Class Bet : Spring is in the air

There has been so much learning and exploring taking place in Class Bet, and we are excited to fill you in with all that happened.

On Monday we received a special fragile delivery addressed to Class Bet. We invited Class Gimmel friends to join us in our classroom as we opened the box.

The friends were surprised and curious when we found EGGS inside the box!

The eggs are from a white Leghorn chicken. We asked the children what they already knew about chicks and chicken and here are some answers:

"Chicks are very big and they are white" - Isaac

"Chicks are very small and soft" - Arieh

"They make noise" - Diana

"They live in the farm and baby chicks are yellow" - Sam

"Chickens eat eggs" - Chanah

While we were putting the 7 eggs in the incubator, one of them fell and cracked.

That was a great learning moment, as the children were curious to know if you could already see the chicks inside the shell. We saw that they looked just like the eggs that we use on our challah dough.

Waiting for the eggs to hatch requires a lot of patience. It takes 21 days in the incubator, and every day we cross down a day from our countdown chart.

We also discussed that this is an experiment, and that chicks may hatch or may not. Now we just have to wait and see.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Shari Safra and Evelyn Spodek for sponsoring this wonderful experiment.

As the year is coming to an end (can you believe it?!), we took a trip down memory lane looking thru our journey binder and remembering all the art projects we have done throughout the year. The children were so excited to see a collection of their work and showed so much pride in their projects.

Shavuot is the next holiday coming up. After the Jews left Egypt (story of Pesach), the Jewish people continued on their journey to Israel. They walked through the desert where Hashem gave them the Torah on Har Sinai. We discussed how hot is in the desert, and how all the mountains wanted Hahsem to give the Torah on them, but Hashem chose Har Sinai because it was a humble mountain.

Using humble Har Sinai as an example, we discussed how to talk nicely and in a humble way to our friends. We recognized the importance of appreciating our own work, as well as our friend's work.

Follow up activity: as they had sand in the desert, we brought colored sand to our art center, and they skillfully poured send through the funnel and filled up a clear bottles making beautiful colored layers. Each bottle came out to be so unique.

Rabbi Metzger brought a real Torah into our classroom! We noticed how he holds the Torah so carefully and how we cover it with a beautiful cover because its so special and dear to us. After he opened the Torah, each friend went up to find their Hebrew letter, and they were all able to find it! They were so proud of themselves.

Next, onto our metamorphosis experience.

Since spring is a time of flowers blossoming, butterflies hatching and new baby animals, we had many opportunities to incorporate these wondrous events into the classroom.

The children followed step by step the metamorphosis, from a caterpillar to a butterfly.

Touching the dry chrysalis after the butterflies came out.

The week before, we introduced the idea of symmetry art, and worked with painting one side of the paper, then folding it up and opening to a symmetric painting.

The following week we took to the next level, and the children traced the butterfly wings on one side, then the Morahs cut it out, and they got symmetric wings.

At the end of the week, after we saw the butterflies flying in the nets for a few days, it was time to release them.

At first, our friends really didn't want to let them go, and asked if we could keep inside the for a few more days. So we discussed this with everyone, and we saw how the butterflies didn't have much room to fly in the net, and as much as we loved watching them, it was time to set them free.

We went to the corner store to buy some flowers.

Perry signing the credit card receipt.

In the Shavuot story, before Hashem gave us the torah, many flowers sprouted on Har Sinai, so it would be a beautiful place for the giving of the Torah.

The children planted some herbs (rosemary or basil) in mason jars, and everyday we water the plants.