Our most recent class was all about Tu B’shevat! We were pleasantly surprised to have the Kindergarteners and first graders join us for the whole class. As a group we discussed what Tu B’shevat is and why we celebrate it. Of course this holiday is all about being thankful for trees and plants, and sure they look pretty and smell nice, but we wanted to know what other reasons there are to honor trees. We discovered that trees are in fact very important as they give us many of the things we use in our everyday lives! First and foremost, a student pointed out that plants give off oxygen which enables us to breathe. Another important use for trees that someone else noted is that wood can be used for shelter.
After the students thought of many more good ones, we made a Tu B’shavet project that used mostly recycled materials (cardboard, boxes, paper bags, paper towel rolls, etc.) and some creativity to create a class garden! As a treat during snack time, we watched some music videos on my laptop that looked familiar (they were songs from Tarzan and Aladdin)… except they were in Hebrew! Later we sang some Tu B’shevat songs while I played ukulele, as well as played “Tu B’Shevat, Tu B’Shevat, Tree,” which is surprisingly similar to “Duck, Duck, Goose.”
All in all it was a Tu B’Shevat-erific day!
- Julie
