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What makes a community a community?

In first grade, we have spent the first weeks of school building a learning community. One activity included reading Swimmy by Leo Lionni. From the book we learned that a community is made stronger when it sticks together. Swimmy emphasized the meaning of community and how people, even fish, could collaborate to solve problems. After our reading, we worked together to designimg_5426 a class poster. Each student created a unique fish, and then we made one picture together. We reflected on community and how we could collaborate. The conversation started when a child said, “I will help others with their work.” One child added, “I will be a good friend.” Another noted, “I will be kind.” Others said, “We will help by sharing.” We are learning about friendship and common interests, and growing as a first grade community.

Teamwork in First Grade

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How can we love our neighbor as ourselves?

First Grade has been working hard on practicing how to work as a team. And what better way to practice working together as a team than herding goats?!

We were invited to Rabbi Philmus’ house to learn how to care and shepherd two very clever goats named Kesef and Cinnamon.

We gathered on a porch shaded by a beautiful grape arbor. We sat on hay bales and woven mats and held objects that could have been used during the time of the Torah. Students were asked to find objects that were either made from plants or came from an animal.

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Once Kesef and Cinnamon had their hay stashed in the goat barn, students learned how to care for the goats, which included a quick nail trimming, grooming, and adjusting the goat’s harness.

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We learned the key elements of goat herding:

  • Stay together as a group.
  • Show them where you want them to go by walking behind them.
  • Sometimes it helps to shake a can of goat treats and walk in the direction you want them to go.
  • Best of all, you can use a shofar to signal what you want them to do.

We also used commands; for example, Tekiyyah = run! Tekiyyah gedolah= stop!

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First Grade was able to herd the goats all around the large field, then we stopped for a story and a game featuring goats and mountain lions. The goats were content to nosh on leaves during the game.

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It was time for snack, and students had to work hard to herd the goats back to the house. img_8413

Thank you Rabbi Philmus!

May we continue to work as a team and to build a classroom community which works as a team, shows kindness, and has fun together.

 What a wonderful way to begin the new year!

שנה טובה ומתוקה – May we all have a sweet new year! 

Herding goats from Jewish Community Day School RI on Vimeo.

Why We Need Design Lab

IMG_7610 (1)Here’s a challenge for you: quickly sketch a scientist. Easy, right? You might be thinking lab coat, eyeglasses, crazy hair, test tubes everywhere, computers, and oh… male.

While I may be making an assumption here, research has proven that this isIMG_7612 (1) how many people envision scientists. Here is an article explaining these findings. 

In design lab this week, students in preK, kindergarten and first grade were given the same challenge I gave to you: draw a scientist. Some drawings were consistent with what researchers have found.

 

Others were not so consistent.

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The article above suggests that “students who visit real scientists or engage in hands-on inquiry activities tend to draw less stereotypical images of scientists.” This is  why all schools need programs like our Design Lab and design thinking curriculum; so that we can change our stereotypes and create a brighter future. At each grade level, students are engaged in projects that involve hands-on inquiry inside and outside of Design Lab time. Students at JCDSRI aim to solve real world problems while learning that we can all make a difference in the world, whether you’re a girl, a boy, have crazy hair, wear a lab coat, or none of the above.

Songs for Zimriyah 2016!

Here is a playlist of the songs for Zimriyah this year in case students and families want to practice at home!

 

All School: Shiru Shir, Shir Hachodashim, Rabbi Akiva, Nerot Shel Ahava, Mishe, Echad Mi Yode’a, Yom Huledet

Grades Pre-K, K, 1, 2: Basukkah shelanu, Shana Tova, Hashkediya Porachat, Letsan Katan

Grades 3,4,5:  Bashana haba-a, Sukkat Shalom, Ki Tavou,

Alumni song: Yesh Li Chag

Looking for Signs of Spring

imageThe Kindergarten students set out to look for signs of spring! We enjoyed seeing how the pond has changed in the warmer weather. Outside all our senses were at work while we searched for clues to Spring! We stopped to investigate tree buds that we saw popping up on branches all around us. Other times we stopped to take a listen to birds. A woodpecker was busy tapping on a tree. Weimage enjoyed smelling the spring onions. The pond critters are beginning to emerge from their winter modes. The students were excited to see the ducks return. “This is awesome,” one student yelled. We looked for turtles and a muskrat. Magnifying glasses helped us to closely observe buds, dew drops, and new grass. We are grateful for the signs of the changing season!

Who Is in My Heart?

When we learned the letters kaf and lamed, we were busy with Purim, but it was a great opportunity to connect it with this special holiday.

First we learned the three ways that we can use the letter kaf and its placement in words. The children are able to recognize the words ken (yes),  keter (crown), kol hakavod, kesef (silver/money), katom (the color orange), kachol (blue), and kis (pocket) for the letter kaf. For projects, we filled  khaf with  masechot (masks) and filled khaf sofit with a drawing of a melech (king). We couldn’t finish learning about Purim without filling in our kaf with glitter in the color of kesef (silver) or katom (the color orange), and we made a keter (crown) for Achashverosh. Lastly, we discovered that the word kis means pocket in Hebrew. After the kis (pocket) project, the children got a chocolate kiss from my kis (pocket).

We had so mIMG_1896uch fun learning the letter lamed. First we got our faces painted as leitzanim (clowns) and we learned the song “leitzan katan sheli” (my little clown).

