Dear Parents,

 

Chanukah, oh Chanukah, what fun we’ve had in Purple Room! Every day this week was packed with Chanukah fun integrated with literacy, math, science and art.

 

Science

The Purple Room Scientists tested many theories they had about oil and water. They used droppers to drop colored water onto the oil and blew colored oil and water with a straw.

 

Before they began the experiment, they offered their hypothesis. After they conducted the experiment they noted their observations:

 

Bracha:

Hypothesis: I think that colored water will turn clear.

Observation: It looks like bubbles.

 
Leah:

Hypothesis: I think the water will go up.

Observation: It looks like cents.

 

Jemma:

Hypothesis: I think it will turn red.

Observation: It looks like sparkling apple juice.

 

Ronen:

Hypothesis: I think the water will disappear.

 Observation: It looks like honey.

 

Naveed:

Observation:  The water went out.

 

Angie:

Observation: It looks like the ocean.

 

Observations of straw blowing the oil and water:

Jemma: When I was blowing with the straw the color was spreading around..

Bracha: It went to different corners and then went to the same place.

Leah: It made a duck.

Ronen:-  It stayed in its place.

 

Art

The Purple Room Artists created dreidel sculptures. They mixed plaster with water to create a dreidel. Once it dried they painted the dreidel and decorated the display stand to complete a stunning creation.

 

Made latkes from scratch. They peeled the potatoes and then grated them. Checked the eggs to make sure they were kosher (no blood spots) and mixed them with the potatoes, salt and flour

 

Math

The Purple Room Mathematicians ‘made’ latkes in a giant fry pan made of blocks. They each received an equation they had to figure out. They used the ‘latkes’ (aka Magnatiles) to represent the addends which they ‘threw’ into the pan. By figuring out the sum they knew how many jumps they got to jump into the giant fry pan.

 

Practical life skills

The Purple Room Cooks made delicious latkes this week from scratch. They peeled, cut, grated and mixed the potatoes. Eating them was the best part. The Purple Room children loved singing the latke song and would make sure to sing it down the hall so the ‘little kids can learn it’!

 

Song:

Latkele, latkele, hop, hop, hop,

Jump right into my pot.

Fry and sizzle merrily ,

For you’re the one I’ll eat, you see!

 

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Perline

 Dear Parents,

 

Integration, integration, integration. This week the Purple Room integrated Chanukah, literacy, science, Alef Beis, fine motor, math, creativity, and more into prepping for Chanukah. You name it and Chanukah was pulling it in.

 

The children had so much fun working on every step. They created paint on oil (art) Chanukah cards for their grandparents. Chanukah cards were created for their parents and the Kindergarten children sounded out and spelled words. The Chanukah gift for their parents began as a science experiment. They created Lava lamps beginning with oil and water (transferring liquids, a Montessori activity). The Purple Room Scientists noted their hypotheses on their Science sheet, then their observations and, finally, their conclusions. The Kindergarten children wrote their own notes sounding out the words (literacy). They discovered that, no matter what, the oil would always rise to the top even when they shook their bottles really hard. Then Jemma had the idea to add a dreidel to the bottle. The Purple Room Scientists noticed that the dreidel floated on top of the water but under the oil. They noted that the plastic dreidel is lighter than water but heavier than oil. They carefully and lovingly wrapped the present, tying it with a ribbon, so excited to give this Chanukah present to their parents.

 

The Purple Room children know why many people use oil to light in their menorahs and why we eat latkes and donuts fried in oil. Ask your child and he/she will tell you.

 

Creating the Chanukah Menorah involved many steps: The Purple Room Artists applied tape to the wood in a design, then painted over it. After the paint was dry, they peeled off the tape (fine motor). They then painted again with Mod Podge and glitter.  Then they were given candle holders and had to figure out if they had more or less than 8 (math). If they had more, how many did they have to take away (subtract) to get to 8? If they had less, how many more did they need to add (addition) to get to 8? Once they arrived at the correct answer they received clay to create a base for each candle holder. After which they received one more for the Shamash (the candle used to light the Menorah candles. The Purple Room Artists painted the clay bases when they were dry. They are so proud of all the extensive work put into their Menorahs and are so excited to light them every Chanukah night.

 

The children brought home their Chanukah song books to share with their families. They so enjoy the many ways one can make a dreidel (see song # 3). They can think of a few to add to the mix!

