This week we learned

This week we learned the letter D. To make this letter one needs a big line and a big curve. Friends learned that words like December, dark, dime start with the letter D. Friends brought different treasures for the Letter D Treasure Box: a doll, a dreydel, dumbbells, dogs, a dollar, a dime, and dinosaurs.  Thank you everyone for making effort to find the treasures!

To review the letter and its sound, please visit http://www.starfall.com/n/level-k/letter-d/load.htm?f
Next week letter will be the letter P. We can't wait to see new treasures! To pre-teach the letter P go to http://www.starfall.com/n/level-k/letter-p/load.htm?f

Science: This weeks weather gave us a great opportunity to learn more about winter. We learned that when the temperature is low, the snow is not sticky enough for a snowman. That is why we played with the snow and took a full box of snow to observe what would happen to it in the classroom where temperature is much higher than outside.  Pre-K friends predicted that the snow will melt and they were correct.  Now the questions was how long it would take the snow to melt. Friends had different ideas - from 100 seconds to 1800 days.

That is how our sensory table looked like when we were going home... but the next morning our snow box looked like this!

The snow melted. Everyone agreed that there is no way to turn the water back into the snow. It could freeze to ice, however.

New Poll

Dear Parents,
We are trying to see if the new pictorial format for the parsha sheet is working for your family.
Please take the poll on the right side of blog.
Additionally, your feedback is welcome in the "comments box" below.
Thank You!

Chof Sofis

This week we learned the letter chof sofis. Chof Sofis has a big line on top and an extra big line that comes down.

It kinda looks like a chof who was tired of sitting so he stood up very tall on the tip of his toes.

Parshas Bo

Check out the complete Parsha story online.
http://torahtots.com/parsha/shmos/bo2.htm

Rosh Hodesh Rally

We started our new Jewish month, the month of Shvat! This month we will be celebrating Tu B'shvat, the Rosh Hashana of all trees. It is the time that the trees in Israel begin to grow again after the winter.

Our Community- The Hardware Store

Coming back from the vacation everyone had a lot of stories to share with each other. Everyone was excited about the amount of snow that fell dawn during vacation. Morah was wondering how our community cleaned the snow off our streets sidewalks. Some friends said that they used brushes to brush the snow off, others said that they shoveled the snow. Morah was wondering where our friends' families got their shovels. Yonni said that his family got a shovel from his grandmother. Other friends said that they just found it at home.  We decided to take a walk around the Brighton Beach community and find a "SHOVEL STORE." Walking around, we found a HARDWARE Store; a place where people can buy shovels. It is happened that last week, the store SOLD OUT all shovels. Being in the store, we decided to look around and see what else people can buy there.

We found a blue tape that we needed so much for our classroom. We use this tape to attach pictures and letters to wall.

In the Hardware Store, we met a locksmith who made a key for us. We were thinking how many minutes he needed to make a key. Some friends thought 10 minutes. The locksmith did it in one minute! He is a super locksmith!

We paid for things what we needed; the key, the tape and three pair of construction gloves that we use in our block center. 

Coming back from the trip, we were paying attention on how clean the streets were. We were wondering if people could clean the snow using only shovels.  One friend mentioned that he saw garbage trucks on the street cleaning up the snow. The Sanitation Department came to the rescue and cleaned our community  streets from the snow. It was their job, their responsibility. 

Show and Tell

This week's Show and Tell host was Shlomo. He brought his brother Chaim Moshe's guitar to show everyone. It was great to hear that friends remembered that they learned about a guitar from Shlomo's father. Shimon said that guitar starts with the letter G, Emy remember that a guitar has a body, Yonni recalled that it has a long neck, Nosson said that guitar has strings. Friends asked Shlomo to play guitar so they could dance. As soon as Shlomo touched guitar strings, everyone start to dance. THANK YOU, Shlomo for showing and telling about the guitar!
The next week Show and Tell host will be Nosson.

Highlights of the week.

Does anyone know a better way to start school after vacation?

Gym is always an exciting place for us to go!

Lego gives us the opportunity to pre-plan, follow instructions, sort out necessary pieces and reach our desired result.

Dear Parents, thank you so much for the Snowy Day Pictures!

We had wonderful time talking about snowy day experience.

THANK YOU!

Emy shows everyone how he shoveled the snow.

Thursday's Music Lesson is always a treat in our Pre- K class.

Morah Rivkah taught our friends about the upcoming yom tov- of Tu B'Shvat.

This week we learned

The letter of this week was the letter J. To make the letter J one needs a big line, a little curve and a little line. The J says /j/ like in words Jewish, January and joke. Together we created a special Treasure box where friends could find jet, jewel, jars, jump rope, jello and jam - all things that start with the letter J.
 Next week's letter is the letter D. We are going to create the letter D Treasure Box. To pre-teach the letter D go to http://www.starfall.com/n/level-k/letter-d/load.htm?f.  We are going to make a letter D Treasure Box!

Math Unit- We continued to learn about coins. This week we practiced identifying the nickel from other coins. We reviewed that a penny is worth 1c. and learned that a nickel is worth 5c. There is a picture of President Jefferson on a nickel.

Science- Coming back from winter recess, we discussed how dramatically winter weather changes. We discussed how people react to this changes - they wear winter clothes: hats, jackets, mittens; people warm up their houses. But what about animals that live outside? How do animals react to winter? How do they survive the snow? Where can they find food? We learned that some animals save food, other animals migrate to other countries, but some animals HIBERNATE. It is a big word for us, but now we know that hibernation means sleeping through the winter. Animals like bears, frogs, snakes and some insects hibernate during winter. Morah asked us should or should not people hibernate. This is what our friends said,

People should not hibernate because they need to work so they get money. (Shimon) and buy toys (added Yonni) 
People should not hibernate because they need to stay warm. They will freeze if they would hibernate. (Emy)
People should not hibernate because they can't live in a nest like birds. Only animals hibernate. (Zaylin)
People should not hibernate because it will take them too long to wake up. (Nosson)
People should hibernate because if they will not their tummies will hurt. (Ron)

 

Gym, Rosh Hodesh Rally, Hardware Store and more

Click here to view these pictures larger

This week we learned

This week we learned the letter S and its sound /s/ like in words summer, six and Sunday. To make the letter, one needs two little curves. In our class, we made the letter S treasure box. Pre-K friends did an amazing job bringing in different things that start with the letter S: Shlomo brought sticky smileys, Nosson - singing sun, Emy- smart snake, Yonni- scarf and sweater, Shimon- star, Ron brought the picture of his Sister, Chava Evalyn and Alisa brought socks. Thank you, dear Parents, for your help!

 To review the letter go to ttp://www.starfall.com/n/level-k/letter-s/load.htm?f

The next letter we are going to learn is the letter J. To pre-teach the letter go to http://www.starfall.com/n/level-k/letter-j/load.htm?f  We will make the letter J Treasure Box.

Dear Parents,

Our Pre-K friends started the new math unit- "Money". This week we learned about a penny - a little round brown coin that worth 1c. We learned to identify a penny among other coins. Looking at it we noticed a print of the man. Morah told us that its President Lincoln.  I will ask you to trust your child to count how many pennies you have or to sort pennies from other coins. It will give them excellent opportunity to practice. Check out listed below sites to learn more about money. After vacation we will learn about nickel, dime and quater.

http://www.kidsbank.com/the_story/penny/index.asp