February 2015 – Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island

Abby’s Post about Reaching out

February 26, 2015 by Naomi Stein

I learned a very important lesson this week. It is one of those lessons that teaches you something that is not math or reading.

This week I learned that peace is something that makes others, and me, stronger. I learned this as I was making a card for the Islamic School of Rhode Island. Mr. Tilove had just told us about the hateful graffiti that had been written on the Islamic school. When he told us, my friends and I looked at each other with amazed and scared eyes. As we mouthed to each other, “Oh my God,” I realized that many people are not seeing that these kids at this school are just learning, and they are not doing any thing wrong. Our school is passionate about learning, and so is theirs.

They are strong. We gave them our wishes of peace to boost their energy. We are standing with them. We are their friends. Best wishes to the Islamic school of Rhode Island. Stay strong.

Happy Birthday to Judy Blume an Awesome Jewish Author!

February 26, 2015February 26, 2015 by Naomi Stein

Probably many JCDSRI parents have read books by Judy Blume, who was born February 4, 1938 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Her books -old and new- are greatly enjoyed by kids.

“When I was growing up, I dreamed about becoming a cowgirl, a detective, a spy, a great actress, or a ballerina. Not a dentist, like my father, or a homemaker, like my mother and certainly not a writer, although I always loved to read. I didn’t know anything about writers. It never occurred to me they were regular people and that I could grow up to become one, even though I loved to make up stories inside my head. I made up stories while I bounced a ball against the side of our house. I made up stories playing with paper dolls. But I never wrote down any of my stories. And I never told anyone about them. When I grew up, my need for storytelling didn’t go away. So when my own two children started preschool I began to write and I’ve been writing ever since!”

Judy received a B.S. in education from New York University in 1961, which named her a Distinguished Alumna in 1996, the same year the American Library Association honored her with the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement. Other recognitions include the Library of Congress Living Legends Award and the 2004 National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

NOTE: Judy is a longtime advocate of intellectual freedom. Finding herself at the center of an organized book banning campaign in the 1980’s she began to reach out to other writers, as well as teachers and librarians, who were under fire. Since then, she has worked tirelessly with the National Coalition Against Censorship to protect the freedom to read.

Her website is excellent and kid friendly http://www.judyblume.com/

Our New Intern in PreK!

February 24, 2015 by akatzman

*Crystal – our newest MET intern – with some of her PreK friends*

We are so pleased that our kehillah will be welcoming another new student from the MET High School in Providence (http://metcenter.org) to our classroom. Crystal Martinez will be joining us on Wednesdays and Fridays; she has chosen our PreK for her internship and Andrea will be mentoring her. Crystal has already spent a few days with us in our classroom and we are already captivated by her enthusiasm, warmth, and genuine interest in education – and in each of us! We are all so happy she will be part of our kehillah. We asked Crystal to write a paragraph introducing herself to our community:

Dear Parents and Staff of the Jewish Community Day School:

I wanted to introduce myself; my name is Crystal Martinez, and I’m a sophomore at the Met high school. I am 16 years old and I am an intern in Andrea, Ilana and Laurie’s lovely Pre-K classroom on Wednesdays and Fridays. My all -time dream would be to become a veterinarian. I’m very interested in working with animals, but I also adore children and that’s why I’m interning with Andrea and writing this letter to you now. Believe me when I say that your kids are so lucky to attend the JCDS. The way the staff does things is so unique and effective for the children. It’s amazing! My main goal in my time at JCDS is to form a connection with each student, because there’s nothing better than having a relationship with someone who has a super imagination and is always in the mood to color or go hula-hooping at any time of the day!

I’ve recently earned my RIELDS (Rhode Island Early Learning and Development Standards) certification. Through that class I learned about child development from the ages of 48 months to 60 months. It was very interesting, and I learned a lot from it. In addition to that classroom experience, I also have hands on experience working with children. Not only have I grown up surrounded by children, but I had an earlier internship at the Children’s Workshop. I am really looking forward to continuing to work with your children. I am thankful for the opportunity to work with them, and I thank you for taking your time to read this.

