Providing Opportunities for Responsibility and Independence in Kitah Gimmel

The Kitah Gimmel morahs have noticed that as the year has progressed, the students LOVE to be special helpers! Each child craves independence and responsibility, and we, the morahs, have been looking for ways to foster and encourage these characteristics. We started implementing special jobs that each child is in charge of every day. Each day when the child enters the classroom, he or she goes through the routine of greeting the morah and unpacking snacks and lunch. Then, the morah reads the job that is posted above the child’s name that he or she is in charge of for the day. Each child takes the job seriously and refers back to his or her job throughout the day. In showing the children that they can be trusted to help with classroom responsibilities, they have begun to take ownership of the classroom.

Our jobs include the following: 

Line Leader

Leads the group from one activity to the next.

Tefillah Helper: 

This helper points to each prayer in the siddur and helps lead the bracha for food. 

Lunch and Snack Setup and Cleanup: 

These helpers set up the snacks and lunches. They wipe down the tables and help sweep the floor. 

Chair Helper:

The chair helper pushes in all the chairs so no one trips over them.

Caregiver:

If a student is feeling upset, the caregiver checks on them and helps retrieve band-aids and ice packs when necessary. The children are particularly serious about this job. If a child begins to cry, the caregivers have immediately stopped to run over and see how they can help!

Lost Item Helper: 

This helper has the job of performing the mitzvah of returning lost items.

Door Holder: 

The door holder needs to use their strong muscles and gross motor skills to push open the door and hold it for all of their friends.

Backpack Helper: 

This student helps pack up the backpacks at the end of the day. 

Depending on the number of children present that day, some jobs are done by multiple children. The key, we’ve found, is for each child to feel responsible for the functioning of the class, which in turn gives them the opportunity to develop important life skills. We are excited to see how these children continue to grow in their compassion for each other. At the beginning of the year, we introduced the concept of a “Safekeeper” to the students. We discussed how the morahs are the Safekeepers of the students at school and who their Safekeepers are at home. Now, we are showing the children how they can be Safekeepers for each other. They are all inspiring their morahs with their commitment and dedication to the task to which they are assigned each day!

Tu BShevat in KB!

It’s the birthday of the trees! What a beautiful holiday, giving thanks to the trees for all that they

give us, and being mindful of the year of growing that is ahead. We’ve celebrated in so

many ways, and spent so much of our reading time reading special books about trees

Morah Adi gets us from the library! 

Morah Adi made sure we had so much fruit from trees to explore with our taste buds,

noses, and hands during snack time and lunch. Victoria helped us fill a basket with all the

fruits we bought, and each day we try a new fruit! Friends can choose if they want to eat

the new fruit, we make the fruit bracha, and discuss who likes it and who doesn’t.

So far friends have really enjoyed avocado, orange, and pear! 

 

If the fruit we try has a seed, or pit, we put it in water to see if it will grow! We are growing a little garden by the window in our class! 

During tefillah Morah Adi has been teaching us about the 7 Species of Israel: wheat, barley, figs, dates, grapes, olives, and pomegranates. We play remembering games with pictures of the 7 Species, and learn details about each!

Friends also got to get their hands dirty! We asked the school to get fertilizer for us so that we could add it to the blueberry bushes, raspberry and blackberry vines, and sage and rosemary that are already growing at our school. We used shovels to add fertilizer to the base of the plants so that this year, they can grow back stronger! 

We learned a special bracha we say before smelling things, and Morah Adi taught us to say it with rosemary we picked and added to our challah! "Borei atzei besamim."

We even updated our trays for the holiday, using loose parts to decorate our very own trees!

We worked hard to paint and bead so many different decorations to hang in the trees on Tu BShevat! We used bells, bright colored felt, fun colored beads and wooden beads, and even little flower pots we painted to string up hanging decorations we will put in our fig tree at school on Tuesday when we celebrate!

Such a special holiday with these growing friends! Please take a moment to let us know how you plan to celebrate Tu BShevat at home! 

