Week Five (March 28 - April 1)

Springing Forward with Morah Rhona (Mondays)

In this week’s class, we read the book Rooster’s Off to See the World, by Eric Carle. As Rooster travels, he meets up with various animal friends, including a turtle and a frog. We also read What’s Inside by Mary Jane Martin and the children were excited to see that it too contained frogs and turtles in the story. For our craft project, each child spent a long time painting wooden cutouts of frogs, turtles and butterflies, each of which reminds us of spring. Now that they are dry, Morah Rhona will be turning them into magnets which we hope that you will enjoy displaying in your home!

Cooking with the Alphabet with Morah Jessica (Tuesdays)

This week, the children made their very own jam crumb bars and they even made their own ice cream! For letter J, the children made raspberry jam crumb bars. The children worked together mixing all the necessary ingredients and they waited patiently until it was their turn to add their ingredient. Once those were in the oven, it was time to start the ice cream making process. None of the children had ever made their own ice cream and they were extremely excited to work together to make it. In one bag, milk, sugar and vanilla were added. Once that bag was sealed shut it was placed inside a bigger bag filled with ice and salt. The children worked in pairs to shake their bag in order for the liquid to solidify. The friends worked very hard, and toward the end some of their mixtures hardened. The children all got a taste and we took a poll about whether or not they liked the taste. The results were that six friends liked the ice cream, and one did not. Overall, it was a very successful afternoon cooking with the alphabet!

Amazing Artists with Morah Larissa (Wednesdays)

In the art studio this week, we studied a different kind of artist – an illustrator. We read two books illustrated by Eric Carle: Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do you Hear (both written by Bill Martin Jr.). We looked at the beautiful colors and textures of Carle’s art. We then looked at photographs of his artistic process. He first paints patterns on tissue paper, and then cuts the paper to use for collage. We painted many colors of paper! Next week, we will continue our study of Eric Carle and create some collages of our own.

Music and Movement with Moreh Micah (Thursdays)

This week, each child shared their favorite thing to do at home. Moreh Micah then used that information to create an improvised short song for each child. We had our most energetic "Super Kids" performance to date and practiced our singing with "The Sharing Song." Each child decided what superhero they were going to be before they each tried to steal the bouncing ball from Moreh Micah. The singing of “The More We Get Together" was very cute this week, as the children felt connected to each other while swaying side to side. I hope to see everyone at Tot Shabbat tonight!

Counting on Books with Morah Larissa (Fridays)

This week, we read the book Pattern, by Henry Arthur Pluckrose. We created patterns with our bodies, through clapping and moving. Then, we went on a pattern hunt, finding patterns in our clothing and our classrooms. We then created patterns using pattern blocks, manipulatives, and even bingo dot markers.