Dear Parents,

 

Art

The Purple Room went ‘branch collecting’ in the yard this week for their thankful trees. After using their fine motor skills for cutting out leaves on the outline, they considered some of the very many things they are thankful for. They beautified the leaves utilizing the same style of art they used to create thankful tree jars: the Pointillism style made famous by the artist George Seurat. They were quite amazed to appreciate ‘The Eiffel Tower’, how Seurat could create such a work of art with so many dots. Some of the children imitated this style quite effectively on the jars.

 

Literacy

The Purple Room Writers have been using many mediums this week for practicing letter formation of all the letters with colored sand and chalkboards. They have been focusing on writing the letter ‘a’ which can be quite tricky.

 

Math

The Purple Room integrated Parsha, the sense of hearing and math in one Bingo game. The Purple Room Parsha Whizzes know that because Yitzchak’s eyes were weak, he had to rely on other senses, the sense of hearing and touch, to know who was talking to him. The Purple Room children closed their eyes and heard an everyday sound such as a phone ring or water pouring in a sink. When they distinguished the sound, they covered the matching picture with a disc. When all nine pictures were covered with nine discs they read the number sentence which was written on the whiteboard and followed its instructions. For example: 9 – 6. Then they figured out how many were left and the answer was transcribed onto the whiteboard: 3.  9 – 6 = 3. They followed several addition and subtraction number sentences. 

 

Parsha

Paint is not the only medium the Purple Room used for art. In the Parsha they learned about the lentil soup Yaakov cooked which he sold to his twin brother Eisav for the b’chora (firstborn) bracha. The Purple Room artists used green and red lentils to create original art.

 

Angie: I don’t eat hot soup. (Eisav ate the soup so quickly; he didn’t wait for it to cool down.)

 

Song:

https://www.chabad.org/519440

 

Rivkah Eemeinu had twin sons, Esav was red
He was a hunter, Yaakov learned Torah instead.
Yaakov was cooking beans, Esav was hunting
"I am hungry! Give me soup! Esav came in grunting.

"Please sell me your b’chorah (firstborn bracha)  I’ll give you soup so red."
Yaakov told this to Esav, "Take it!" Esav said.

Rivkah put fur, on Yaakov as a disguise
Yitzchok touched his son, because he, had weak eyes.

"It sounds like Yaakov, but feels like Esav’s hands"
Yaakov received the bracha, of the stars and sand.
When Esav came home, his anger burned
Yaakov had no choice, to Lavan’s house he turned.

 

Discussions:

 

Do you know any twins? Are there ways in which they are similar? Ways in which they are different? 

Jemma: my cousins. They’re sister and brother but they look the same. One’s name is Ian and one’s name is Elana.  Ian is 8 and Elana is 9. 

 

What do you think using a voice like Yaakov means?

Geffen: You talk nicely, you don’t scream to talk, it’s not a nice word.

Jemma: If the person is yelling at you they should take a deep breath and then they should use a regular voice. 

Naveed: Being gentle and being kind and talking nicely. Not like Eisav.

Angie: They should use kind words.

 

Kriyah

This week one Kriyah group focused on Alef Beis letter families. For example, the Beis and Veis are in one family, the Kof, Chof and Final Chof are in another family. The letters in one family may not look the same but they still belong to a family. The Purple Room noticed that Geffen and Carmel don’t look the same but they still belong to the same family. This week’s Parsha also discussed two brothers who were twins but didn’t look the same: Yaakov and Eisav. The Purple Room wants to emulate Yaakov’s ways. 

 

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Perline

Dear Parents, 

Kindness and Gratefulness

The Purple Room Friends are focusing on kind acts they see their friends do and verbalizing the gratefulness they feel. 

 

Song: 

(TTTO This Old Man)

There’s a Mitzvah, it’s easy to do,

Open your eyes, look around you.

 

Can you speak kindly to a friend?

Invite them to play or share with them?

 

For someone coming, hold the door,

Give tzedakah to help the poor.

 

For someone lost, show them the way

Do Chesed - Kindness - every day!

 

Grateful to Community Helpers

The Purple Room Friends had a wonderful opportunity this week to appreciate the hard work the construction workers do for us. They watched the workers as they worked on the road to create a smooth road for bicyclists and cars to drive on. They saw how the tractor went back and forth, picking up soil and filling the hole in the road, back and forth, back and forth. They observed the cement flowing from the cement mixing truck and the workers (eight  of them – they counted) work very quickly to smooth the cement before it dried. They feel so grateful to these community workers for making the roads for us to ride on.

