September
Back to School: getting to know each other and our classroom, rules, and routines, health and safety procedures, class bonding activities.
Rosh Hashana: apples, pomegranates, and exotic fruits, bees/hives/honey, shofar, calendar/cycle of the year.
Yom Kippur: making good choices, saying sorry for mistakes, prayer, going to Synagogue.
Sukkot/Simchat Torah: building/construction, sukkah, Lulav/Etrog, the gifts of Torah, Biblical heroes, Mitzvot, Hebrew letters.
October
Shabbat: Shabbat traditions, being a guest and being a host, days of the week, days of creation, Shabbat blessings and songs.
All about me: our bodies, our five senses, feelings and emotions, our names, our families, self-expression, growing up, taking care of ourselves.
Fall: changes in the environment and the weather, leaf exploration, migration/hibernation, cycle of seasons.
November
Thanksgiving: being thankful, Native American culture, appreciating other ways of life, fall harvest, American map and flag, Thanksgiving feast and traditions.
Chanukah: standing up for what you believe, it’s okay to be different, Dreidle, Menorah, the properties of oil and wax, sources of light, giving and receiving gifts, fried foods: latkes and sufganiot.
December
Community: manners and courtesy, working together, taking care of each other, our school community, our neighborhood, the people who work in our town.
Winter: weather and temperature, plants and animals in the winter, snowflakes, ice and frost, winter sports and activities, the Arctic.
January
Tu B’Shvat: kinds of trees, parts of trees, seeds, things we get from trees, caring for the environment, forests, trees through the seasons.
Transportation: land/air/water vehicles, roads and streets, traffic signs, safety, places we go.
Healthy Me: healthy behaviors, keeping fit, nutrition.
February
Food: nutrition, food groups, digestion, different tastes, food sources, food processing, blessings over food, international foods, spices, planting and growing, raw versus cooked, taste sour/sweet/bitter/salty).
Animals: land and water habitats, animal adaptations, tame versus wild, animal coverings: fur/feathers/scales, endangered species, what animals eat, how animals communicate, how animals help us.
Bugs: insect types, insect body parts, insect habitats, insect life cycles, insect sounds, the role of bugs in the ecosystem.
March
Purim: puppetry and theatre arts, kings/queens and castles.
Instruments: wind/percussion/string, graggers and other non-traditional instruments, orchestras and bands, costumes and masks, Megillah, Hamentashen, Mishloach Manot.
Spring: bulbs/buds/blossoms, flowers and flowering trees, rain and the water cycle, new animal and insect life during the spring, weather and temperature changes.
April
Passover: Matzah and bread, Seder plate, steps of the Haggadah, the Four Questions, slavery versus freedom, pride in Jewish traditions.
World: maps, the globe, ways of life in other places, the solar system, being a part of a global community.
May
Israel: sites and cities, flag and map, Magen David symbol, Hebrew language.
Shavuot: receiving the Torah, the responsibility of Mitzvot, being humble, mountains, spring harvest.
Summer: beach, shells, sandcastles, summer sports and activities, the sun, and shadows.
June
End of year: how we’ve grown, things we’ve learned, memories from the year, yearbook, graduation, moving onto another class or school.