiating and leading a group project for their classmates.  From idea to product, even our four year olds are fully capable of real and meaningful work.

Celebrating Sukkot

The Unicorns continue to enjoy this festive time of Sukkot. We learned that it's a "Mitzvah"(kindness) to eat as a community of friends in the Sukkah, so we went to visit the Sukkah at the Temple. We asked friends what else we could do in the Sukkah and they responded that we could bring books out there too, play and sleep.

We couldn't sleep at the Temple's Sukkah, but maybe at home we could?? So we had snack and read in the Sukkah, enjoying the beautiful decoration hanging from the booth walls.

We worked very hard to build our classroom Sukkah collecting all kinds of green leaves and branches. Please come and check it out.

We learned a song that you can sing together:

I built A Little Sukkah( tune of "I have a little Dreidel")

I built a little Sukkah,

I made it out of wood,

I hammered it together

just as I knew I could.

Refrain: Oh Sukkah, Sukkah, Sukkah

On top I placed some branches

so I could see the sky

inside I hung some apples

I hung them up so high.

Nature Walk!

Today the Tel Aviv All Stars went on a Nature Walk and collected a variety of interesting items to place in our individual Sukkahs, that we are going to create later in the week! Everyone took pride in collecting some treasures and trinkets of the Fall season.

The Tel Aviv All Stars First Shabbat Together!

Celebrating our first Shabbat together was wonderful! At circle time we asked the children, "What is you favorite thing to do on Shabbat?" During free play they had the opportunity to create a picture for our first classroom book, My Favorite Thing About Shabbat.

My favorite thing about Shabbat is:

• Eric- "Challah"
• Ruby -"Lighting the candles"
• Teddy - "The challah"
• Joshua- "Lighting the candles"
• Nathaniel -"Challah"
• Aden- "The grape juice"
• Oliver- "Eating challah"
• Aaron- "Saying the prayers"
• Samuel -"Drinking the grape juice"
• Mia- Playing with my friends"
• Teddy F- "Going to the Sanctuary"
• Hadley -"Sleeping in my bed"
• Lexi- "Playing"