Sincerely, Crystal

‘Hafalafelim’ tell about their Tu B’Shvat

March 30, 2015February 23, 2015 by Naomi Stein

What did we do on Tu B’Shvat?

The students in the Falafelim group learned how to use verbs in the past tense in Hebrew. Each one of the students wrote about what they did in Tu B’Shvat using some of these verbs – love, know, eat, sing, walk, hear, forget, drink, say, read, travel (by car.)

These are the common things they wrote about: We walked to the JCC, we performed at the JCC and at school, we sang a song, we heard songs, we ate oranges and raisins, we know about Tu BeShvat, we walked in the snow and we had fun.

Hope you enjoy reading and learning about their experiences using this link –

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V8ZdotqzkZIChn_2VFVWwoMO2gO5aPbR9aabGuaPirQ/edit?usp=sharing

Rotem

לאמא ואבא,

בטו בשבט עשיתי הרבה דברים. קמתי, אכלתי ארוחת בוקר,והלכתי לבית ספר. בבית ספר הלכנו ל… ועשינו את ההצגה שישה בשקיק אחד. אני היתי התמר. גם עשינו את ההצגה לכל הילדים בבית ספר, אבל בפעם הזה לא היתי כלום. לא שכחתי את המילים שלי. הילדים בכיתה ב שרו שיר. אחרי בית ספר הלכתי לבית של תומר, ואחרי זה הלכתי להיתעמלות. הטו בשבט שלי היה מאוד כיף.

-תמר

בטו בשבט אנחנו הלכנו ל. אין-שם שרו סמבה בטו בשבט. ואני והפלאפלים עשינו הצגה. ואני בננה בהצגה. וגם עשיתי ב…ואני שר שיר סמבה בטו בשבט. ואני אכלתי תפוז וסימוכים ואני שתיתי מיץ תפוז.

בנימין

בטו בשבט אני הלכתי לבית ספר נתן בישוף. אני אוהבת נתן בישוף.

אליאורה

בטו בשבט הלכתי ל… עם כיתה ד וה. ב… עשינו הצגה לילדים ולאנשים זקנים. השם של ההצגה שישה בשקיק אחד. אנחנו גם עשינו את ההצגה באסיפה בבית ספר. אין-שם שרו סמבה לטו בשבט. לב כתב דף על מה עושים בטו בשבט ואמר את זה לפני ההצגה.אחרי שלב אמר מה עושים בטו בשבט אני יודעת מה עושים בטו בשבט.

בטו בשבט עשיתי הרבה דברים.

-סיון

בּטו בּשבט הלכנו ל… ואנחנו עשינו הצּגה. ההצגה על הספר שישה בּשקיק אחד. אני מספּר בהצגה וקראתי הרבּה מילים. אנחנו שמענו את אנשם שּרו סמבּה לטו בּשבט. אנחנו עשינו ההצגה בּבית ספר וההצגה טוב. יש לנו הרבּה כיף בּטו בּשבט.

-פּסח

לאבא ואמא,

אתמול בטו בשבט, אכלתי תפוז ב…. שמעתי את אין-שם שרו “סמבה לטו בשבט” אני גם הובלתי אסיפה בבית ספר עם יונה. הפלפלים גם עושים הצגה “ששה בשקיק אחד”

-לב

אתמול בטו-בשבט, יש ילדה. השם של הילדה זיוה. בבוקר זיוה נסעה לבית-ספר. כשזיוה בבית-ספר, זיוה הלכה ל … ב11:00. היא והחברים שלה בהצגה. עוד החברים של זיוה שרו את השיר סמבה לטו-בשבט. יש הרבה מאוד שלג . זה כיף מעוד.

