Everyday is thanksgiving day

"From the morning sun to stars so bright,

From Modah Ani to Shema every night

From the bracha for bread to the Torah we read,

It's a thanksgiving day"

Morah Katie: Why don't we use the money we collect for tzedakah for ourselves?

Sroli: Because we have stuff.

Natan: Tzedakah is for buying stuff for people who need it, who don't have it.

Morah Katie: Can you tell me something you have, that you are grateful for?

Abigail: The toys I have.

Clara: Carlton, my dog.

We are creating a chain of thanks as we approach the holiday of Thanksgiving. 
I asked the kids if they thought we would make it as long as the green wall by the end of the week.
This is our wall after 2 days.

We are thankful for everything from candy, to friends, to coats, to mitzvahs, to mom's and dad's.
Morah Stephanie: There are so many things to be thankful for each day. What are you thankful for?

Natan: Mitzvahs.

Sroli: Hashem.

Amelia: The flowers that bloom on trees.

Isaac: I am thankful for deers and woodpeckers.

Anton: I am thankful for puzzles.

We are writing thank you notes to our friends letting them know we care about them, and we are thankful for the kind things they do.

Natan: Abigail, Can I have some of your blocks? The rest are all gone.
Abigail: Sure Natan. Amelia and Clara, do you need blocks too?
Amelia: Yes please. 
Abigail continued to happily share all of her blocks.

Abigail:Morah Katie I want to write I am thankful for my friends.

Evan: Sroli, do you have a jacket?
Sorely: Yes.
Evan: Judah, do you have a jacket?
Judah: No, I don't.
Evan: I will buy you one.
Judah: Thank you.
Later, Judah remembered he did have a jacket; he decided Evan should buy someone who really needs a jacket the jacket.

We had the good fortune to thank Hashem for our friend Olivia.

Olivia turned 3 years old thursday. 

We celebrated her and and expressed our thanks for all the joy she brings to class.

In addition we would like to thank the Segal family for the play food and cart, it is a great addition to our playground market.

Sharing our Tzedakah

We have taken our exploration of the value of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters to the next step.

 

Morah Stephanie: Would you like to buy some lettuce?

Clara: Sure!

Amelia: It costs 10 cents.

Sroli: You can use a dime.

Morah Katie: I have an opportunity for you.  I bought a box of Go-Go Squeezes, and I am going to offer to sell 1 pouch to each of you. Morah Stephanie is sharing a quarter, 25 cents, with each of you. 

You may choose to spend your quarter on 1 Go-Go Squeeze, OR keep the 25 cents. Your Choice.  

 We sold out.

Morah Katie: Do you remember last year when we went on our trip around the world?
We discovered that every child needs certain things to go grow healthy and strong and to stay healthy. What are those needs?
Sofia: Fruit.
Natan: Milk.
Sroli: Food.
Judah: Clothes.
Sroli: Shelter from the hot hot sun.
Abigail: Raincoats.
Natan: Love.
Morah Katie: There are some children who don't have these things, how can we help them?
Abigail: With the tzedakah. We can buy them things. 
We decided to find out just how much tzedakah we have collected.

Our collection container was turned upside down!

We had shared so much it was spilling over!

We sorted our coins and counted them up.

Isaac: How did we get all that money?

Morah Katie: You guys! Each day you share just a few coins, our container fills up. 

Olivia: It is really heavy.

We counted $28.55!

We collected enough dollar bills and coins to buy 11 children one 4 pack of GO-Go Squeezes!

Morah Katie: What can we use our Tzedakah money for? 
Children all at once: Coats! Gloves! Hats! 
Morah Katie: For us?
Kids: NO! For others.
Amelia: Buying them for us would be silly.
Sroli: IT is cold and I am grateful for my gloves.
Amelia: IT may snow on Thursday. 

It was so cold Tuesday night we found ice in our tires! 

There was a leaf frozen inside one of the tires.

And it DID snow Thursday!

Colder weather is on its way; we have decided to use our tzedakah to buy a coat for child in need.

Rabbi Greenberg visited our morning circle and we shared with him our idea.
Rabbi Greenberg: That's a great idea. It is getting cold now. That is what we do with the tzedakah charity, we use it by things for people in need.

The children decorated their own tzedakah boxes. 

It was a very exciting activity. 

The children put a lot of love into creating the special box.

As we think about what we will by for children in need, we are taking time to be thankful for what we have.

Isaac: I am thankful for milk.

Abigail: I am thankful for money so that I can buy what I need.

Sroli: I am thankful for snow.

Olivia: I am thankful for water and milk and orange juice.

Pennies, Nickels, Dimes and Quarters

Each day we share 1, 2 or more coins for tzedakah.  

Morah Katie: Why do we share tzedakah?

Sroli: It 's a mitzvah.

Morah Katie: How is dropping coins in the can a mitzvah?

Abigail: It buys stuff for people.
Anton: People who don't have a lot.

Before we examine what the coins in our tzedakah collection box can purchase, we will be exploring the value of money in our classroom.

Our home living area is now a store and a bank.  

Once the banker has given us some money, we can spend it at the store. 

At The Gan store you can buy a variety of items such as an apple for 10 cents, a croissant for 50 cents or a sandwich for 1 dollar.

Evan: Sroli be sure to get the milk.
Sroli: Ok, I have enough money to  buy milk.

Sofia: We are buying food for our friends. Here is some money.
Clara: We are making lunch for them so we need to get food.
Amelia: I have 10 dollars for my 10 vegetables.
Farmer/ Morah Katie: Ok, thank you ladies come again!

Pennies nickels dimes and quarters

Pennies nickel dimes and quarters

Pennies nickels dimes and quarters

Share them for tzedakah!

We peeked into our tzedakah container. We saw a lot of shared coins.

We learned that we could make one dollar in a variety of ways.

We can use 1 dollar bill.

We can use 4 quarters; they equal 1 dollar.

We can use 10 dimes; they equal 1 dollar.

We can use 20 nickels; they equal 1 dollar.

We have 10 groups of 10 pennies! We can 100 pennies! They equal a dollar.

We added up all the groups of money. 

We had 5 dollars of tzedakah! 

AND THE CAN WASNT EMPTY!

Sroli: OOOOH ooooh ooh! There's still a lot in there!

Natan: We can buy so much!