Chicking All the Boxes

I have wanted to hatch chicks with my class for a few years now. There was always something that got in the way! One year there was a chicken disease and places in California weren't allowed to sell eggs. The next year I was all set to do it in April, and Covid-19 lock-down started in March. This year we decided to do it in November. Nothing can stop us now!

It has been such an incredible learning experience for the children. Seeing the miracle of life unfold, waiting excitedly to check the progressing embryos, and learning how to be responsible and kind to animals. This is definitely an experience we will not forget!

We started off our journey by placing the eggs into the incubator. They needed to go into a special compartment that turns them, just like a mother hen would in the nest.

*Special thank you to the Heidingsfeld Family for lending us their incubator.

Then the countdown began. We needed to wait 21 days before the chicks would hatch. It seemed like it would take forever! We recorded each day on a chart.

On Day 7 we checked inside the eggs to see if an embryo had started growing. We could see the veins forming in the shell! We used a tool called a candler. It was a bright light that helped us see through the shell. Candlers work the best in a dark room.

The incubator keeps the eggs warm inside. We kept checking to see if any had hatched.

Finally day 18 arrived! Today we had to take the eggs and put them on a lower rack in the incubator.

They also don't need to turn anymore, because the chicks inside were getting ready to come out!

We candled the eggs one more time on day 18. They are so dark, full of the chick embryo!

Time to get our chick habitat ready! We needed to get a special heat lamp, because baby chicks need to stay very warm and they can't do it by themselves. We tested it out to make sure it would be warm enough!

Sunday morning Morah Davina texted our Mommies and Tatties! We had baby chicks at Gan!

On Monday when we came to school, there were 4 little chicks, with two more on the way!

We saw two hatch! They worked hard to crack out of their shells!

We voted on different names for them and each person gave a suggestion!

Writing name labels for our chicks!

You can buy special chick food, but we made our own!

We mixed together oatmeal and hardboiled eggs, and the chicks loved it!

One of the best parts was holding and touching our chicks!

We were super gentle, because being kind to animals is a special mitzvah in the Torah!

Overheard many times this week "Mommy can we keep a chick at our house!"

Love Lessons

 This weeks Torah portion Vayeira speaks about the amazing qualities of kindness and acceptance of Avraham and Sarah, The first of the Avot and Imahot (forefathers and mothers of the Jewish people.)

So much so that the tent they lived in had 4 doors open to the four directions.

We were lucky to be able to experience having a tent in our classroom too!

Avraham and Sarah loved having guests so much, and they were great hosts. They always gave their guests before themselves, and made special foods just for them.

We wanted to experience what Avraham and Sarah did , so we invited the Torah Tots class to come and visit our tent.

Chana Rochel decorates the card.

Morah Shira reads out the invitation to her class.

collaging a welcome sign

Coloring Avraham's tent.

Welcome Torah Tots! 

We wanted our guests to be the most comfortable, so we gave them chairs and we sat on pillows.

We wanted to make special foods for our guests, just like Avraham.

We had tons of fun making a special trail mix for them to enjoy.

We also offered the food first to our guests before we ate.

Avraham cared for everyone so much, that even when he heard the city of Sodom was  going to be destroyed he begged Hashem, pleading if there are 50 good people will you not destroy it?

Or 40, or 30 ....

This was a city of bad people, but Avraham cared for everyone!

We counted by 10's to visualize these numbers for the children.

Taking the lessons of Avraham a bit deeper, 

we explored how we can love and care for everyone like Avraham did.

We talked about how people can look different, be taller or shorter and have different skin colors.

But Avraham cared and loved for everyone the same!

Hashem put a special ingredient in our skin called melanin,

if you have more melanin your skin is darker, if you have less, your skin is lighter.

Esther and Meir compare their hands to see who has more melanin.

Does having more or less melanin make people and objects different? 

We did an experiment to find out.

Comparing brown eggs and white eggs to see if there is a difference.

A lot of people didn't like the smell, Mendel included!

On the inside they looked the same!

And they both tasted good!

We realized that even though they are different colors, that doesn't make one better or worse.

 After all they could both be used to make a delicious cake!

People from different places can look or speak different.

Solving a puzzle depicting different countries.

Creating different kinds of people.

Having different people, that speak differently or look differently makes the world a beautiful place.

We illustrated this concept through the medium of Avraham's tent.

Each child used one color only, but by working together everyone had a beautiful rainbow colored tent!

Aftercare enjoying the parachute, some people even went underneath like a tent!

              

Who can see Hashem?

In this week's Torah portion Vayeira, we learn that Hashem revealed Himself to Avraham. 

Are we able to SEE Hashem? 

This week we discovered that children have a special connection to Hashem.

First we talked about how Hashem is inside all of us! Menachem and Yakov, singing about their Neshama (a piece of Hashem inside all of us)

Hashem is also in everything!

This week we invited our friends to focus on the meaning of Shema.  

During this holy prayer, which we recite daily at circle time, we are acknowledging Hashem is one - He IS everything.

We close our eyes during this prayer, to help us think about this concept, to truly understand what this verse means takes more concentration since we live in a world where Hashem is hidden. 

Acting out the paragraph following Shema. Even when we are asleep Hashem is there. Menachem making his home, Hashem is there.

Here is where we saw first hand how children have an extra special connection to Hashem.

When we went on a "Hashem hunt" looking at different places in our classroom and asking is Hashem here? Yes!

Well, as I started explaining, "Although we can't SEE Hashem, we know He is there..."

Some of our friends looked at us Morah's with some confused faces and said loudly, "I see Hashem!"

It was very clear that children have a special direct connection to Hashem, and are not distracted by all the other 'stuff' that happens in this world. 

It was a powerful moment that we will treasure and remember , we learn from our students the most!

Fall unit

While talking about how Hashem is in everything- we headed outdoors and discovered what Hashem does in the fall time.

Listening to the crunch of the leaves, looking at the colors and acting out the wind.

 

Making our own wind in our classroom.

Fall art, Menachem decorating his fall leaf and Shua making fall leaves using a bunch of Qtips.

Negative space art. Shua and Ben painting over leaves and creating a beautiful fall scene.

Making holes in leaves was a fun way to use our muscles.

Chana playing with fall scented playdough and observing what designs she can make while pressing fall items ontop. 

Leaves on our parachute was so much fun!