זיוה

בטו-בשבט כל הילדים בכיתה ד וְה צריכים ללכת ל… כל הילדים שמחים מאוד. אתמול רותם אמרה ” אתם עושים הצגה”. כולם הולכים ל… ב11:00. אני אהבתי ללכת ל… כי יש הרבה מאוד שלג. כולם אהבו הצגה שהפלפלים עושים ואני אהבתי לשמוע את השיר אין-שם שרו .

אליענה

בטו בשבט הלכתי ברגל ל…. ב… שרתי שיר פעם אחד ושמעתי אותו שני פעמים. השם שלו היה סמבה. גם ב… עשיתי הצגה. השם שלו היה שישה בשקיק אחד. גם הובלתי אסיפה גדולה. וזה הוא.

יונה מ.

אתמול בטו בשבט משפחת אלון הלכו ליער ומצאו תפוחים. הם שמו את התפוחים בדבש. אחרי שהם אכלו הם הלכו לנחל ומצאו דגים. אבא לקח אבני צור ואת הסכין והדליק אש. בזמן שזה קרה אמא, ישי, נועה ומושי לקחו מקלות וחידדו אותם עם סכינים. הם הלכו למים וזרקו את המקלות על דגים ושמו אותם באש ואכלו אותם. כשהדג התבשל באש הם שרו את השיר סמבה לטו’ בשבט.

News From the Gym….and Mrs. Sugerman

February 24, 2015February 20, 2015 by ssugermen

Here’s what has been happening the past 6 weeks with

Pre K in the Gym….(Jan and Feb)

Students:

continued to experiment with the equipment during “free play”
continued to work on soccer skills by knocking over pins or kicking a ball through a goal
continued to work on dribbling a basketball
played four corners using some of our “rubber critters” in the gym
played “switch” quickly becoming a class favorite
enjoyed using our new foam pogo sticks

Here’s what has been happening the past 6 weeks with

Kindergarten and 1^st grade in the Gym….(Jan and Feb)

Students:

completed the basketball unit with an activity called “the three ring basketball circus” a made up activity….which included shooting from the stage so the basket is only 4 feet high, dribbling around the gym with a basketball, and shooting at a normal height basketball hoop with a foam ball

were introduced to the game of pillo polo (floor hockey played with foam sticks and balls)
1. they learned about the parts of a stick
2. they learned how to hold a stick
3. they were given many opportunities to shoot the ball through a number of goals
4. they were able to be the goalie

played crab soccer (similar to soccer, played on the floor, students crawl to the ball)
were introduced to speed stacking cups where they learned about up stacking and down stacking and had fun making a very large pyramid using all the speed stacking cups

Here’s what has been happening the past 6 weeks with

Grades 2-5 in the Gym….(Jan and Feb)

The only focus was on all phases of pillo polo (floor hockey played with foam sticks and balls)

Students:

practiced skills necessary to play pillo polo including: stick handling, passing, wrist shots, slap shots, one-timers, backhand shots, playing goalie…and much more
played pillo polo games every class
learned several strategies for the offense and defense
had the opportunity to play all positions to get exposure to both offense, defense, and goalie
were able to choose what position they would play for an entire game (4th and 5^thstudents)

Be sure to ask your student(s) about all the activity in the Gym!

Philosophy in Kindergarten

February 26, 2015February 15, 2015 by ikapach

Dear Kindergarten families!

What a great few weeks we have had together in our classroom!

We would like to share with you a few of the exciting things we are learning:

Hebrew:

Mem– We had such a wonderful time making mems filled with objects that begin with the letter mem, like menora, mayim (water), melech (king), malka (queen)… and more. We also used misparayim (scissors) to cut magen david (star of david).

Zayin- We took the opportunity to introduce the demonstrative pronouns zeh (“this”, masculine) and zot (“this”, feminine), very complicated and sophisticated concepts. We will continue to practice using these words. Then we made a connection to our learning about Tu Bishvat, and we filled the letter zayin with zeitim (olives), and outline the letter with a lot of zahav (gold) glitter. Finally we discovered that we can turn the letter zayin into the head of a Zebra. You are welcome to our classroom to see our beautiful artwork.