 

What a special treat the Purple Room children had this week: It rained!

Geffen: I said thank You Hashem for the rain.

The children had so much fun playing with mud, feeling the rain on their hands. They may have brought home muddy clothes but the smiles and shouts of glee were worth it. (Please send fresh clothes for their spare clothes bags J)

 

Happy Chanukah! Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Perline

 Dear Parents,

 

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of learning punctuated by the Thanksgiving break. The Purple Room flew from exploring their appreciation of things to learning about the light of Chanukah. Each Purple Room child created their own Thanksgiving tree with many of the things they felt thankful for. They incorporated the artist George Seurat’s Pointillism style when creating the jar and the leaves for the tree. Their personally painted rocks and wire twists added that extra pizzazz to an already charming creation.

 

Kind Respect

The Purple Room has an Ahavas Yisroel (loving another) sign displayed prominently on the classroom wall. The Purple Room friends have been working on speaking with kindness and respect for another. Here is a chant each child recites to another child every day:

 

____    ____ (insert person’s name) Pumpkin Eater

Had a friend he/she liked to greet

Treated ______ with kind respect

And in the morning,

Hugged his/her neck!

 

Parsha + Math

Yaakov divided his family and animals and belongings when going to meet Esav. The Purple Room played activities creating ‘groups of’. For example, when they divided 16 gems into 2 groups they found they had 8 gems in 2 groups. When they divided 8 dreidels into 2 groups they found 4 dreidels in each group.

Literacy

The Purple Room has been practicing letter writing this week. Tracing the letter on a card and then in colored sand as a sensory experience. Then the children practice the letters on the whiteboards with erasable markers (which they really enjoy!). The letters a, d, b, k and q are especially challenging but they keep practicing! :)

 

Parsha

In this week’s parsha, Parshas Vayishlach, the Purple Room learned how Yaakov did three things when going to meet Esav. Yaakov wasn’t sure if Esav was still angry with him from when Yaakov got the bracha instead of Esav all those years ago. Yaakov prepared gifts for Esav so that Esav would be more favorably inclined to him, then he divided his family in one group and the animals and belongings in another and, finally, Yaakov davened to Hashem for help.

 

What do you daven to Hashem for? I daven to Hashem for…

 

Ronan: … that I can see in the dark. I feel scared in the dark.

Jemma: … that Hashem should bring my Grandma who was 91 back to life.

Angie: … to help me read.

Bracha: … for some presents for Chanukah.

Leah: … to give me toys.

Geffen: … to help me read.

 

What kind of gifts might you send to a friend if you want to help them when they are upset?

 

Jemma: A card that says I hope you feel better.

Geffen: To do a race. With motorcycles. Real ones. Or a cake.

Angie: A heart.

Bracha: I would make a picture. I am very good at drawing. Actually write the words and actually make the pictures.

Ronan: A message. It says ‘I hope you feel better’.

Naveed: Flowers. 

Leah: A balloon.

 

When Yaakov traveled back to Eretz Yisrael with his family and many belongings he had to cross a river, the Jordan River. After crossing the river many times to get his entire entourage over to the other side, Yaakov realized he had left some jars back on the side he had come from. There were only a few jars and Yaakov could have left them there. But Yaakov knew to be responsible for his things, not to leave them lying around, and went back for them.

 

What are some ways we can take really good care of our personal or community belongings?

 

Jemma: We don’t drop books on the floor. We put them on the bookshelf. Also, you can’t throw a Siddur because it has Hashem’s name.

Geffen: If you have a motorcycle or if you’re hungry and you want to eat. You don’t leave it on the road. You leave your motorcycle in the garage and then you wash your hands and then you eat.

Ronan:  I don’t leave my toys on the floor so somebody could trip. I put them away where they go.

Angie: My dad takes care of the dishes. He puts them in the sink. I take care of my toys. I clean them all up.

 

Now that the Purple Room has ‘met’ the Patriarchs (aka the Three Fathers), Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaakov, they know who taught us to daven to Hashem three times a day:

 

Song:

Three Times a Day

(TTTO: Three Blind Mice)

 

Three times a day 2 x

To Hashem we pray 2x

Shacharis is the morning tune (learned from Avraham)

Mincha in the afternoon (learned from Yitzchak)

Ma’ariv by the light of the moon (learned from Yaakov)

Three times a day

Shabbat Shalom!