KD Explores Symmetry

                                                     Symmetry in Kitah Daled

Something is symmetrical when it looks the same on both sides. Symmetry creates balance, and balance in design creates harmony, order, and aesthetically pleasing results. It is found everywhere in nature, and is probably why we find it to be so beautiful. Children tend to instinctively look for order and balance in their world, often arranging toys and belongings in rows or patterns. Learning about symmetry builds on this instinct whilst helping children learn to sort and classify, and recognize and form patterns.

 Kitah Daled explored symmetry on Chanukah using a dreidel shape. Folding the dreidel in half, they added paint on one side of the dreidel using squeeze paint bottles, which are great for building fine motor skills, to create the design of their choice. Then pressing the two sides together, the paint transferred to the other side of the dreidel.

    After opening it up, they saw the designs they made, symmetrical, on both sides of the dreidel!  This “wow” moment brought on much excitement and the students excitedly shared their thoughts with their classmates:

“It looks like a butterfly!” Lia said.  

“Look at mine!” said Aliza.

“I chose to use orange,” mentioned Jake.

“I used two blues,” said Dovid.

“I really liked that!” said Ellis.

“Woah!” said Benjamin.

    They loved it so much they wanted to continue doing it, and when the dreidels ran out, we used regular paper to continue the symmetry.

Since this activity was such a hit, and IJP’s Reggio-inspired philosophy follows the interests of the students, the Morahs are infusing symmetry in this year's art, social-emotional and pre-writing curriculums. Look out for our next project: symmetry self-portraits!

Outdoor Safespace

In Kitah Daled Extended Day, we noticed the need for an outdoor safe space. Sometimes friends would have a disagreement, become upset, and need some alone time. Other times friends would simply want a quiet place to go and look at books. 

Morah Jessica brought in large sheet of pinky-orange acrylic with holes in it. This became one of the walls of our space.

Our first task was to build a sort-of frame around the edges of the acrylic sheet. Mr. James, our wonderful handyman donated some scrap wood for us to achieve this.

Morah Jessica drilled the holes and our Kitah Daled builders, along with some friends from Kitah Bet, attached the wood and acrylic together using a screw driver, wood screws, and washers.

We discovered that we would need brackets for mounting our new wall and keeping super sturdy.

Again, Morah Jessica drilled the holes and the children applied the screws along the bottom of the acrylic wall.

We decided a shower curtain would be the best option for the last wall. It could also act as a door.

The children chose a fun color curtain and Morah Rena ordered it along with a rod and mounts.

Kitah Bet helped Morah Jessica mount the curtain rod.

Then they helped test out the new enclosed space.

The sheer curtain gives the children a bit of privacy.

Most importantly, it also allows Morahs to keep friends safe!

The children love their new cozy outdoor space!

 

Fiber Arts in Kitah Bet

 This year, Kitah Bet has been exploring fabric. We first introduced them to this material in a curtain making provocation. The children selected scraps of fabric and ripped it into ribbons. The Morahs then helped tie the strips together and then attached it to a long cord mounted across the wall.

The children then were presented with a wire, fabric, and clay provocation. The children made wire tree sculptures with a clay base. They decorated the wire branches with fabric scrap “leaves” and pom-pom “flowers.” These sculptures decorated the table at an event for their families.

This week, The children were presented with a roll of mesh fencing. First we put on work gloves to protect our hands from any pokey wires. Safety first!

         

They unrolled the material.  

The children explored the mesh by pressing it. Can we make it flat?

They manipulated the mesh by wrapping it around themselves then bending and pressing on it.

They discover that they can go under it. 

                  “It's a cave!”

  

   

The children started placing some of their animal friends in the “cave.”

With the metal armature now sculpted, it was time for some fabric adornment.

We offered the children fabric of various colors and textures. 

Morah asks, “What color is a cave?”

The children suggest black, brown, grey. 

We then select yarns, felt, and scarves in these colors from our fabric bin.

Rosie cuts some fabric for the cave.

Victoria adds some black felted “rocks” to the structure using wire.

          Results after Kitah Bet's first session working on their fiber sculpture.