Rainy Days in KB-5

We've been having a lot of Spring rain lately, but the rain sure hasn't stopped us in Kitah Bet. Although it sometimes prevents us from playing outside, there are so many fun things that we can do, find, and see, when it's raining. 

We opened up the window in the classroom during the rain, and children got such joy from sticking their hands out and feeling the rain. "It feels like cinnamon" Yaakov Meir said, and Sylvia said, "It feels wet." 

One day we had quite the rainy day adventure when while playing outside, it starting pouring rain all of a sudden- and we all got soaked! Getting caught in the rain brought such laughs and excitements all around.

Another day, we walked outside after the rain had stopped, and we noticed there were lots of puddles all around. There was one puddle in particular that caught our attention- it had rainbows in it! The children were entranced by the beautiful colors that were reflected in the puddle and stopped for quite some time to just admire it.

On Thursday while playing inside, the children asked to go outside into the rain and jump in some puddles- so that is just what we did! This one was definitely one of our favorite rainy day activities. 

When we go back outside after a rain, the children love to bring out some paper towels and go around the playground wiping up all the rain so that it will be dry for everyone. What great helpers!

We sure do know how to turn rain into rainbows- find the fun in everything and utilize everything is an opportunity to experiences new things and to connect to our environment and surroundings. 

The Adventures of the Shoeboxes in KB-5

"Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere"

- Albert Einstein

The imagination of children is an incredible, beautiful thing. Something that in the eyes of us grown-up can seem invaluable or even as just garbage, can be seen as so many wonderful things through the lens of a child and their imagination. 

One day Morah Estee brought in some empty shoeboxes to our classroom, and we placed them in our block area for the children to do with them as they pleased. The many things that the seemingly simple shoeboxes became were amazing, and it was so fun to watch the children come up with new ideas and scenarios each day. 

They became carwashes 

Hats and Superhero masks

Baby cribs

Luggage on the airplane ride

And they even became instruments as part of an impromptu Kitah Bet band that was complete with singing and drumming! 

There is always so much to learn from children and their ability to take something and turn it into something even better. As the saying goes- one man's trash is another man's treasure. In Kitah Bet, we sure do know how to find treasure.

Shabbat Shalom!

Once Upon a Time There Was a Tree.. (KB-5)

In honor of Tu B'Shvat- the birthday of the trees, we decided to start the children off with a sentence starting a story about a tree, and see where it would go and what they would come up with. We did it in two separate groups so there are two stories. Here are our stories: can you tell we've been learning about trees, weather, and animals recently? 

Once upon a time there was a tree…

Zoey: “It got broken”

Logan: “They cut it”

Rafi: “Then it fell down”

Maddy: “Then the leaves fell down”

Menny: “The grey clouds went up and it rained on the tree”

Rafi: “And the rain fell on the tree”

Zoey: “And it made a puddle”

Maddy: “We need rainboots and umbrellas”

Rafi: “The rain made the tree grow and it was fixed”

Zoey: “And then it was sunny”

Maddy: “We need sunglasses”

Zoey: “And a hat”

Zoey: “Fruit started growing on the tree”

Sylvia: “Apples, and pears grow on the tree

Maddy: “And oranges”

Menny: “And blueberries”

Rafi: “And nuts”

Logan: “And red apples”

The end

Once upon a time there was a tree…

Emmett: “The leaves were falling down and then the trees had a birthday”

Avraham Chaim: “They had a cake”

Emmett: “It was made out of tree”

Eli Lipskier: “The children were in the tree and they played with the animals”

Eli S: “I have a penguin at my house”

Avraham Chaim: “I have a giant panda”

Avraham Chaim: “The squirrels ate all of the cake, and then they ate squirrel food and went back to the tree.

The end

The Little Yellow Ladybug (KB-5)

One beautiful warm winter Wednesday,

A little yellow ladybug decided to come out and play. 

It was spotted by Leah G who said: "Everyone look here!"

And soon everyone came running from far and from near.

"Let's put it on a leaf," said Morah sensibly 

"This way we can all look at it and everyone can see."

Emmett asked if he can hold the leaf so carefully.

Eli Sollish looked on in interest, but a little nervously.

 Rafi held up Leo so he too can see the new find.

Menny loved to look, but only from a few steps behind.

The children gathered round to examine our new friend,

Eli L said: "Look! It has spots all around and even on its end."

Levi said: "Woah!" And we all quite agreed.

Maddy took a good look and noticed it had wings

Sylvia exclaimed "It's yellow and it's black!" 

Things to discover about this insect were not in lack. 

Then we noticed our friend Ben looked a bit blue,
We had an idea- we knew just what to do!
We brought the ladybug over- we brought it right near,
We brought it right over and brought some smiles and cheer!
We then showed it to Gabi who giggled and laughed
We showed it to lots of friends- who all admired it with a gasp. 

We had lots of fun and got to examine it real close

And then we decided to leave it be, and let it return to whichever place it likes most

"Goodbye little ladybug! Thanks for coming to see us!" We called out then. 

"Thanks for bringing us smiles! And we hope you come again!" 

Our fall nature walk in KB 5

The seasons, and fall in particular, are something that envelope us and surround us constantly, but it is still important and take time to explore and delve in. We spent time in Kitah Bet exploring fall through songs, sensory experiences, manipulatives, literacy, and so on, but we decided to take it a bit farther. What better way to learn about something than to actually go right into it and experience it first hand? So, we decided to go on a fall nature scavenger hunt- experience fall first hand, and see in real life all the things we had been learning about. 

We were split into two groups- one group went to playball, while the other group started the trek out of the IJP gates, and then the next day we switched.

Below is a parallel view of each of the groups:

We started off with examining our checklist, and discussing what we are going to be looking out for 

We made our way out, the sweet children holding hands the whole way

  

The children had such joy in finding different things and were so excited to share their finds with everyone. We found many wonderful things such as:

        Flowers

Leaves and branches

     












                      Clouds




                                                                   










 Teeny tiny ants

Grass and Birds 

Here are the end results of our exciting fall excursion: