Happy Birthday, Ellie!

Mazel Tov  to Eli who also turned 5 years old this month! 

Friends and Morahs wish Eli to be happy and strong, to be healthy and smart. 

Eli wished to himself a skyscraper.

Thank you to Eli's mom for joining our classroom Happy Birthday Party, and big thank you from all friends for great presents in honor of Eli's 5th Birthday. May Eli put only smiles on your face.  

Happy Birthday, Etelle!

\\

Happy Birthday to our dear friend Etelle who turned 5 years old. 

Friends and morahs wish Etelle to be healthy and happy, to learn all shapes and letters, to have a lot of friends and have plenty of cakes. 

By Happy Birthday party, friends learned some Torah, gave tzedakah and Etelle decided to do something new. Etelle's  5 years old resolution is to give positive compliments to friends. 

We want to thank Esther, Etelle's cousin, for joining our celebration. Along we want to send Mazel Tov to all Etelle's family. May you have only simcha from Etelle. 

Our Community- Wants

People have needs, things that they can't live without- food, water, sleep. clothes and home.

But we have few wants too. For example, when we want to have good time with family or friends. 

We might go to movies, zoo, bowling, or have meal at Pizza Shop. For things that we need or want, people pay money.  As you see above, friends reviewing money concept- penny and nickel, are paying for movie tickets- 5 cents for a ticket.

Next day, friends visited a bowling alley. 

Two teams- Red and Blue met to match their bowling abilities. 

We had a great time.   

And finally, on Thursday, friends visited a Pizza Shop 

where they made own pizzas! 

First, friends flattened lumps of dough into big flat circles or ovals. 

Then, they had spread tomato sauce onto pizzas. 

Then, they sprinkled pizzas with cheese and took to a baker. A baker shoveled pizzas into the hot oven. In few minutes, we enjoyed crispy yummy cheese pizzas. 

Our Community - Police Officers

On Monday, Pre-K friends met with brave community helpers- Police Officers.

Everyone agreed that we NEED police officers services. They help to keep our community peaceful. 

Police Officers were kind to answer all our questions. 

We had plenty of them. For example, why police officers have badges and uniform? 

Why and how do they use guns and handcuffs? 

Police officer Diaz said that a badge is an officer's identification card. It has a number and police officer's name. Every officer has a gun and a set of handcuffs that are used only if there are bad guys try to hurt somebody. Officers said that it is important for them to work as a team and communicate clearly. For this purpose they use a radio. 

We asked officers if they ever found a lost child. 

"Yes", said police officers. They taught friends some important rules: 

1. Learn your full name and names of your parents. 

2. If lost, don't start to look for your parents. Stay where you are. 

3. Look around for a security guard, life guard or police officer. They will help you to find your parents. 

4. Don't leave place with a stranger.

5. With you are with parents in a crowded place stay close to your parents, track your parents. 

Make sure you see them every time.  

This week we learned

The letter of the week was the letter D. To make the letter one needs one big line and one big curve. The letter D says /d/ and can be found at the begging of such words like December, dime, dollar, dance, door, drum and others.

Everyone was excited about the letter D but more than anyone else was excited our friend Dylan and you know why, right?:) Dylan's name, Sam mom's name, Rochelle dad's name, Etelle brother's name start with the letter D.

And we would not forget that Sam brother's name start with the letter D as well.

DOVID! 

The number of the week was 9. Friends learned that on a number like 9 is located between numbers 8 and 10. Friends noticed that 9 looks like upside down 6.  9 is more than 8,7,6,5,4,3,2, and 1,but less than 10. 

Parshas Bo

For more info on the Parsha:

http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/347694/jewish/Bo-Roundup.htm

Parshas Bo Q's & A's:

http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/349078/jewish/Bo-Q-A.htm

For a song on the Parsha:

http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/573589/jewish/Parshah-Song.htm

Letter Lamed

Benny delivered letter Lamed to Pre-K this week. Lamed has one little line coming down, one big line across, and one big slanted line coming down.

