This week, the class celebrated Yom HaAtzma’ut, which celebrates Israel’s Independence Day and Israel’s 63rd birthday! The week was filled with blue and white, and many verses of Yom Huledet Same'ach (happy birthday to you). The children boarded an El AL flight, buckled their seat belts, had a little snack and were off from Logan Airport to Ben Gurion Airport. After a musical round of Am Yisrael Chai, the passports were stamped and it was off to explore.
On Monday, the children were able to practice their fine motor skills using Hebrew stencils. They liked pointing out the letters they knew, especially the aleph. During Circle Time, the children did a concept webbing around Yom HaAtzma’ut, as the children shared what they knew about Israel. This webbing is posted outside the classroom if you would like to take a look at it. The children listened to a reading of Sammy Spider’s First trip to Israel, which documented a young boy Josh, and his family visiting Israel for the first time. Afterwards, the children saw real photographs of the Kotel, also known as the Western Wall. During project time, the children were asked to draw pictures of their own Western Wall, or they could draw the Western Wall through their eyes. The children were really able to use their imaginations, and it was great seeing how different each child interpreted the Wall. We also had music with Cantor Schloss and had fun singing many Hebrew songs.
Tuesday, the children took the Israeli bus to Jerusalem, the City of Gold. The children built their own Walls from Legos, and began to paint “bricks” for our very own Western Wall (proudly displayed in the hall, accompanied by some notes and hopes from the children). The children were given blue and white paper to cut stripes and triangles to make their own Israeli flags, (degel). Friends were also able to finger-paint with blue and white paint, and listened to the wonderful story, And Shira Imagined, by Giora Carmi.
On Wednesday, the children went on an archeological dig in our very own sand table! They used sifters and paintbrushes to discover shekels and some dinosaurs. At the writing center, the children used Jewish star and flag rubber stamps, and used counting cakes to count out 63 candles. The children painted ziti blue and white, to be strung the next day to compare the age of Israel to the United States (235). The children noticed that United States has a lot more, therefore the US is older than Israel. During Circle Time, the children sang a favorite “Hinei Rakevet” (an Israeli folk song about a train), and the children became a class train and sang to the song. The children were having a blast doing the “chug chugs” and “toot toots!”
Thursday was an exciting day, as our dramatic play corner was turned into an Israeli Shuk! The children used Israeli money to buy goods and jewelry, many of the items came straight from our pen pals in Haifa Israel! Snack was also a treat, as the children did some food taste testing. Two common founds found in Israel are dates and olives. The children were able to try these foods, some did some did not. The children also made their own versions of israeli salad. They were provided with cherry tomatoes and cucumbers that they could eat together. It was a nice day, and the children were ready for the playground to ride bikes and dig in the sand.
After a great week, it was sad to leave Israel. After a quick visit to a kibbutz, the children packed up and boarded the plane to fly back to Boston. We could not resist a little birthday treat for snack as this special week came to an end. We hope you have a great weekend and Shabbat Shalom.
Morah Jessica and Morah Rhona
No comments:
Post a Comment