Gan Katan Update

Shalom Parents: 

It was great to see our little  ones back today at Sunday  school.  

We were very busy learning  and playing.  We had music with Morah Erin, which the kids had a great time singing  and dancing.  

 We continued learning  about Rosh Hashanah. Your little ones, brought home Rosh Hashanah  cards, that they did their very own dedications and decorated  too. We than made our very own place mates for Rosh Hashanah.  We painted with apples. But before we painted with apples, we first cut the apples in half  and saw that inside the apple  there  was a star.  ( How cool is that?!).  The children  painted with apples and then we placed  a Rosh Hashanah  blessing.  

 Hope you enjoy  your Rosh Hashanah cards and place mates.

 Shana Tova 

 Morah  Alexis and Zoya 

Kitah bet update

Dear Parents,

It was a great week of learning and fun in Kitah bet. Your children  have been learning about Rosh Hashanah through the lens of what would you like to do better in the coming year, their wishes for the new year and what they are thankful for. Please ask your children what they shared in class for these prompts.

I shared with them the mitzvah of Rosh Hashanah they can all do this year is to hear the shofar blown in synagogue. On Sunday your children made beautiful food safe apples & honey plates for you to use for your Rosh Hashanah holiday at home. I also gave them a sheet with the accompanying Brachot . This should be in their take-home folder .

I shared the book "What's the Buzz?" with your children. It is a nonfiction book that teaches about how honey is made, and it takes place in Israel as a group of school children visit a bee farm prior to the holiday of Rosh Hashanah. I also read the story "Today is the Birthday of the World". In honor of the birthday of the world we sang happy birthday/Yom Huledet Sameach to the world and ate birthday cake.

In teaching about Yom Kippur , I taught your children about the theme of "repentance ", saying I am sorry . I read them the book "The Hardest Word". Ask your children what the hardest word is.

Your children made a matching/memory game about the holiday and we have played it in class. They should have brought it home. Ask them to play it with you and talk about the words that are on the cards.

In our Hebrew learning we have finished lesson 1. In their take-home should be homework to read with you and then sign it and return it to me. Thank you for partnering with me . The more they practice the better readers they will become.

I also e-mailed a riddle to you this week for your children to answer. Many e-mails were returned to me. I resent them, hoping you will receive them. If you do not, please let me know.

                                                          celebrating the  new year 5777
Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tova
Davida Robinson

Kitah Zayin Update

Dear 7th Grade Parents,

Over the past two weeks I've enjoyed getting to know your kids and learning together with them. We started with some fun ice breakers this year. It seems the rising 7th graders had a wonderful summer around the country and beyond.

Once were were a little bit more familiar and comfortable with one another, we delved into a lesson on one of Judaism's most righteous Mitzvot--Tzedakah (giving charity). We learned about the relationship between the words Tzedek and tzedakah, why this mitzvah is central to our faith, the ideal way to give charitably and much much more!

This week we focused on the call to of the Shofar. We heard Dr. Rick Cohen blow a variety of antique and modern shofarot from various animals. We learned what qualifies as a shofar and that we purposefully avoid using a calf horn for a shofar (even though it could serve as one) so as to avoid calling attention to the Jewish people's sin of the golden calf. We don't want to remind G-d of this terrible sin when we are being judged by the King on High during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

B'Shalom,

Morah Hollenberg

Hebrew Team Update

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to Shaarey Zedek Religious School for the 2016-17 season. Summer certainly flew by and here we are back into the school year already.

We have finished doing our reading  assessments of the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students and have grouped them appropriately. We will be adjusting some of the groups if necessary as time goes by.  

We began both our Sunday and Tuesday with Teffilot (prayers), lead by Rabbi Dahlen.

We also began our Chugim  (electives) this Sunday, with Gaga, Round Challah Making and Calendar and New Year Card Crafts. All students chose which Chug they wanted to participate in. 

This Tuesday the sixth graders were introduced to the "Torah Service"  that takes place every Shabbat at Shaarey Zedek. 

We are off to a great start in our review of reading and we finished the day on Sunday and Tuesday with two great games, "Shimshon Omer" and "Ani  (name of student), Me at or atah?"

The classes loved the games and they are learning a lot of Hebrew vocabulary while having fun. 

We are very fortunate to have our madrichim assisting us in class. Our madrichim are Sam Arnold, Eli Grey, Jane Hooberman, and Marlee Hooberman. They are very knowledgeable , friendly and a great addition to our classrooms . Please come by and say "hello" when you see them. 