Mnemonic for letter lamed: a boy holding a lulav looks like letter lamed.

We learned about Lashon Tov and Lashon Horah and specifically spent the better part of the week working on Lashon Tov. Lashon Tov means speaking nicely to and about others, while Lashon Horah can be considered tattling and hurtful. One way to prevent Lashon Horah is by speaking directly with the individual and working out the situation. (In an emergency we should turn to an adult.)

Song:
No lashon horah should be said, 
From the time we wake up, until the time we go to bed,
Unless it's an emergency, then tell.

For the Shabbos party, we made challah lachmaniyot- challa rolls.

Lachmaniyot begins with lamed.

L'chaim also begins with lamed

Mazel Tov!

Mazel Tov to our dear friend Dylan on his 5th Happy Birthday!

Friends and Morahs wish Dylan to be healthy and happy, to learn Torah, to have a lot of friends and have a racing car! Mazel Tov to all Dylan's family! Thank you for joying us for celebration and for gifts! May you have only naches from Dylan!

Our Community- Police Officers and Safety Rules

This week Pre-K friends discussed the role of police in the community.
There is what friends said about police.
Sammy: Police officers have hats, police shirts, police uniforms. They have uniform. Police officers have guns.
Rochelle: Police officers have cars with lights, and they have tickets.
Dylan: Police have motorcycle, uniform, and shooting guns.
Ethan: Police officers have cars, handcuffs, and they have jail to put bad guys who steal money in.
Eli: Police officers do army. They protect people with soldiers who have guns.
Etelle: Police officers need jail. It is very important. If bad guys do something bad they go to jail. Food is not kosher in jail that is why Jewish people can't go there.
Nicole: Police officers would give a ticket to those who do not buckle.
Benny: If police officers see bad guys they will put handcuffs them and take them to jail.
Ariella: If police officers see bad guys they would shoot them. If the bad guys steal money, police officers will put them into the jail.
Leora: Police officers will put bad guys in jail if there are in community.

Friends learned that around the world, police officers help people, they keep them safe. Police officers make sure people follow peaceful rules. If you want to become a police officer you need to care about people, stay calm no matter what and be able to solve problem.  Police officers train at special school. They learn about laws, how to be safe with guns, and how to help people who are hurt. To get around, police officers use different transportation: cars, motorcylces, horses, bicycles, helicopters and even boats. Police officers help people in many ways: they stop crimes, direct traffic, and stop speeders, they help lost children find their parents.

Accidential Discussions

It happened that our class was visited by a House fly. This little insect became an object of one Big Talk. What is a fly? What does it do during winter? How it can walk on the walls and ceiling? What does it eat?

Friends learned that not like some animals flies do not hibernate. They try to find warm place and hide.

Flies like to eat garbage but will never refuse food that people eat. Its mouth works like a sponge. Flies have six legs and it has no problem climbing walls. Friends decided to try "fly walk".

New words we learned last week: hibernation, clever, joy.

Our Community- Needs and Wants- Shoes and Clothes

Friends continue learning about community that consist of the people and buildings. There are places where people live, work, learn, and have fun. Communities provide for people's needs and wants. As community grows new buildings and stores may be build.  There are different jobs in a community, and people who do these jobs help community.
As you know, dear readers, we explored different places in our community that provide us with things and services.

On Monday, Sammy needed help! His mom's boots got broken. What should we do? Where should we go? Friends agreed that we can try to fix them. How? We need to find a person who knows everything about shoes and can fix them- A SHOEMAKER.

Pre-K friends took a walk down Brighton 6th and found a Shoe Repair shop.

A shoemaker looked at the boots and said that they can be fixed in few days.

Friends asked the shoemaker how he is going to fix boots?

"With my tools." , said shoemaker.

But what if one's shoes are ripped beyond repair or one just outgrew his shoes? Then, he needs to find the Shoe Store and buy a new pair of shoes. We found a store on Brighton Beach Avenue. 

WOW! We think, this store have a million shoes in it. Shoes are for every occasion- summer shoes, winter shoes, Mary Jane shoes, slippers and sneakers, for babies and adults, for boys and girls, dancing shoes and ...