 

Literacy

Work is progressing for each child at his/her level. Some children are working on Pre-Waseca letter sounds such as c, m, a, t. Others recognize most of the letter sounds and are still practicing the few they need practice in. Some are already spelling words with the moveable alphabet. And some have begun the Red Book which focuses on spelling and writing words.

 

Science

The Purple Room created their very own well. The Purple Room Scientists learned how a well works, how rainwater is absorbed into our soil and rises up in a well so we can access it. They learned that we must take care of what goes into our soil since some of our water is extracted from it. 

 

Fine Motor + Parsha

The Purple Room Artisans created jewelry for their mothers in honor of the jewelry Eliezer gave to Rivkah upon her marriage to Yitzchok. There were many sized beads to work with, some quite small, utilizing fine motor skills.

 

What do you think Eliezer needed to bring along for the trip when he searched for a wife for Yitzchak?

Ronan: Camels and a suitcase.

Geffen: Water. It’s really hot so of course he needs water.

Naveed: A airplane.

Leah: A bicycle

 

What kind of person do you think Eliezer should be looking for?

Jemma: Kind, like helping other people. Like kids need help.

Geffen: Someone that smiles, shares and give presents.

 

What special things do you have/do in your home that are similar to the special things that happened in Rivkah's tent?

Leah: A lot like those Shabbos candles.

Jemma: I have my challa that stays fresh a whole week. Hashem really does that.

Geffen: Candles. Every week they light up. 

Ronan: I have candles but they don’t stay lit. They only stay lit for a little.

 

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Perline

 

 Dear Parents,

Welcome! Boruch Haba!

The Purple Room was very excited this week to enact a Mitzvah learned from this week’s Parsha: hachnosas orchim, welcoming guests. But these guests were no ordinary guests. These guests would become the newest members of the Purple Room Friends. Welcome to Geffen and Carmel Gabay! The Purple Room Friends have been taking turns showing Geffen and Carmel the different areas of the class and how to use all the fun things in the classroom. They have truly made their new friends feel welcome and at home.

 

Literacy

The children will have received their homework folders last week. In the Literacy section, the children may have two sheets: one with sight words for them to practice daily and the other with letters for them to sound out. The Purple Room learns the alphabet letters phonetically as in a is for apple, b is for banana, c is for cup, etc. They will later learn that some letters have more than one sound as in c for cup and c for cylinder.

 

Once the children have mastered all the alphabet letters phonetically they begin using the Waseca drawers. The Purple Room has a big Mazal Tov as another friend has begun the Red 
Waseca drawer this week.

 

When Morah reads a story to the class, the Purple Room Readers read many of the words themselves from the Word Wall by reading the sight words they are familiar with. 

 

Math

The block center was so much fun this week. Geffen showed his new Purple Room Friends how to create the domino effect. The class discussed how people can also have a domino effect. This led to a discussion about how expressing their appreciation for, and to, each other can have the domino effect of increased Ahavas Yisroel, love and acceptance of each individual.

 

Hebrew Literacy

Did you know that Bananagrams comes in Hebrew letters, too? Some of the Purple Room friends played Identify the Letter, accumulating many letters to build a tower until …. it toppled!

 

Parsha

The Purple Room practiced hachnosas orchim by having fun with their individual play-doh packets to create all types of foods: pancakes, hot dogs, cookies… They discussed different ways they could visit people even in this time of coronavirus: calling a friend or face-timing.

 

Song:

Hachnosas orchim, it means inviting guests

Hachnosas orchim, it’s friendship at its best

Hachnosas orchim, it’s something you should do

Hachnosas orchim, invite a friend or two.

 

Science

The Purple Room Friends explored the earth’s magnetic force. They learned about the four directions, north, south, east and west and how Avrohom so wanted to help people and have guests. Avrohom made sure his tent opened in all four directions so travelers would be sure to feel welcome. 

 

Song:

From North to South, from East to West
Avrohom’s tent was open to guests
Three malochim were sent
Each to do something different

 

A son you will have, Sara was told
She laughed and said, "I’m too old,"
The next malach came to destroy S’dom
The third came to heal Avrohom

 

Chorus:

Avrohom ran to the malochim
To be machnis orchim

 

The Purple Room began the experiment with a hypothesis. They then created a compass and recorded the result. The Purple Room Scientists observed that the compass toothpick always ended up facing to the North, no matter which way it was initially set to. They then noted their conclusion.

 

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Perline