Getting Ready for Pesach in Ganon Aleph

What a busy week we had in Ganon Aleph getting ready for Pesach!  We made matzah with Rabbi Grossbaum from Lubavitch, and we finished all of our Pesach projects.

We enjoyed many leftover snacks at our chametz party, after which we scrubbed our classroom to get it ready for Pesach.  We then did a thorough search for chametz with a feather, spoon, and candle, and then went outside to burn it.  We enjoyed our model seder in our classroom together with Ganon Bet.  After our seder, we skyped with some residents of the Jewish Home at Rockleigh.  One of the residents read a Pesach story to the children, and we all sang some Pesach songs for them.
We were so well-prepared for Pesach!  We hope you enjoyed spending it with your families.

Ganon Aleph Chanukah Projects

The children in Ganon Aleph were so excited to finally bring home all the different projects they worked so hard on for Chanukah.  They used many different skills when they made their chanukiyot, including math, spatial, motor planning, and fine motor skills.


 




They sanded down and painted the wood, 
counted out the tiles and bolts and decided where to place them, counted and painted the clothespins, and molded the clay into a turkey shape which they then painted to create their once in lifetime "menurkies!

They also used different art mediums and skills to create their 3-D hanging dreidel decorations, their photo box dreidels, their candle holders, and their drip mats.

Happy Chanukah to one and all!!

Getting Ready for Pesach in Ganon Aleph

The children have been so busy working on their various Pesach projects. They will be able to use all of these to enhance their participation at the seders. They decorated Eliyahu's cup, "al netilat yadayim bowls and towels, bedikat chametz kits, sponge painted and sewed their afikomen bags, tie-dyed and colored their pillowcases, collaged their salt water bowls, made frog puppets to hop around the seder table, water-colored matzah boxes, created "magid" books to help tell the story, photo songbooks to help with the songs, and Ma Nishtana booklets to remind them of all the verses! All this hard work reminded them of how hard the slaves

worked in Mitzrayim!!

The Main Characters of Gan Bet

Gan Bet worked on a very special project with Ms. Schneck's 6th grade English class. First, we visited the middle school classroom, and were each paired with a 6th grader. The older students interviewed the kindergartners, taking note of such things as family members, favorite foods and activities. The 6th graders integrated these notes into original stories, which they printed in book format online. This week, the children excitedly read their stories together, which have also been emailed home to enjoy with parents. A fantastic literacy project for both grades!

Bereishit Fair

Yesterday, the EC classes initiated our first ever Bereishit Fair! This amazing learning experience was completely developed and implemented by the collaboration of our model team of teachers. Each classroom was set up to represent a different day of Creation, along with hands-on projects and activities. For Day 1, children made shadow puppets and frosted black and white cookies.

On Day 2, a water table was set up for play, and children made clouds with shaving cream.

Children planted seeds on Day 3, and made collages of trees and grass. Day 4's classroom had stars projected on the ceiling, and children created original designs of stars, moon, and sun. For Day 5, real fish were available for observation, and children played a matching game with various types of birds and fish.

On Day 6, the children dressed in animal costumes, and held races and dances.

Back in their own classrooms, children learned about Day 7, our very own Shabbat, which of course we celebrate every week in school.

Getting Ready for Pesach

The children in Ganon Aleph have been so busy with their Pesach projects: sponge-painting and sewing their afikomen bags, decorating their Eliyahu cups, illustrating their "maggid" books, as well as working on assorted other creations to bring home in time for Pesach. Are you as busy at home getting ready for Pesach as they are in school??

Purim Creativity in Ganon Aleph

We were so busy this week completing our Purim projects. Julie's mom, Arlene Shiner, came in to help the children decorate their mishloach manot baskets. The children designed their own individual megillot and then dictated the story in their own words to the morot. Each child created a gragger in the form of the Purim character of his or her choice. The children can't wait to take all of their Purim projects home on Friday.

We wish all of you a Chag Purim Samayach!!

Sharing Reading With The Fifth Graders

The fifth graders came to buddy read Hebrew story to each kindergartner. The story was about an egg that dressed in costumes. After listening to the story, we worked together to create our own eggs, dressed in a costumes. The finished products are proudly displayed in the hallway.