A Tree is Just Like Me!

 

This week our Mitzvah Mentchies scholars delved into Tu Bishvat, and what it's all about.

We learned that Tu Bishvat is the Rosh Hashana for the trees. Hashem decides how they are going to grow and how much fruit they will have. 

Why do we celebrate the trees, why not other animals or the sun or moon?

Because people are compared to trees. Just like I am always growing, so is a tree. It changes through the seasons, and so do people!

Creating winter trees in snow.

                    

  My fruit and leaves are the Torah and Mitzvos that I learn and do!

Sholom holds Mendel's grass head open for the dirt.

Friends working together to build a tree.

 

This Playdough STEAM invitation got our curious scientists to work.

Using different materials to try to build a tree.

 

We were so excited to attempt a long-term growing project in our classroom in honor of Tu Bshvat.

We can't wait to see our grass-heads starting to grow hair!

We learned that Tu Bishvat - means the 15th day of Shvat.

we learned that the numerical value of Tes and Vov equals 15. 

This is the earliest possible day that fruit trees in Israel start to flower.

We also eat the the special 7 fruits of Israel on Tu Bishvat.

 

Adding 9 and  6 to equal 15.

Playing a fun humming game to practice letter recognition in words.

 

Our Fun Tu'Bishvat party! Making a tree out of chocolate!

Working on our art project!

Of course, we had to continue learning about the parsha as well!

Figuring out the name of this weeks parsha with some Aleph-Beis Hangman

 

Paroh chased after the Jewish people until they came to the sea!

The Jewish people were scared but one man walked into the water, Hashem made a miracle and the water turned into tunnels for Bnei Yisroel to walk through!

               

Hashem told Moshe to hit a rock, and water came out for fresh water in the desert. The mun was an amazing food that Hashem provided for the Jewish people.  It fell every day fresh and could taste like anything. It had the perfect amount of vitamins and nutrients with nothing extra, so the Jewish people never had to go to the bathroom. 

An Ahavas Yisroel Umbrella! We learned the "pretzel sound" Tzadik "tz" in Capit

 and our whole class got to enjoy some hot pretzels!

   

Babies and Tu B'shvat

Tu B'shvat 

The big idea for the holiday of Tu B'shvat this year, was how we are just like a tree. 

We all start out as small babies, chana holding a baby doll demonstrating how we care for a small baby. 

Menucha, looking at her baby picture and noticing the difference in the mirror. 

We are all growing big and strong. We need to take care of ourselves physically and we need the Torah to keep us strong too!

Our Tu B'shvat bulletin board had little seeds on the botton with baby pictures of our friends coming out of them. Out of the blossoms on the tree we placed what they look like now. This was a fun visual to show how we are like a tree and all start like small seeds and continue to grow.

We love when our friends are part of the process of any art displayed in our classroom. 

The trunk and branches were our friends feet walking in paint. The leaves were their handprints!

Learning about the 7 fruits of Eretz Yisroel. Counting out seven with our fingers and discussing each special fruit.

Ben, discovering a pomegranate up close.

Using our fine motor skills by making leaf necklaces. Menucha, using her strength to making holes in banana leaves and Menachem concentrating on getting the string in the hole.

Fruit picking in our classroom. Laminated, velcro fruit invited friends to learn what fruits come from which trees.

Bringing the outdoors in is always a great way to explore Hashem's nature. Painting big branches and mixing colors.

Creating 3d structures using grapes and tooth pics! Some made trees out of pretzels and grapes.         

                                                         

Tu B'shvat party and a goodbye party for Menucha.

We tasted delicious fruits and a fun tree cupcake treat in honor of Tu B'shvat. We will miss Menucha so much and there was no other way to celebrate her last day than by music and song! Menucha, loves singing and dancing and is always reminding us to be happy!

We made a special Shehachaynu blessing on a new fruit. Menucha, having fun with olives.

Enjoying delicious tree cup cakes.

What's the Matter

 

This week we were so excited to dive into the parsha!  As a shepherd, Moshe knew exactly what goes into taking care of living things. Moshe ran after one sheep that strayed from the flock. He cares about every single sheep. When he ran after it, he saw a burning bush! The bush was on fire,  but the fire was not burning up the leaves! 

Hashem spoke to him there. Hashem instructed him to go to Pharoah and save the Jewish people. He was worried he wouldn;t be able to speak for the Jewish people properly because of his lisp. But Hashem knew he was the perfect person for the job.

Learning about the different Makkos was so fun! Integrating letter recognition into the parsha and engaging our kinesthetic learners! The frogs jumped everywhere in mitzrayim!

We are breaking down the elements of science!

We found out that every thing in the world is made of matter! Even people!

We thought of different things we use in each category.

There are 3 kinds of matter; solids, liquids and gas.

We sorted out different kinds of matters. 

We also learned that matter could change from one state to the other.

One of our favorite parts of the week was our science experiment.

We took baking soda- a solid, vinegar- a liquid and we used them to create a gas that would blow up the balloon!

Feeling

Using warm water to melt ice, changing the matter from a solid to a liquid.

Trying to figure out which category slime fits into.

Drawing on different kinds of solids.

Working on number recognition and quantities through a fun game of war.

Pre-k working on Aleph-Bais review.

These food puzzles are great for incorporating spatial reasoning skills!

 And they look so delicious!