We began last week reading and reflecting on the story of Purim. I read aloud the version of the megillah that I prepared for children over the course of two days. Each day, we reflected on the story in conversation, drama and written responses. On day one, I asked children to respond to the question "Why didn't Vashti come to the king's party?" - something the original megillah is notoriously silent about. Children's responses are on display in the hallway outside the classroom - be sure to check them out.
Here's a shot of Haman leading Mordechai through the streets on the king's horse, and our Purim castle.
After listening to the whole story, we created a coloring book version of the megillah. After each child colored in his/her page, I attached them to make an actual scroll. We were impressed with how long it was!
It is a tradition to drown out Haman's name, and we've had plenty of practice. After a few days of booing, the children made beautiful graggers with Morah Kitty that will come home in time for Purim.
On Friday, we had a chance to sit with our resident filmmakers, Gretchen and Ben, and film our second Gan video. We're all waiting with bated breath for the final product. You'll be the first to know when to expect the world premiere.
In addition to focusing on the plot of the story, we wrote descriptions of the main characters of the story with our sixth grade buddies. These describing words helped serve as a foundation for creating portraits of some of these characters in our "beautiful stuff" art unit. I'll be sharing more about this experience in a separate blog post.
I feel confident that the children are now well acquainted with the Purim narrative. This week we'll focus on the mitzvot/commandments of Purim - in particular mishloach manot (giving gifts of food to friends and family) and matanot l'evionim (gifts to those in need.) We'll be baking hamentashen, filling handmade baskets, and shopping for the survival center. The Gan will also be making a guest appearance in the sixth grade Purim shpiel next Monday morning (3/17) at 8:30, so we'll be rehearsing this week.
Last week we also begin a new, and delicious, science unit. We learned how to identify maple trees, acted out the inner workings of a tree, and on Friday, the class tapped the sugar maple in the parking lot. We'll be collecting sap and boiling it down for maple syrup in the next week or so.
We've had a break from daily book box time as we studied and wrote about both the Purim story and our art creations, but we'll be back to having reading books come home on a more regular basis. Please remember to send back book bags when your child is ready for a new homework book.
In Hebrew, we spent a week studying the parts of the face and building crazy faces on our Mr. and Mrs. Potato head dolls. We also practiced the verb "to give" as children played a game giving presents to one another. We're also practicing getting to recognize our Hebrew names, and classmates' Hebrew names in writing. Lastly, we are learning a Purim song about the characters of the Purim story.
Tomorrow begins the second week of Crazy Adar Days. The schedule is as follows: Most of the school will change into costumes at the end of the day on Friday, but Gan children are invited to wear theirs all day. I'll send an email later in the week about some costume guidelines that help everyone make it through the day....
Monday 3/10 - Backwards Day
Tuesday 3/11 - Sports Day
Wednesday 3/12 - Crazy Sock and Hat day
Thursday 3/13 - Crazy Hair Day
Friday 3/14- Costume Day
So what is backwards day?
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