See you this coming Sunday and have a Shabbat Shalom. 

 Toby Schlussel

Kitah Gan Katan Update

Shalom and Welcome  to our class Kitah Gan Katan:

 We had a great first Sunday, full of fun and  learning.  We started off our morning  with circle  time. Got to know our new friends and Morah  Erin our music  teacher came and starting  singing  with us. 

We started learning  about Rosh Hashanah  and Yom Kippur.  We did our apple projects and we made our very own Shofars .  The children  loved blowing  their very own  Shofar. We had Rabbi Yoni come in and blow his very long Shofar. It looked like a long snake. We talked  about  where the Shofar come from, which animal.  

 We had snack and went out side to play, since the weather  is just beautiful.  We have to take advantage  of it. ;)  

 We can't wait to see our friends  again next week. Enjoy  your  week.

 Morot Alexis  and Zoya

Kitah Vav Update

Hello  All!

I am so excited to teach your 6^th grader this year!  It’s going to be a fabulous year.  The 6^th grade curriculum focuses on Jewish values, actions, mitzot and rituals via the lens of a series of biblical narratives.  We read sections of text that focus on the Biblical figures of: Moses, Abraham and Caleb.  The primary purpose is to see each of these figures as men of ACTION, and men who stood above the rest. We interpret their relationship with God, with themselves and with the Jewish people Interestingly enough, we look at their foibles as well.  How did they struggle? What mistakes did they make?  What could they have done better.  Our purpose is to learn from Abraham, Moses and Caleb and to find the characteristics and actions that are relevant to us today, so that we can use their stories as guides for our own decisions and goals.

It is a good thing that our focus is on the ACTION of Judaism, because – boy oh boy – do we have an action packed class.  I LOVE the energy!  We are going to great things!  My teaching philosophy also falls nicely with our focus; I believe that we learn from DOING things, and as much as possible I will incorporate activities and movement into our lessons. I know that 6^th grade kids need to get up and MOVE, and move we do!  Actually, brain research shows us that we learn best when we connect new information to a movement.  So, when your kiddo is practicing her/her vocabulary, history facts, math theorems etc…, have them find some movement to link it to. It works!

We begin each and every class with the same shtick.  Why?  Because it is the most important thing that we do. I want the kids to learn these concepts cold.  Here’s how our routine looks:

 

1)      Joke of the Day – One of our great Sages said that Torah study should always begin by laughing.  Why?  Ask your child.

2)      Quotable Quote – generally I use a non-Jewish quote and have the kids find the Jewish value in it.  If you see the section below on Jewish lenses, you’ll understand my point.  BUT on Sunday I had a quote from Michael Jordon.  I asked the kids who he was and they said “a baseball player.”  I . Felt. Really. Old. It kind of hurt my feelings. J

3)      Hillel’s Rule – “treat others the way you want to be treated”  The kids hold one leg up while doing it. Why? As your child. Plus, it’s a great Ab workout

4)      Chazak! Chazak! V’nit Chazek! – “be strong, be strong, be strengthened.” We say this when we finish each of the 5 books of Torah.  We do “the guns show” when we say it, and show off the biceps.  Or the lack of biceps in my case…

5)      Wrestling Pose – Judiasm is about struggling with God, wrestling with God, being an active partner with God.  WE don’t fall on our knees; we don’t submit; we wrestle.  So we get our best WWE wrestling pose on

6)      Torah Strong:

A)      Chumash Hold: We hold Torahs over our head – Learning Torah  makes us spiritually, emotionally, physically, mentally stronger. To remember this we reenact Moses holding the 10 commandments over his head. This must have taken immense physical strength, and living and learning Torah makes us strong in every possible way. It is also good for the shoulders J

B)      Don’t Miss the Mark: Aim for all 613 commandments. There is no word for Sin in  Hebrew, the closest translation is ‘don’t miss the mark.’  So we use a bow and arrow pose to remember this.

C)      Learn From Your Mistakes: We put our hands behind our back to hold up our imaginary ark filled with shards from the first 10 commandments.  When Moses threw down the 10 Commandments after he saw the Israelites with the Golden Calf, those shards were put into the ark with the intact commandments.  As the Jews wandered the desert for 40 years, the sound of them clanking together would have reminded the Jews of their mistake.  I call this the “parent nag” pose.  I’m sure you all don’t nag, but I do! 