Then we had a beautiful discussion about what’s in our  lev (heart). We not only had fun making a project about it, but also sharing our thoughts with our friends.

Once we finished learning the letter lamed, we realized we could string letters together and read many words from our excellent vocabulary.

We are so excited!

The Three Little… Prototypes

We’ve all heard the story The Three Little Pigs, but have you read The Three Little Javelinas? In PreK, kindergarten and first grade, we read The Three Little JavelinaIMG_6880s by Susan Lowell and talked about how the two stories are similar in some ways and different in others. In both stories the first house gets blown down very easily. The second house is a bit stronger, but not by much. The third house, however, won’t budge! In the design lab, we recreated the three houses that appear in both of the stories.

We explored different materials in the design lab and created our own houses that represent the three houses in the stories. Many of uIMG_6893 (1)s noticed that by utilizing the Design Thinking tactic of rapid prototyping, we could create better, stronger structures. Rapid prototyping is used by both adults who use design thinking concepts in the workplace and children at JCDSRI! It means that we build things quickly in order to learn from our mistakes and to move onto the iteration and improvement stage of the process.

Next, we tested our structures by blowing a hair dryer on them. Of course, children gave fair warning by yelling, “I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down!” Finally, we decided what types of characters (or objects) might be in our own ThreIMG_6919 (1)e Little somethings stories!

In PreK, we decided that we all wanted our story to be The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Crocodile. One of our Lego structures had some interesting safety features, including a trap station to catch the crocodile and a lookout tower.

Kindergarteners decided that they wanted to create their own story titles. In the end, however, we noticed that we liked the titles of our friends. Eden, Millie, Ben, Eshel, and Meital created a story titled The Three Little Socks and the Shoe. Nathan, Bentzi, and Zemer titled their story The Three Little Scooby Doos and the Monster. Malcolm, and Aeden decided on The Three Little Monkeys.

First graders were proud to create their own individual story titles:

Naftali… The Three Little Ships and the Big Bad Star Destroyer
Maya… The 100 Little Army Ants and the Tilting Earth
Simon… The Three Little Snakes and the Lion
Elie… The Three Little Basketball Players and the Big Bad Basketball
Jude… The Three Little Leaves and the Grasshopper
Hannah… The Three Little Dwarves and the Giant
Moshe… The Three Little Squares and the Big Bad Triangle
Ella… The Three Cupcakes and the Cake
Maor… The Three Little Snakes and the Big Bird
Ayden… The Three Little Critters and the Big Bad Critter
Hadas… The Three Little Bunnies and the Cat

We learned new Hebrew letters!

The main goal of our Hebrew classes for the last two weeks was to introduce the letters zayin and tet.

When we introduced the letter tet, we noticed that the sound of the letter tet is the same sound as the letter tav.  We agreed that it’s a little bit confusing but as the children said, “even in English we have the letter ‘c’ that sometimes sounds like the letter ‘k’.”

Students are able to recognize the letter zayin in the words Zebra and Zachal (caterpillar), and the letter tet in the words Talit, Tavas (peacock), Telephone and Tractor.

We had a wonderful time learning about these two letters. For the letter zayin we read the story  “HaZachal Haraev”  (The Hungry Caterpillar). We were so excited to read this familiar story in Hebrew because we recognized so many words!

We then introduced the words  Zeh (“this is,” masculine) and  Zot (“this is,” feminine), and for the letter tet we learned the words Tov  (“good,” masculine) and Tova (“good,” feminine”). This is a very complicated and sophisticated concept, and we will continue practicing these words. We also learned the verb Zocher (remember) and practiced making sentences!

For the letter zayin we had a great time turning the letter into the head of a Zebra and the letter tet into a Talit and Tavas (peacock). These projects will  be part of our special book that will be coming home at the end of the year.

Finally we practiced writing these new letters with sand and chalk!

We have also had fun getting ready to celebrate Purim! We’ve heard and told the story, and talked about the four mitzvot of Purim. We will also be making hamantaschen to celebrate the holiday. We’ve been sure to practice being silly for Adar by wearing fun hats and hairstyles.

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As always, it is such a pleasure to learn with and from your children.

 

 

Chet is for Chatul

We had such a wonderful time creating the letter  CHet with blocks!

Students are able to recognize this letter in the words CHallah, CHalon (window), CHumus, CHanukiyah (menorah for Chanukah),  CHatul (cat). Ask your kids to tell you more words they know that begin with the letter Chet!

After learning many new words, we then realized we could draw a CHatul (cat). With this new word we decided to introduce two verbs so that we could make actual sentences. The verbs we learned were CHoshev (to think) and CHolem ( to dream). For our final projects, we created pictures of the most beautiful cats inspired by different artists.

Finally we celebrated Shabbat with CHallah, CHumus and CHamutzim!

 

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Fee Fi Fo Fun!

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Lots of Learning with Jack and the Beanstalk!

We compared and contrasted different versions of Jack and the Beanstalk. We enjoyed discussing how books were alike and different. We noticed that: “Jack was the main character in two books, and the giant was the main character in one book.”

After discussing the books, we planted beDSCN0622an seeds; and each child created a beautiful castle, stretching out and gluing on a cotton ball for the cloud base, and sticking a dowel into the cup.

Now we are waitinDSCN0612g for Jack’s beanstalk to climb up to each castle.

Meanwhile, we are working with partners to count large collections of beans (more than 200). We are practicing our skip counting, writing our numbers, and working cooperatively with a partner.