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Kindergarten Blog 1/20/23

Dear Kindergarten Families,

This week, Kindergartners have been learning all about Hamsas, a special ancient symbol, and have even crafted their own! They have also baked cookies to enjoy during their Publishing Party in General Studies.

In Math we continued our measurement study by exploring weight.  Students first compared the weight of different items using terms such as heavier than, lighter than, and the same weight.  They then weighed different objects using pin balances and Unifix cubes. They first made a prediction as to how many Unifix cubes it would take to balance different objects and then checked. We continued practicing counting to 20 with two favorite activities, jumping on the numbers as we called them out and lining up in order (without talking) according to the number cards we held. 

In Social Studies we finished up our study of Martin Luther King.  We talked about his work to help people be able to vote, his trip to Memphis to support the striking sanitation workers, and his untimely death. Several students shared their ideas about guns, including the use of toy guns. 

In Writing everyone finished up a story and we had a small in house Publishing Party.  Children had the opportunity to sit in the Writer’s Chair and read their story to a small group of their classmates.  To celebrate we had Rainbow  Sprinkle Cookies, which we had baked the day before (a big hit). https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/drop-sugar-cookies. On Friday we started our unit on Show and Tell Writing, drawing pictures of the items children brought in and beginning to label them.

In Phonics we studied a new alphabet chart, the Animal Alphabet Chart, comparing it with the alphabet chart we have been using  up to now.  Children noticed similarities and differences between the charts and began designing their own personal alphabet charts. We studied two new snap words, on and is. We continued our small group phonics work reviewing letter sounds and -at words and read books from our book baggies. 

In Judaic Studies, we learned about the Jewish and Middle Eastern traditional talisman of the Hamsa חמסה. We learned that it’s an ancient symbol that some people believe brings them good luck and protection. We looked at many different kinds, and then we made our own out of salt clay! Kindergartners are bringing home their hamsa today; they’re wrapped in bubble wrap. A couple of people who were absent this week will bring theirs home next week. 

We also continued learning about the 6th day of Creation, and learned about the difference between farm animals חיות השדה and wild animals בהמות.

In Hebrew, we continued learning about words we use to talk about birds, and focussed on feathers נוצות notzot. We observed that feathers are light kal קל, and are what give birds their beautiful colors. We also read the book “Pishpesh Mitlavesh”, a story that teaches vocabulary words to describe getting dressed in the morning. We learned the words נעלים naalayim shoes, גופיה goofiyah under shirt, סודר sveter sweater, תחתונים tachtonim underwear, גרביים garbayim socks, מכנסיים michnasayim pants, and חגורה chagura belt from this funny story. We also then heard from Kindergartners about their own morning routines.

We concluded our week with our K/1 Sing and a whole Lower School Kabbalat Shabbat.

Shabbat Shalom,

K Team