Yud– After we played with play dough creating the letter yud with play dough, we discovered that yud is the smallest letter in the aleph-bet. When we learned that yad (hand) begins with yud we decided to hand paint our yadayim (hands) in yarok (green) color. As always we were excited to make a connection to our learning about Israel and we discovered that both Israel and Yerushalayim begin with yud. We then drew beautiful pictures of Yerushalayim. We had so much fun!

Holidays:

Spring in Israel- the adama is ready for planting etzim.

We made sunflowers, poppy and cyclements

We celebrated a Tu Bishvat Seder together with Pre -K practicing the bracha “bore pri ha-etz…”

Parasha

In this story we studied the kindness of Rivkah to Eliezer and his g’malim (camels). We had a long discussion about kindness to animals and the children told of how they take care of their pets. When Rivkah came to the ohel of Abraham and Sarah she met Itzchak. They got married and had twins after many prayers. The twins grew up together, but were very different from each other: Esav liked hunting in the field while Yaakov preferred to stay home and learn. When time came to get the special bracha (blessing) of the firstborn, Rivkah encouraged Yaakov to trick his father Itzchak into giving him the bracha instead of Esav. What do you think about that? It was hard for us to understand how Rivkah could suggest that, and how it was okay for Yaakov to do it. We discussed it for a long time: some of us thought it was okay, because after all it was a trade (soup for bracha) that Esav agreed to. That led to another conversation – was that a fair trade?

Esav got angry after he realized what happened and Yaakov decided to escape to his uncle Lavan until his brother Esav calmed down. One night during his journey Yaakov dreamt of angles climbing up and down a tall ladder. Do you think the angles told him something?

Simon- “Well, maybe there are some lions, you should watch out.”

Moshe- “There is a well next to you, drink before you keep going.”

Hannah- “Show kavod to lavan and his family.”

Naftali- “Don’t get lost.”

Maya- “Maybe the angels wanted him to wake up because they wanted to tell him something.”

Ella- “When you wake up stay focused and remember where you are going and keep going on.”

Noam- ” go faster before Esav catches you.”

Ayden- “Don’t forget to eat before you start walking.”

Hadas- “Don’t be scared to walk by yourself.”

These are the answers of our amazing rabbis!

We wish you a great time with your family.

Ilana, Jessica and Emily

Weekly Update – Marbles and Meters and Reading, Oh My!

February 14, 2015February 13, 2015 by Naomi Stein

First off, what a fabulous reader’s theater performance we had! Students read with expression, acted with feeling, and used props with vigor! Thank you so much to all the parents who came to support your children.

We have had a scientific couple of weeks together. Even though we had lots of snow days, we still managed to learn all about spinning motion and rolling motion. Below, students were experimenting with wheel and axle systems. They thought about different things like how the pitch of the ramp effects the speed of the system, how the system remains stable, and on what kinds of real-world objects they may find a wheel and axe system. They are even in the process of building their own model car in Design Lab. Stay tuned for that cool project!

We also explored rolling motion by looking at how marbles roll on a runway. Students experimented with different types of runways like loops, spirals, and hills. They discovered that the marble needs to start higher than the rest of the system in order for it to pick up enough speed to run the entire length of the runway. We had a lot of fun making a mock roller coaster!

During our writing time together, we have been working on persuasive writing. The first project is for students to write a persuasive letter to a real person or organization. They are learning how to be quite convincing, so watch out, because soon you may be getting one of these letters!

During math, we have been learning about the metric system and the U.S. customary system. Students practiced working with meters by measuring the hallway near the library. They are also working with centimeters, inches, and feet. A big measuring goal for second grade students is for them to be able to pick the right tool for measuring a specific object.

During reading time, we have been focusing on visualizing. Students are working on creating an image or even a movie in their minds, while they read. This is a tough skill and they are improving every day. If you want to check in on their visualizations, you could ask them to read out loud to you at home, then ask them what kind of a picture they were making in their minds. You might even have them draw their visualizations into a mini spin-off book! That could be fun.

