Term 3 - Week 7 : More Creepy Crawlies

Our week first started with the big news about the two towers that were demolished......and for those who did not know about it......we had lots of stories even some that included the terrible traffic which took so long....!!!!
This week we discussed other creepy crawlies and how people often think that spiders are insects but they have eight hairy legs, eight eyes,  two body parts, and six spinnerets for spinning silk.............these 'insects' fall into the insect family and are called arachnids - the spiders web is strong and sticky and if it gets broken the spider will often eat it up before spinning another one.  We also discussed how some bugs have two pairs of wings, which are symmetrically identical and how insects cannot chew their food and as such they inject saliva into their prey which liquifies what they want to eat and this enables them to suck up this soft part of their victim. 
Our letter focus this week was 'e' for egg - the children spent quite a bit of time ornately colouring in their very detailed egg - and came up with interesting words like elephant, egg, end.....to name but a few!!
We also started decorating our bookmarks for grandparents/someone special day......and of course have been practicing our songs!
In life skills we tried our hand at threading......using a spiral shape and red ribbon we tried to spin our very own spiders' web.....and with lots of imagination these webs could be the real mccoy!!
Some very exciting news for us is to welcome to our Class Bet family our beautiful zebra finches - we have a girl and a boy, named by the children as Lola and Ruffy....a huge thank you to Jordyn and her family for this donation including cage and stand, on behalf of Jordyns' 4th birthday. The children are all very excited and I am sure that this will be the start of an amazing experience for us all.....and each one will get their share in caring for our new babies!! 
Thank you to Lana and Marina for looking after my class on Wednesday, I was given the day to go and observe at another school - the experience, although enriching, made me realise that our little hive at Sinai Academy is truly the bees knees........and on that note, we will be buzzing about into our new bee theme next week and look forward to you sending bee books and anything relating to bees and flowers for our theme table.  So, until we chat again......with love Morah Mandy

Term 3 - Week 6 : Insects

The week started with great excitement with 'Sally the Storyteller' who came to school and entertained the children with her wonderful tales....'The Princess and the Pea, The Tortoise and the Hare and The Ugly Duckling..!!
And without disappointing we kept the excitement flowing with our theme of the creepy crawly world of insects – with their 6 six legs and 3 body parts – head, thorax and abdomen – and did a beautiful worksheet building the parts of an ant. We spoke about the largest insect which is a type of beetle, to the smallest insect being a type of wasp. We learnt that even insects have skeletons, but theirs is on the outside, called an exoskeleton . The world of insects is so vast and fascinating - some look as though they are praying, others look like sticks, and some can even walk on water. We did another amazing worksheet this week wherein the children got to grade in size four different types of insects (ladybirds, crickets, dragonflies and butterflies) – challenging for some but enjoyed by all.
And of course in keeping with our theme of insects the true highlight of the week was baking – each child got to spoon, roll and cut their dough into delicious butterfly biscuits – a yummy treat!!
We played a fun bug catching game – with large insects which were hidden around the classroom and each child got a chance to run around trying to find their own bug and then came back to the mat and told us which bug they found – lots of fun was had and it was so nice to see how the children helped each other in giving clues as to where the bugs were hiding…..!!!
We also did a fun experiment with insects that grow in water – we put small bugs into a bowl of water on Monday and have been watching their growth daily – the children are rather intrigued as to how big they have grown.

Our letter focus this week was ‘h’ and we made handprints with glitter and the chidren came up with some interesting words like hamster, heart, head, hand, to name but a few….!!
And besides broadening our general knowledge of insect facts we also had a very creative week and created some beautiful ladybugs and butterflies which can be found on our ever growing bulletin board.
Thanks to those who have sent wonderful books for our theme table - please keep these coming...we continue with our insect theme next week!!
So until we chat again.......with love Morah Mandy

Term 3 - Week 5 : Eggs

This week our topic was all about eggs...how it is a safe place for a baby animal to grow…and that eggs are laid by birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects.
We spoke about the amazing large ostrich egg which is hard enough to withstand an adult standing on it to the small hens eggs which we eat.....Each child shared a story of their favourite egg meal (boiled, fried, scrambled) - I was told by one "my best is egg and mooshstersauce!!" – The children were very interested to learn the different properties of an egg, such as, the yolk, the albumen, outer and inner membrane – all which are needed in order for the embryo to develop properly and the air cell which is the spot that the baby pecks at on its way out…..! We did a beautiful worksheet on the life cycle of a bird - putting into order from egg form through the stages of development until it is a beautiful grown up bird – although challenging they tackled the task eagerly. In life skills each child made their very own little chicks hatching out of an egg…!!

Our letter focus this week was ‘k’ – the children created beautiful kites with brightly coloured sticks and ribbon and although a little confusing with ‘c’ words, in between the many, came up with words like, kangaroo, king, kid, kiss.

A big thank you to Benni for very kindly bringing bright plastic eggs for each child.
Wishing Meira a very happy 5th birthday which we celebrated at school this week and a Refuah Shleima.
Next week we enter the exciting world of insects, so please send some insect related items and books for our theme table.
So until we chat again……with love Morah Mandy

Term 3 : Week 4 - Nests

I am writing this blog from my bed with a very sore set of lungs and ribs from this incessant coughing and I can only hope that I will completely mend this time around - As I look around my bed, I see it as my nest - my place of safety and security until I am able to spread my wings again and fly......!



So....the week started well with our discussion about nests, how many different types there are, hanging nests, cup nests (most common), platform nests, scrape nests, but the main objective of all the nests is that they are a place for a bird to lay eggs, and raise their young until they are strong enough to leave. We discussed what nests are made up of (twigs, leaves, grass, mud), and how incredible these structures are. The children had loads of fun in life skills in creating their own nests using salt dough and their imagination, they all made beautiful nests each with their own eggs, which they then painted accordingly.

A fun maths sheet 'counting eggs', was also part of this weeks activities.

Our letter focus was the letter 'c', the children finger painted their own 'curly c' onto the page and enjoyed making caterpillar markings and came up with some interesting words like cake, clown, cow, can, etc.....

And of course even without me being there, the week automatically fell perfectly into place thanks to the amazing teamwork from all at Sinai Academy.

The highlight for the children was getting a chance to see the skeleton of an ostrich together with ostrich eggs, thank you to Naor from Morah Tanyas' class.

And with lots of birds pictures, some coloured in, some traced and labelled, the children are certainly getting their fill about the beautiful bird life around us.

One last personal thought I would like to share with you - our lives are all so hectic that we tend to take so much for granted - but once you are grounded (as I have been) you see that there is so much to be grateful for - even a sheer breath of air - because when it is not so freely available, you sure do miss it!! I am most grateful to you all for your compassion, understanding, tolerance and thank you!!!

We will be branching into the life-cycle of eggs next week, so please keep all the wonderful books and items coming for our theme table.

Until we chat again, with love Morah Mandy