fbpx

Month: September 2015

The Joy of PreK!

by

“The problem is I thought yesterday was the best day ever . . . but now today is!” exclaimed one member of our kehillah (community) when reflecting upon his day at school during our closing Circle Time.

And indeed, our time together these first weeks of school has been wonderful. We really feel like we are creating a sense of belonging and community in our classroom – and we are experiencing so much joy!

Most of our mornings begin with free play; during this time, we’ve observed children thoughtfully drawing in their Feelings Journals, giggling at our sand table, making “cupcakes” with home-made blue (sparkly!) play-dough, observing their daily findings at our Discovery Tray, and working collaboratively to create complex structures in our block area. And in just a short time, we’ve learned each other’s names during Circle Time (by singing “Thumbkin”), created some meaningful classroom rules, and practiced bringing peace and kindness to our classroom through the use of prayer, yoga, and meditation.

This sense of discovery and wonder continues throughout the day and we are grateful to be accompanying our students as they begin their learning journey here at JCDSRI.

In peace,

Andrea and Ilana

The First Six Weeks of School

by
What an exciting time of year it is, especially for first graders!
This is the year students will learn how to read and write. An unbelievable milestone for students which marks the first step to mastering the important skill of  independent learning. To become an independent learner, the first six weeks of school are a crucial time to set a solid foundation of a safe, warm and welcoming  environment.  We have begun to work together to establish classroom procedures and to collaborate as a classroom community and in small learning groups.
Each student had the opportunity to  present his or her personalized puzzle pieces to the group. It was wonderful to hear of everyone’s favorite summer activities. We are blessed with four new students this year, so it was especially exciting to learn about their interests and begin to get to know each other.
 bluring photos
While our main focus over the next month and half is on classroom procedures, academics are slowly incorporated into our day’s routine. For example, I am a firm believer in kinetic learning. What better way to review counting to one hundred by 1’s, 2’s, 5’s and 10’s while exercising our bodies and our minds? We had so much fun taking a movement break while doing math!

Shana Tova! Happy New Year!

by

The students are super excited to reconnect with former classmates and to make new friends from Israel. We are pen pals with kids in Israel. Each student wrote a greeting card for a sweet and a happy new year in Hebrew. These cards by now are on their way to Israel….

Also, we are learning our first Zimriyah song, BaShana Haba’a (In the Upcoming Year.) A student asked me: “Can’t we just learn how to sing the songs without understanding the meaning of the words? I thought that the whole purpose of the Zimriyah is to entertain our parents and grandparents.”

My answer was that we use Zimriyah songs to teach Hebrew, to understand it, to use these words in speaking and writing, and to learn about the culture of Israel. The students’ interpretations for the first verse decorate the class walls.

Lehitraot,

Rotem

 

Let’s Design!

by

In order to create a useful product, designers need to understand how a user(s) feels about an object, system, or space. Therefore, our classes all started with empathy.

In third grade, we learned about empathy by taking part in a “leading the blind” activity. While one student was blindfolded, his or her partner led him or her across the room (without touching or redirecting!) to perform a very specific task. While blindfolded, each student needed to pick up a cylinder from across the room, turn around, go through a set of doors, and place the cylinder on a small table. Then, students switched roles. To conclude the activity, we talked about how it felt to be the person who was blindfolded, and how it felt to be the person who was leading. Thus, we learned that empathy is understanding how someone else feels.

The design thinking process also involves creativity! First, we explored what creativity is. In first grade, we used straws, sticky tabs, and paper clips to create anything that we wanted. We quickly realized that we had to utilize our creative juices to make many different things from the limited resources.

Work in progress:
PreK and Kindergarten students are learning about how everyone is creative, especially the bunny in Not A Box by Antoinette Portis!

We’re thinking about the question: How might second graders create time capsules so that they can feel surprised, happy, proud, and different when they open it a year later?

And finally: How might the fourth and fifth grade students improve the fourth grade meeting spot so that it is comfortable, inviting, spacious yet cozy, and promotes conversation?

First Week of Gardening

by

Yes, it is one of the hottest days of the year. Yes, air conditioning is our best friend. But the students are begging to do gardening. Today was our first day in the garden. Due to the weather, we only were able to go out for 10 minutes at the most. Those ten minutes were amazing, though! The students in second and fourth grades went right to work in the early morning, weeding and watering. We identified edible plants, found baby peppers growing, noticed some spiders, and ate some new vegetables. The wax beans were a hit! The fourth graders were eager and excited to try the new vegetable. Everyone who tried it enjoyed it and wanted to eat more. The fourth graders brainstormed ideas for the garden this year, like utilizing every space in the garden for more plants. It has inspired me to research hanging gardens for the fence. Lastly, first grade learned about gardens from a picture book featuring the famous Winnie the Pooh and his friend Rabbit. They learned that gardening takes patience and hard work. Gardening is obviously a special activity that the students love, and I am proud and excited to lead them in their gardening adventures this year.

First Week of School

by

(null)We did it! We had a fabulous first week of school! We started the year off with building routines. This helps us set a foundation for learning. And, boy did we have fun exploring the classroom and getting to know each other. We built cool creations with blocks, playdough, squigz, and Magnatiles. And, we even had time to start learning a Rosh Hashana song. This is a special group of Kindergarteners. I’m excited for what the year will bring.

 

 

 

My First Day

by

The 2015-2016 school year has started! After we met most of the people from last year, said goodbye and went up the stairs right in to the new class, we encountered new smells:  the smell of the fresh paint from the walls, the new carpets, markers in all colors, the floor cleaner and  polish – everything is clean and new, even more then Passover clean! Suddenly I heard someone call my name, again and again… and I realized that all eyes were on me, just waiting, listening. So I told myself, ”Come on, Sivan, you have to start to talk –  everyone is waiting for you – after all you’re the teacher!!!”

Yes, even I was so excited about the first day of school! But you know what? It was the most AMAZING experience, because I have the best class ever!!! 4th grade rocks!!!  – Sivan Amon

 

JCDSRI Students Save Animals’ Lives

by

Fire-huskyLast year, Jill Davis’ third grade class became very invested in their Animal Adaptations unit. They had direct experience with disabled animals, since their class pets Gizmo and Gili (bearded dragons) were missing a foot and a leg, respectively. When it came time for the students to choose another pet to adopt, they found Bugsy, a guinea pig who was being bullied by his peers in the shelter. Fearful that the shelter would have to euthanize him, the students begged Ms. Davis to give him a new home in their classroom.

In the spring, the students chose “Animals Around the World” as the theme for their annual Read-A-Thon. They lined up sponsors and spent the whole day reading, earning donations based on the number of pages or books they read throughout the day. At the end of the day, the third graders had raised almost $2,000! They researched animal rescue facilities to choose the recipients of their fundraising.

The kids decided to donate half of the money to the ASPCA and half of the money to the PAWS Humane Society in Charles City, Iowa. Recently, Ms. Davis and her students received a heartfelt thank you from Julie Taylor, the director of PAWS Humane Society. Ms. Taylor was floored by the generous donation, and shared that the students have indeed helped to save the life of a husky named Fire (pictured). The Charles City Press published an article about our fabulous class and their life-saving donation.

Ms. Davis is also thrilled that, with the assistance of the reporter in Charles City, our school is establishing partnerships with two other elementary schools in Iowa. Our students will be able to connect with their peers there as they learn about the differences between rural and urban communities.