Just another active engaging week at The Gan filled with

sharing 

and creating.

 

 Just another week that is.......... until the Passover Seder tastings!!
We began with dipping celery in salty water.

Why do we dip our vegetables in salty water?

Kian: The tears.

Noah: The Jewish slaves worked so hard.

Efraim: So sad.

 We compared fluffy rolls to crunchy matzah.

 

 

When asked if they would prefer the simple snack of matzah or a snack of fluffy bread with sweet fruit, they all said the fluffy bread and fruit, and not to surprisingly they did say they would eat the matzah too.

 

Why do we eat matzah?

Josiah: The Jewish slaves didn't have time to make anything else.

Gracie: To remember we are free.

We helped Morah Tzivie make charoset. We ground the nuts while she shredded the apples.

 

Why do we dip our food twice at the Seder?

Kian: The salt is the tears.

Dena: The colors remind us of the heavy blocks they had to use to build.

 

We tried Bitter Maror.

Tori: We eat maror because their lives were sad.

Our eyes began to water as Morah Tzivie peeled and shredded the maror.

 

We did have a few requests for seconds.

Why do we recline in our chairs with pillows?

Gracie: BEcause we are Free!

We cleaned our classroom of Chametz, leavened products, since we only use Matzah on Passover

 

 No more play dough until after Passover!

And then there were the worms....
It was the first day of spring Wednesday. The weather provided us with rain, wind, sunshine, and worms!

 The joy in the discovery and exploration lead to some creative writing about what it would be like if we were the worms!

Have a Joyful Passover

A conversation about Passover.

Morah Katie: A friend who doesn't know about Passover asked me to tell her about it, what should I tell her?

Dena: We eat Matzah.

Morah Katie: Why do we eat matzah?

Dena: To remember that the Jewish people worked so hard.

Noah: That's all they had.

Kian: When they were in Egypt.

Morah Katie: I will tell my friend about matzah.

We made play dough matzah and baked it in our oven for 18 "minutes' (1 2 3 4 5 6 ....)

Morah Katie: What if my friend asks what the Jewish people were doing in Egypt?

Tori: They were working so hard.

Noah: Building.

Morah Katie: What were they building?

Tori: Everything that the king wanted.

Dena: They didn't want to though.

Kian: It was hard work. In Egypt.

We built different types of pyramids in class.

We felt real bricks, they were heavy.

 We tried to imagine what it would be like to build a building as big as our new synagogue - using just our hands and bricks. No one was eager to do it.

Morah Katie: Is there anything else I should tell my friend about Passover?
Scout: We drink 4 cups of wine.
Morah Katie: Yes we do. Why is that?
Dena: Moses had to go to, well I don't remember his name...
Noah: King Pharaoh
Dena: But Moses was scared and he went and told him to let the Jewish people go. Then Moses took the people out but King Pharaoh  was chasing them and then Moses cut the sea.
Noah: And they went through water.
Morah Katie: That is something to celebrate, but how did that happen?
Tori: Moses tapped the water with his magic stick.
Morah Katie: Was it really magic?
Kian: No, it was Hashem. Moses just hit it. And don't forget we eat bitter herbs and salt water because they were sad. Then they were free.
Tori: That's the four cups of wine.

We painted a sea.

Then we pretended we were leaving Egypt.... and we split the sea!

 We completed our week with the leader of the day leading friends out of Egypt, to the sea which was crossed and closed before King Pharaoh's army could cross it.