Kitah Gimmel Practices Kindness--Chesed

     We began the year being kind, helpful and cooperative.  Then, the situation really took off.   
(Above, cleaning our room, we decide to share the responsibilities.  We call out "teamwork, teamwork" to our friends.  Our classmates, wanting to be helpful and kind, eagerly join us.)

      Last week during our Parsha lesson, we learned about our matriarch Sarah's qualities.  Sarah was a Tzedaket, a holy woman, and in her merit three miracles occurred:  her candles stayed lit from one Shabbat to another, her challah dough was blessed, and a cloud hovered over her tent.  (Above, Noa uses our blocks to demonstrate the tent with the cloud.)

     We know that when Sarah died, these three miracles stopped.

     Avraham then sends his servant to find a wife for his son Yitzchak.  What quality should this young woman have?  We chatted about this in class.  Should the girl be smart?  Pretty?  We learned that Yitchak's bride, the woman who would become the next "Mommy" of the Jewish people, must have the attribute of kindness, chesed.  How would the servant, Eliezer, know if a woman possessed this characteristic?

     When Eliezer stopped at the well, kind Rivka gives him water to drink.  She then offers to draw water for his ten camels.  (Above Levi uses the pulley with our "well" to get an understanding of this process.)

     On Friday, while we were sharing this information, Reed expressed some concern about his spot on the rug.  He preferred to move, to sit at the other side of the circle.  But that spot was already taken, so what could be done?  Henia immediately stood up, offering her own spot on the rug, so that Reed could sit in her place.  Everyone was pleased with their new positions on the rug.  What a sweet display of kindness!

     We then "wrote" down some other ways that we show kindness, chesed.  We began by talking about all the ways we know how to share.  Pearl, Ari, Levi and Noa share their snacks and treats with their siblings, and Ruthie and Hannah share their room with each other.
    
     When we returned to our Kitah Gimmel room on Monday, we had more to say about being kind, showing chesed.  Shaya told us that he moved on the rug so Henia could sit next to her sister.  Yoni and Sam told us that they share food with their sisters. Rami graciously allows his Saba and Savta to sleep in his room when they come to visit.

     When we went outside to go to the Third Building for recess, we noticed Mr. Leonard.  He works very hard to keep our school clean, neat and safe.  Mortimer asked him, "What are you doing?"  Mr. Leonard told us that he was blowing the leaves away.  We know that this is his job, but he does it so sweetly and kindly.  Now our walkways are clear of many of the slippery leaves.  We repaid his kindness and said, "Thank you" to him.

      Later at lunch, Ari found a food container on the floor.  Who could it belong to?  Rami claimed it.  He could have picked it up from the floor himself, but Ari very kindly (yes, so very kindly--that's our operative word here) picked it up for him.  Such thoughtfulness, such sweetness.  (And this is one reason why the Morot love lunchtime so much.  We always have something to learn from the children's actions and conversations.)

     And kindness is so contagious!  Shlomit found a Zip-Loc of Pearl's crackers on the floor, and very kindly picked it up and returned it to her.  

     So, our little story ends where it began:  here we are again, kindly helping each other clean-up our room.  Look at our faces!  Doing acts of chesed is a mitzvah--so much more so when we go about it so happily!

Morah Susan and Morah Sterny,

with a big thank you to Kitah Gimmel for all their acts of kindness.

Connections

The way we acquire and retain knowledge is by connecting  the new information to what we already know. The teachers' job is to figure out how to connect the new idea to the information that the children already have mastered. This is the natural process of learning. The more connections that teachers help the children make the more it becomes a habit. Children begin looking for connections themselves. We also connect literacy, science, art, holidays, and music with each other.
Sometimes we work to make the connections and sometimes we just get lucky.  Morah Gail brought in two Rosh Hashana books this morning that she took out of the library over the weekend. I brought in soil and seeds for planting. At circle time Morah Gail read the book, Talia and the Rude Vegetables , by Linda Elovitz Marshall. The story is about a girl Talia who goes to gather from the garden what she thinks her grandmother has asked for, that is rude vegetables. Her grandmother wants to make a stew for Rosh Hashana. Talia gathers ornery onions, crooked carrots, garish garlic and more. She also puts aside vegetables and gives them to the rabbi for families in need. The book gave us some good laughs and provided thought about helping others. But what are root vegetables? Out to the garden we went. We dug up the leftover parsley root and potatoes and prepared the soil for planting beets, carrots and radishes.

Connections: Literacy, Rosh Hashana, doing mitzvot, root vegetables and gardening. And of course, enjoying it all!

Morah Ruth

It's a Mitzvah in KG

During Circle time we discussed the upcoming special day of Lag Baomer, the 33rd day during the counting of the Omer.  We heard about Rabbi Akiva, who teaches us that it is NEVER too late to study Torah or any new subject, and anyone who puts their mind to something can get it done.  This was illustrated with the story of the water creating a hole in the rock. Drip drop drip drop, each day...

 Lag Baomer is the day when Rabbi Akiva's students stopped being unkind to each other, they were busy learning Torah the whole day that they forgot to pay attention to each other and take care of their friends. They were all super smart and academic, but forgot about the people around them.  This is a big lesson for us to learn from. 

We read the book    it's a...It's a...It's a Mitzvah

                                       Written by Liz Suneby Diane Heiman

Then The children were asked which Mitzvah they love to do:

Libi: Give Tzedakah.

Josie: Giving to my friends.

Amitai: Make sure to share.

Mia: Play with Anika.

Mina: To feed my baby Liba.

Kemp: Give things to someone.

Ziva: Help my sister to get drink.

Cassidy: Hug my mom.

Eli: Help Beker when he is in danger.

Perly: Share my toys with everyone and share my food with Bryna at home.

Adaya: Love people.

Laylah: Kiss my Mommy.

Bryna: Help my mommy with laundry