Checking the Weather

The Yeladim stood by the door to check the weather today.

Peretz: It's on me
Zalman: I'm catching it
Benjamin: It's raining on there

Our Model Seder

The model seder was ready to begin.

When the teacher brought our the matches, she  told the Yeladim the usual reminder that we don't touch fire and that matches are only for grownups. The Yeladim said that Michelle - Yakir's Ima is a grown up so she can light the candles.

The Yeladim checked in the Haggadah what to do.

Yeladim "Kiddush, grape juice."

The Yeladim dipped the vegetable into the salty water.

Zalman: I don't like it

Benjamin: Disgusting. It's disgusting.

Benjamin broke a matzah in half and hid a piece for desert.

The Yeladim sang the ma nishtana and we remember how Paroh made the Jewish people

work hard and how Hashem took us out of mitzrayim.

The Yeladim ate lettuce for marror, matzah and even a

 matzah sandwich - matzah with lettuce in between.

A cup for Eliyahu was filled.

At the end of the seder, we asked Hashem to rebuild the Beit Hamikdosh

so that next year we can celebrate in Yerushalayim!

Seder Preparations

Yakir checked what we needed for the seder plate. 

Hilary chopped apples for the charoset. 

Benjamin added grape juice to the charoset. 

Peretz made salt water. 

  

The Yeladim set up the seder plate and Benjamin brought it to the table.

Yakir made prepared his bow tie to wear to the seder. 

Splitting the Sea

The Yeladim practiced their cutting skills when they cut "water" replicating the miracle of the sea splitting for the Jewish people.

Making Matzah

Peretz: What’s this table for?
Zalman: Shabbos?
Zalman: (As he looked at the pictures) It’s not for matzah. It has fire.
It is for matzah. Are we going to make matzah?

Teacher: What should we use to make matzah dough?
Peretz: Flour, Water
Benjamin: Do we need sugar? No, matzah does not have sugar.
Peretz rolled his matazah dough.

The Yeladim rolled the dough. 

Hilary poked holes in her matzah with a fork and said in reference to  the holes “big.”
As Benjamin poked holes with his fingers he said “I’m poking holes, I have to make it flat.”
Zalman: I’m poking holes with my roller. I made all the holes . Can I put it in the oven?

Zalman: It’s not becoming matzah. It needs real fire. 

Benjamin: Do you have fire? We don’t have fire like this.  

Zalman: We have fire in our school, it’s in the Shabbat box. 

Teacher:  Would it be safe to put fire in here? How can we make our dough become matzah in a safe way?

Yeladim: In the oven, let’s put the matzah dough in the oven. 

1,2,,3 Matzot

The Yeladim counted how many matzot there are at the seder. 

Then, they prepared a page for their haggadot with matzah prints which they made. 

Kiddush, Kiddush, Kiddush

As Hilary did a Pesach puzzle she "filled" a kiddush cup.

Then, she passed some to Yakir.

Hilary "Here, here."

Matzah Prints

 The Yeladim rolled crayons over paper on a bumpy surface.

 Teacher: "What happened to the paper?"

Yeladim: "Matzah."

More Matzah Prints

The Yeladim felt the matzah.

Zalman: "It has holes and it's pokey."

To replicate the texture of the matzah, the printmaking
 technique was introduced. The Yeladim chose which block they'd
 like to use to create their matzah impression. 

Next, they applied paint to the plate. 

They placed their paper on top and applied pressure with a brayer.

Friendship Time

Our Dina puppet showed the Yeladim how she uses her
new toy in her own space.



She then "gave" the Yeladim a turn to show her how they
 her toy in their own space. 

Outdoor Play

With the weather warming up, the Yeladim really enjoyed their outdoor time!

Pesach Show and Share

The Yeladim explored the Pesach table. 

Hilary showed us the beautiful Hagaddah that her grandmother illustrated. 

  

Zalman brought in some matzah. He passed it around for his friends to feel.
"It has pokey things." he said.

The Yeladim really liked playing with Benjamin's frogs!

Identifying Emotions

We talked about  how to  identify, facial expressions which indicate emotion. We know that when we are happy we smile or laugh. Frowns, tears, downcast eyes (eyes that are looking down)  and furrowed eyebrows (eyebrows that go down) are indicators of sadness. 

The Yeladim chose a picture of a person

and identified the emotion.

Arrival Stones

When the Yeladim come to school, they check themselves in by moving their rock from the home basket to the school basket. 

The children's names under their pictures brings early literacy skills to the Yeladim in personal and meaningful way.

Matzah Manipulative

Hilary exercised the muscles in her fingers as she
squeezed open clothespins to attach to the matzah. 

Pyramids

The Yeladim painted pyramids to hand in our classroom. They made "bricks"
by stamping a sponge with paint. 

Paroh's hard work

Yesterday at Tefillah Circle, the Yeladim wanted to open the Torah to see what's inside. The Torah was opened and the Yeladim saw a picture of Paroh making the Jewish people build pyramids for him. 
To give the Yeladim a framework to understand the back breaking labor Paroh put the Jews through, a rock was brought in to class. The Yeladim attempted to lift it.

Hilary tired but she couldn't lift it.

Zalman: "It's heavy."

After Peretz tired a couple of times he exclaimed: "Uh, I got it."