D)      Hit it Out of the Ballpark: We pretend we are hitting a baseball. We aim for righteousness – Aliyah!  Means to rise up. In Judaism we are always trying to rise up, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically.

E)      Judaism is a Marathon, not a sprint.  We jumprope.  We talk about out Judaism is a lifelong learning commitment.  We need to pace ourselves – have a plan, move in incremental steps that are doable.

7)      Bracha over Torah Study: We thank God for making us holy by commanding us to study Torah. This is a traditional bracha that ends with “La’asok b’divrei Torah.”

8)      Learning Torah is Sweet: WE have a small piece of Candy.  Traditionally, when a young child began his (sadly, not her) Torah study, he was given honey on a page of Aleph Bet to lick.  The idea was that Torah study was sweet and to have the child link the two.  Luckily, CSZ is an egalitarian shul, where all of our children have equal opportunity. And I have ALL of our children have a sweet taste before studying Torah. Honey is a bit messy, so we go for an M and M or a twizzler or whatever nut free sweet is on sale at Meijer J I’m always happy for donations to our “sweet pot”

9)      Team building Activity – Our Tribe is built on cooperation. We always do a mini team building exercise to get motivated and get working together

10)   Lesson of the Day – something brilliant, or “almost brilliant,” or “I thought it was brilliant, but it failed.”  I try. Sometimes it flops. But I try

 

This past week we learned our Torah strong mantra by going outside and actually acting out the moves with bows and arrows, balls and bats, jump ropes etc..  Then we experienced an activity that taught us that we are impressionable and we see our world via a set lens.  I had one child tap out “Happy Birthday” and then another tap out “The Star Spangled Banner”  Both have the exact same rhythm.  The kids have to guess what the first tune is (they usually get it) and then the second tune (which they promptly say is Happy Birthday).  The lesson is designed to show the kids that when we have an idea in mind, we impose that idea on our world.  I set them to the task of seeing their world through a Jewish lens (we actually put cool Jewish lensed glasses on .. ok, it was not cool if you are over the age of 4, but it got the point across) and that I want them to look for the Jewish message in everything in their world.  Our kids live in a non-Jewish world. It is essential that they are able to see our Jewish values in their world. I hope to train them to be able to do that!

Finally, we played a team building game to learn about listening to each other and following directions.  In this game kids get a sheet that gives them an instruction “When someone sings Happy Birthday, get up and dance”  So the kids have to watch and act at the appropriate time. We then learned the 5 books of Torah in Hebrew and in English and what is in each one via a Football game.

I am looking forward to a fantastic year of learning, playing, laughing and growing with your child.  Please do not hesitate to call me with any questions, concerns or comments.  I welcome all suggestions and tips for making it a successful learning year with your child.

 

Finally, a little housekeeping:

1)      As per our student handbook, boys must wear kippot in class. Please help me enforce this by having your child leave his/her ball cap in the car.  The boys must wear a kippah and the girls are welcome to do so, if they want.  We are trying to show the kids that this is a sacred space and community, and by taking their hats off and putting a kippah on, it helps create this feeling.

2)      Please encourage your child to use the bathroom right before school starts.  There is a steady stream (pun not intended) of kids leaving Tefillah to go to the bathroom, and many of these kids were hanging out in the lobby for 10 minutes prior to services.  There is also ample time between chugim, Hebrew and Judaica to go. Please encourage your child to use this time properly to take care of business.

3)      No food or colored drink can come into the classrooms. Please have your child bring a water bottle to class, if he/she is thirsty.

4)      Please “like” us on our congregation Shaarey Zedek Religious School Facebook page.  We will post weekly pictures, and you will get information on the school, youth and family programs, and general synagogue news.

Have a great week,

Leah

Kitah Hey Update

Dear Parents,

 After practicing our Shofar blowing skills this past Sunday, we started our PBL Unit on Sukkot. The kids came up with some great ideas. We talked about things you can do to make the world a better place.  Each Mitzvah - act of kindness or good deed fulfills one of God's commandments. The commandments teach us how to live. We talked about the Mitzvah of inviting guest to our home  and that it is mentioned numerous times in the Torah. It is called Hachnasat Orchim, being welcoming, hospitable and considerate is all part of that Mitzvah (commandment).

Our learners worked together to plan out their projects. We are excited and eager to continue this Sunday. I hope to see them all then.

Shabbat Shalom

Cillia Kleiman