...fancy Shabbos shoes.

There is other need that occured in our class. We got a Shopping set for our dramatic play. We needed a screwdriver to put some parts together. Our thougtful Benny brought a screwdriver from his home. How his family got one? Where do people get tools from? What kind of store does sell tools that a shoemaker uses too?

\

HARDWARE STORE! We found one on Coney Island Avenue. There we saw many tools and things that people would use to repair their houses- paint and paint brushes, water hoses, hammers and screwdrivers, nails and bolts. We bought some things too: screwdriver with four tips, builders gloves and protective glasses, we even made a key for our pretended "house". It was a cool place to visit.

This week we learned

The letter of the week was the letter S. To make the letter we need two little curves.  Friends were delighted to see pictures of Sam, Sammy, Leora's uncle Saul, Etelle's cousin Sam, Eli's grandfather Soma, Benny's father Stan and Rochelle's grandfather Sema because their names start with the letter S. To celebrate the letter S we did many exciting things.

We made yummy Strawberry cannolis with ricotta cheese and blueberries. Super easy, super healthy and super delicious.

We made Insta Snow for our Sensory Table. Super Fun!

Ariella made Seven  Stars!

To review letter S and preteach letter J , please visit, www.starfall.com  Pre-K Friends decided to make a Treasure Box for a letter of the week. Please send on Tuesday or Wednesday something that start with the letter J (just in case: jumping rope, jewels (not real of course:), jam, jar, jaguar, jaw, jet, a disk with jazz music, jeep (again, not real), juice, jello and etc.) at the end of the week friends will take everything home.

Money is a new unit in Pre-K. We learned that the smallest coin is a penny. It is small and brown. There is a picture of 16th president of America- Abraham Lincoln. A penny is 1 cent. Next week coin is a nickel.

Our new shape is TRAPEZOID. Friends learned that trapezoid has four sides. It made up of 3 big lines and 1 little line.  Two lines are straight, two lines are slented. Where we can see trapezoid shape? A house roof, a bowl or a hat can remind us of a trapezoid.  

Letter Chof Sofis

Nicole was our Mail Carrier. She brought us the new letter of the week which was Chof Sofis. Chof Sofis means letter Chof at the end. There are five letters in the Alef Beis that do not come at the beginning or middle of the word. It comes only at the end of a word, such as, melech -king. 

Although, we already learned the ch sound with letter Chof, nevertheless, when the ch sound comes at the end of a word it is written with a Chof Sofis.

The form of Chof Sofis has one big line on top, and an extra big line coming down.

Chof Sofis looks similar to other letters that we learned, such as, Daled, Vov, and Yud.

Chof Sofis body poses

We heard a story about the three letters kaf, chof, and chof sofis.

Kaf wasn't feeling well. His throat was hurting him so his mom told him to stay home, sit, relax, and suck on a cough drop, A while later, he came to his mom and told her that his throat wasn't hurting him and he didn't need a cough drop to soothe his throat any more. He then became letter chof. His mom agreed with him and said that he didn't need a cough drop but he should still stay home and relax. A bit later, he felt all better. He was able to get up and stretched onto his tippy toes. He became letter Chof Sofis.

Parshas Shmos & Vaera

Parshas Shemos:
For more info on the parsha click link below:
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/346646/jewish/Shemot-Roundup.htm

Parshas Vaera:
For more info on the parsha click link below:
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/347676/jewish/Vaeira-Roundup.htm

Parsha Lesson:
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/349102/jewish/Vaeira-Parshah-Lesson.htm

For a parsha song about the 10 plagues click link below:
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/573588/jewish/Parshah-Song.htm

Letter Chof

Ariella brought us the Letter Chof for the week. It has one big line on top, one big line coming down, and one big line on the bottom. What is the difference between letter Kof and letter Chof? You got it! Kof has a dot where as Chof does not.

Letter Chof does not need a cough drop like letter Kof since it doesn't have a cold. :)

Forming letter Chof on the board