Classroom Chatter March

Pre-K made a very yummy treat to welcome in the month of Adar. We made Rice Krispies treats and shaped them into the form of a fish, complete with a tail and fins, and even an eye. We had a lot of fun making it, but even more fun eating it! We also made a Purim puppets glove, shalach manos bags, graggers, a Purim mitzvos booklet and hamantaschen.

In Kindergarten, we finished our three dimensional picture megillos. We are also making graggers, shalach manons bags, Purim activity books, and hamantaschen, together with a recipe book. In addition, we have many Purim stories to read, games to play in our Hebrew center, and several song and story tapes for listening fun.

Grade Three is busy learning about simple machines in science. They have discovered the many ways a lever is used,through a seesaw on a playground, a wheelbarrow, and even a hockey stick. Students created their first scientific drawings of an ultimate seesaw, using a ruler and some math manipulatives as tools. They had to design and test their ultimate seesaw. Students then created a scientific drawing of their seesaw by labeling its parts: lever, fulcrum, load, and force. We may have some future inventors on our hands!

Grade Four is getting ready to head into the northeast region of our country. Students are very excited to start taking notes in Social Studies. They are ready to share and expand their knowledge of Rhode Island and learn more about our neighboring states. Students will also take an in-depth look at the Revolutionary War. "The British are coming, the British are coming!”

The Middle School girls had a blast this week. On Monday, for Adar Beis, we heard a great story from Chaya Faiga Taitelbaum. Then we played a game about gam zu l’tovah. Each group was given a scenario that seemed bad, and the girls had to make a skit about how that situation could be good. On Tuesday, we had a “venahafoch hu” and did our Adar Alef activity after Adar Beis had begun. We watched an inspirational play on the Purim story by some of the Middle School girls. They did a great job! We had so much fun with these special Adar activities.

6th Grade Earth Science: The sixth graders are continuing their study of volcanoes and their amazing constructive and destructive forces - the volcanoes, not the students! The students identified many of the world's major volcanoes on a Smart Board map. Some students are already finding favorite volcanoes to study. Each student composed a letter from a volcano "pen pal," which mentioned some of the special things about that volcano. We would like to thank Rivi Weisman for bringing in an informative volcano video.

7th Grade Life Science: The young botanists are learning about the many differences between gymnosperms and angiosperms as they continue their work with the Plant Kingdom. They heard an interesting story about a giant Pacific Coast redwood tree and have used various real samples to learn more about tree structure and function. They even make plant jokes now, such as: "What do you get if you bury a chicken? An eggplant!"

8th Grade Physical Science: After finishing up their excellent engine models, the students are now turning their attention to wave phenomena. They will be investigating many types of mechanical and electromagnetic waves in upcoming weeks, both in their book and with some very lively, messy and loud experiments!

"Bruchim habaim la’ir shelanu!" Last week, Mrs. Weissmann's HLA class created a simulated city called "Ir Shelanu" (our city). The two-day presentation was a culmination of a few weeks of preparation. Each group chose a business to represent, and they had to come up with a name, slogan, advertisement, and list of products to sell, all in Hebrew! On the days of the presentation, each group was given a certain number of shekalim to use as currency. We also had some "surprises"
throughout the periods; for example, the groups were encouraged by the bank to buy insurance(in Hebrew, "bituach"), lest an accident happen and they wouldn't be covered. At various points, Mrs. Weissmann would turn off the lights and announce a "burglary" or "fire" and ask the groups if they had insurance. The class had a lot of fun preparing and presenting, and they learned a lot too!