Butterfly Fly Away!

Gan Gimmel said goodbye to our butterflies today. They flew really fast. They flew away. Enjoy this video clip of Gan Gimmel releasing the butterflies. 

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=9nXRjqw9ANs&sns=em&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D9nXRjqw9ANs%26sns%3Dem

Butterfly Update! (And the return of the Gan Gimmel kid bloggers)

[Teacher's note: May is blogging month. In honor of this, we taught the children about blogging . The children decided what they would like to write about and then typed it up on an IPad. This post was written by Jakey Abenaim,  Sarah Wassserman, and Ruth Schranz.]

We got butterflies. Yesterday there were two that came out. Today when we got here there were five butterflies. We will set them free later today. We liked when they turned into a butterfly. They are pretty and fun to watch. We like when they fly. 

FIRST GRADE HERE WE COME

Eli and Tiferet display Chanukah structures

Patterns
 

Throughout the year, Gan Daled used our Lego wall to display various structures, such as a menorah or dreidle for Chanukah. Sometimes the wall was used to develop the children's math skills while creating beautiful patterns. We were thrilled to see that the wall is now being used for literacy as the children "write" words with the Legos. We are truly ready for first grade!

 

Pacey "writing" words





Mission Siddur Completed

Gan Daled is thrilled to have finished working on our siddurim. Today the children were in for a surprise. They were given their siddurim to use during Tefillah time.  The shrieks and sound of joy were heard in the room. They opened their siddurim and each child followed along  and pointed to each word as we sang the tefillot. The kavanot of the children were truly felt in the room.

Ganon Playdates

Ganon Aleph and Bet sometimes take advantage of the fact 
that we have adjoining classrooms.  Lately, we have had
some "playdates" when the children go back and forth 

between the classrooms to play together.  They have a chance to play with different toys,
 different friends, and different morot.  The children have grown and matured enough 
throughout this year that they are ready for
this fun arrangement!

Dr. Riskin Visits Ganon Aleph

Dr. Riskin, Eden's dad, who is a veterinarian, came to our class with their family pet cat Cyrus.  He talked to the children about how to take care of their pets at home.  He also talked about being safe around animals, and how to approach other people's pets.  He showed the children the different tools he uses when he examines animals in his office, and the children noticed that they look like the tools that their doctors use when they go for check-ups!

A Surprise for Gan Gimmel!

When Gan Gimmel came in this morning they had three surprises waiting for them. Can you imagine the wide eyes and squeals of delight when the children discovered three butterflies had hatched in our butterfly house?! The children were overjoyed! They can't wait to set them free! 

Baby Ducks Visit Ganon Aleph

 

Jakob and Ezra's mom and little brother came to our class with the baby ducks they have been raising at home.  They showed us pictures of the incubator the duck eggs hatched in, and the boys explained how they take care of them.  We fed them some cracker crumbs, and we even put them in a basin of water and watched them take a bath!  The children are looking forward to hatching our own baby chicks in our classroom incubator in a couple of weeks!

GEORGIA on my mind



Daniella and Carrie Florists Par Excellance

Gan Daled integrated the study of Georgia O’Keefe with spring. As we witnessed the blooming of the leaves on trees and the flowers popping through the ground, we learned about  one of the most significant artists of the 20^th century.

Sara and Tiferet displaying  their "masterpieces"

We read Georgia O’Keeffe by Mike Venezia and My Name Is Georgia by Jeanette Winter. Georgia O’Keeffe was inspired by nature and loved to paint beautiful pictures of flowers and the outdoors where she lived. Gan Daled made the connection of her flower pictures to Shavuot. The children were very excited to create their own floral masterpieces in O’Keeffe’s style.

Sydney J, Sydney S. and Olivia with their "Garden"

"Taf" Treats!!!

This week Gan Aleph finished learning their last letters in the Aleph Bet; Taf and Saf.  Their word associations involved lots of yummy fruits beginning with the letter "taf" like "tutim" (strawberries), "tapuchim" (apples) and "tapuzim" (oranges).  As a culminating activity, Ms. Terry surprised the children in Gan Aleph by setting up a "taf" smoothie station before Shabbat party!! The class helped add "tutim" "tapuzim" and "mitz tapuzim" to their special drinks!  What a delicious AND nutritious Shabbat "Taf" treat!!!  Thanks Ms. Terry!!

Ganon Bet Measures With Their Caterpillars

Ready to go and measure!

Wow, my caterpillar is as wide as the lunch table!

My caterpillar is as long as the table!

My caterpillar fits the size of the seat in the shul!

I'm wrapped up in my caterpillar!

Once Upon a Time ...in Gan Aleph

Once upon a time, in the town of Paramus, there lived a class called Gan Aleph. For a few weeks, Gan Aleph focused on stories about different kinds of vegetables. They read the books The Enormous Turnip, The Giant Carrot, The Giant Cabbage and The Enormous Potato.  In each story, these vegetables grew to be very large that the gardener in the story needed a whole team of people or animals to help pull it out of the ground. The children decided to create their own versions of these stories. They spent time discussing what makes a good story...a plot, a setting, characters etc. Every day, they learned a mini-lesson related to letters, sounds, punctuation etc. in order to help develop their writing skills. Then, they wrote and they wrote and they wrote. Some children wrote about tomatoes while others wrote about pumpkins or carrots. One child even wrote about a giant radish. They even wrote all about the author! The day finally came when they finished their stories and were ready to share them with the world! They felt so proud of their new bulletin board titled "The Enormous Kinder-Garden" and hope that people stop to read them as they walk by. What a great way to culminate a year full of writing experiences!

THE END.

 

Yummy Treat in Ganon Aleph

As a pre-summer and a follow-up Shavuot activity, Ms. Terry from the kitchen came to our classroom to show the children how to use healthy ingredients to make some delicious smoothies.  This was a fun, educational and YUMMY activity!