Morah Perline

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

Dear Parents,

Literacy

Your Purple Room child will have brought home a Homework folder. An introductory letter has been included in the folder. The Kindergarten children are expected to do their homework each day so they can receive the new homework. The Pre K children are to return their homework folders each Monday and should review the homework each day. Some Pre K children can receive homework more often than once a week depending on each child’s level and ability.

 

The Purple Room is focusing on building the sight Word Wall. Some children have already begun working on the Waseca workbooks which helps the children build and spell words with the moveable alphabet. This can only be attempted once the child knows all the sounds of the letters. This is something that is reviewed each day. Please be aware that the Purple Room focuses more on the sound the letter makes rather than the name of the letter. This will enable your child to learn to read faster and will help them understand the mechanics of the words. 

 

Kriyah (Hebrew Reading)

As with general literacy, the Purple Room is focusing on knowing the names of the Hebrew letters before introducing the nekudos (vowels). There are some children who know the names of all the letters and are now learning how to combine the komatz with all the letters.

 

Math

Purple Room has been engaging with the Montessori Math beads and created number pyramids, building from nine beads down to one. This helps prepare them for the ‘Teens Boards’ which will help them understand numbers 11 – 19. They are also working on the concept of subtraction since they have to consider ‘one less than’ in every instance. Depending on each child’s level, they will or have started working with the ‘Teens Boards’. This is an activity which is conducted one-to-one with the Morah. 

 

The children have been practicing writing their numbers.

 

Middos

The Purple Room Polite People are working hard on improving their Middos (character traits) by trying to swallow their food before talking at Snack or Lunch. They know this is also a safe way to eat so the food doesn’t go down the windpipe. They are also focusing on chewing with their mouths closed.

 

Parsha

The Purple Room learned how Hashem told Avraham to pick up and move from one place (Ur Kasdim) and follow Hashem to a place that He would show Avraham. Avraham listened to Hashem without complaint, not even to ask where Hashem was taking him to. The Purple Room Friends discussed what it would be like to travel from one place to another.

 

Have you ever moved from one place to another? What was that like?

 

Leah: Maybe I went on a trip to a playground and we saw a dead bird there. I brought a lot of things: my suitcase with my pillow, my blanket my Mom packed for me. My lunchbox. There was a kitchen there to cook. There’s two rooms. There’s two beds. I kind of sleeped with my mom.  I was crying because I don’t want to share that kind of ice cream.

Ronan: We went to Texas. We got there in a car and a airplane. We brought my suitcase and I packed my toothbrushes so I won’t forget my toothbrush to brush my teeth. We went to my mom’s poppa’s, his name is Grandpère and my mommy’s mom’s name is Nanny. And that’s all.

Angie: I go on trip on the forest. I didn’t take any food. I went with Moriah. Moriah’s at Grandma’s house. We were in the cabin in the forest. In the cabin is a couch, a bathroom, carpets and a box you can put in things. There is nothing in the box.

Bracha: I was sad when we moved because I liked the old house. But I was excited for the new house.

Jemma: When we moved last year. My dad was like “Help me packing”. I was only 3 years old and I didn’t understand my dad. It was very hard for me because my parents didn’t know yet if I understand and they didn’t know if I was able to listen. So I decided to listen so I went and packed my stuff. But I was still very sad. My parents packed. They didn’t give up.

Naveed: I moved into a new house with an orange door. It has a new pool. But not a Jacuzzi. We just packed everything. Even the fridge. They also packed it up my toys.

 

What were some of the hard parts of moving?

 

Jemma: My parents were very upset at me that I didn’t listen the first time. To pack up all my blankets. I couldn’t listen because I was too sad to move.

Bracha: We have some boxes in my dining room but it’s not taped yet. One of the boxes, it’s for our new house. The hard part is unpacking the boxes. When we go to the new house. I keep on asking my mom because it’s very hard to put things in the boxes. But she says no.

Leah: I think I packed my toys. I bought toys. It was easy to move.

 

How do you think it was for Avraham and Sarah to travel in the desert?

 

Bracha: I feel bad for the man in the front. Because he’s walking (in front of the camels).

Naveed: Their feet hurt and they get a splinter.

 

Shabbat Shalom!

 

Morah Perline