I hope you all have a fabulous vacation. I set a goal for myself to finish Moby Dick, which I have been working on for a while. I challenged the students to read at least one full book over the break. Please try to encourage them to do so.

Check out this cool motion game for kids I discovered:

Online Physics Games

Jordan’s Post on the Tea Tax

February 13, 2015 by Naomi Stein

For the past few weeks the fifth grade has been learning about taxes in colonial America. Right now we are learning about the Boston Tea Party, how the tea tax was put on the colonists and some who called themselves Patriots went again King George and led to the American revolution. Some were with King George and thought the tea tax was not much to pay. This led to the Boston Tea Party in 1773. People from both sides came together and had a debate at the Old South Meeting House on if the tea tax should stay or get repealed. We are going to go to the Old South Meeting House to re-enact the tea tax debate. I have been very intrigued by this topic and am very exited for this field trip.

Have a Wonderful Winter Break

February 12, 2015 by mkranowitz

With so many Monday snow days and Tuesday delayed openings, I feel like February was extremely short. Here are just a few highlights to share before we all venture to different parts of the globe on vacation:

We continued with our mathematical unit on fractions and learned about mixed numbers and improper fractions.
We used our multiplication and division skills to find a common denominator and to reduce a fraction to simplest form.
We solidified our speedy multiplication skills with a partner dice game.
Third and fourth collaborated to design health posters about smoking, exercise, healthy eating, seatbelt safety, texting and driving and drugs.
We researched online about our topic and synthesized and presented the information to our classmates.
We began rehearsing a western readers theater titled, Lightning Larry.
We wrapped up our electricity unit by designing, building and fully wiring a house to light up using a battery, bulbs and wires.
We finished reading chapters 10- 15 in our suspenseful Holocaust novel, Number the Stars.
We continued typing our fantasy/dialogue stories in the computer lab.
We began sharing our amazing bowling pin biography projects.

Important Dates

Tuesday February 24th from 8:15-8:45= Biography bowling pin presentation in 4th grade classroom
Tuesday, February 24th at 10:00=Alice Goldstein, Holocaust survivor, speaks to grade four
Friday, February 27th=no school for children

Have a wonderful, relaxing, safe and warm week. I will see you all on February 23rd!

Practicing Executive Functioning Skills in PreK!

February 12, 2015 by akatzman

Our PreK is a community of students deeply engaged in exploration, discovery, and reflection.

And no matter what we are doing – whether it be painting, meditation, or cooking – we are practicing a set of skills called executive functioning skills.

These high-level cognitive functions enable us to manage our emotions and monitor our thoughts in order to work more efficiently, effectively, and collaboratively. They help us to organize our behavior and override immediate demands in favor of longer-term goals. They also help us to respond appropriately to the limits and consequences of everyday life with responsibility, adaptability, flexibility, and integrity.

Requiring a lot of time to practice and learn, they are all skills that “stick” when taught consistently and meaningfully beginning in the earliest of grades. They are reinforced when children construct their own learning experiences (a core characteristic of our progressive classroom). Research shows that executive skills are necessary for future academic successes and ensure that we might become reflective, respectful, and responsible members of our communities.

♥

What are some of the names of these executive skills and how might we practice them in our classroom? A few examples: when our students construct a detailed and complex palace out of blocks or create the Mayflower ship from cardboard, paper, duct-tape, and paint, they are acquiring sophisticated “planning skills” and practicing “goal-directed persistence.”

When they create and illustrate their own classroom rules, our students are strengthening their “response inhibitions.”

Creating a doctor’s office in our Dramatic Play Area? That sparks their “working memories!”

And t’fillah, meditation, and yoga hones our students’ “sustained attention skills” and “emotional control.” And using our Peace-Table and Feelings Journal? That requires “reflection” and “metacognition!”

All of these activities build the skills for future student successes in school . . . and in life.