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December 2019
Dear Parents,
This month first grade participated in a field trip to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The students were taken on docent led tours of the special exhibit, "Every Living Thing: Animals in Japanese Art." The students listened and observed as the docent taught them about several of the pieces in the exhibit. They were then given the opportunity to ask and answer questions and sketch some of their favorite pieces. The students really enjoyed their visit to the museum. LACMA offers free memberships to children and their accompanying adults, and I encourage you to click on LACMA to learn more.
In the last week of break, we started each morning with the song, "Candlelight" by the Maccabeats. The students enjoyed singing the song and making up dance moves and hand movements to accompany the song. To prepare for Hanukkah, K/1 looked at different examples of hanukkiot online, discussed the requirements for a hanukkiah and then were given materials and the freedom to create their own collage hanukkiah on paper. The results were quite beautiful and were lovely decorations for our classroom.
In social studies this month, kindergarten and first grade learned about American symbols, monuments and patriots. In science, kindergarten began their unit on Weather Watching, while first grade completed their unit on Plants and Animal Superpowers and will move into Spinning Skies, Sun, Moon and Stars.
In math, kindergarten worked on flat and solid shapes and will move on to measurement. First grade almost completed their first module on Sums and Differences from 10 and will be moving to the next Module in the new year.
In Jewish Studies,
The classes have continued learning the stories from the Bible; Avraham and Sarah, Yitzhak, the city of S'dom, Rivka becoming Yitzhak's wife, their children Esav and Yakov, and Yakov dreaming of angels going up a ladder. Our discussions range to help understand the meaning of the stories. Is it ok to love one child more than the other? How can you welcome guests to your home like Avraham? All children participate in our discussions which shows their comfort expressing themselves.
For Hanukkah, the children designed and painted wooden dreidels and learned the rules of the game.
Sadly, the class said goodbye to a classmate this month as Yoav and his family prepared to move back to Israel. We sent Yoav off with a goodbye party, sharing donuts, games and stories. We already miss Yoav and wish him and his family the best of luck.
We ended the week before break with a wonderful Hanukkah party! The students played games, decorated cookies, and had their faces painted, all during a fun party run by the middle school students. We celebrated with sufganiyot, latkes, and gelt.
I hope everyone enjoyed a restful break and I wish you all a happy, healthy New Year!
Sincerely,
Ms. Ricci
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