Hebrew Update

Dear 4th - 6th grade families,

On Sunday, all 3 grades had the opportunity to write essays that will be submitted to the Jeffrey Weisberg Memorial essay contest. The 5th and 6th graders that finished their work early, spent the rest of the class period practiced the prayers before and after reading the Torah. They tried memorizing parts of the prayers, and then recited what they learned by heart for the rest of the class. 

Tuesday we played a fun "Connect Four" reading game with our books and flashcards. Everyone did a wonderful job, and during our 5th and 6th grade class one of our moms joined in on the game! Then as a special treat in honor of Lag B'omer, at different times throughout the day everyone had a chance to make yummy s'mores outside in our bonfire!

Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom! 

Dona Levinson 

Edna Sable 

Aliza Zachor 

Morah Schlussel Update

Dear Parents,

We began our day on Sunday with Teffilah . Again the students had a choice of two different minyanim.

 After Teffilah we all went to our respective Hebrew classes.

My 4th grade class concentrated on the Adon Olam which we read and then sang to two different tunes. The children took turns reading the verses and we sang the prayer together. You can find the Adon Olam on page 54 and 55 of the Hasefer book.

My 5th and 6th graders concentrated on the Shalom Alaichem teffilah, which can be found o page 63 of the Hasefer. Again we read it and then we sang it. I explained to the students that in some homes each of the 4 parts of the prayer are sung 3 times at the Friday night Shabbat dinner before we make kiddush.

On Tuesday, we again started with our Teffilot with the choice of one of two minyanim.

During my 4th grade Hebrew class, we combined all the students of 4th grade and played a game of tic tac toe, using the Hasefer book as our basis for getting either an o  or an x . If the student read the line right , they scored. We did the same with the 5th and 6th graders, but we did it with only our class and we used  the Sim Shalom prayer found on page 64 of the Hasefer as our text.

This proved to be a fun, enjoyable, and painless way to practice reading.

Please remember to review these pages with your children.

Since Lag B'Omer is Thursday , all the students were treated to a special bonfire near the entrance to our school. They experienced what children in Israel do on Lag B'omer. The only difference is that our students made smores whereas in Israel they roast potatoes.   Happy Lag B'Omer!

Please remember all the mothers in your lives this coming Sunday. In honor of Mother's Day, we do not have any school Sunday. So enjoy this special day for all moms.

Shabbat Shalom, see you all next Tuesday.

Toby Schlussel

Morah Katz Update

Dear Fourth-Sixth Grade Families:

It's hard to believe we only have one more week left of religious school.  This has been such a great learning growth year for all of our students.  This week we discussed the counting of the Omer.  We begin counting 49 days from the second night of Passover to Shavuot.  We discussed that we are in mourning for all the Jews who died in the plague and how we aren't supposed to get married, shave or buy new things during this time.  However, on ל״ג בעומר, the 33rd day of the Omer (ל-30, ג-3), we are able to celebrate because it was the first day that the plague stopped spreading.  We celebrate with bbq's and bonfires.  Jews get married, shave and rejoice. 

Hebrew this week was centered around further increasing our fluency.  We played a game similar to tic-tac-toe, but with each team needing to get four in a row.  We all had a lot of fun.

I wish all the moms a very Happy Mother's Day and a beautiful Shabbat!

Donna Katz

Morah Hollenberg Update

Dear 6th Grade Parents,

This week we continued our discussion of Lag Ba'Omer (the 33rd day of the Omer which we celebrate this week beginning at sundown Wednesday night until sundown on Thursday). We spoke about Rabbis Shimon Bar Yochai and and Akiva and why they are central to our Lag Ba'Omer celebration. Then we enjoyed a taste of Lag Ba'Omer with a mini bonfire over...which we roasted marshmallows...which we used to make s'mores!

Best, 

Morah Hollenberg

Kitah Bet Update

Dear Parents,

As I told you in an earlier e-mail,Today was my last day in kitah bet, as I am going to Israel Saturday night. i am very excited about this upcoming trip with family and new adventures.

Tonight we did  some Hebrew reading and  made some Hebrew Mother's Day cards, please check their backpacks for  these.

We celebrated lag b'omer by making s'mores and we celebrated Daniel Michelson's b'day by eating doughnuts. It was a bittersweet day...

 It always is at the end of the year. I feel we have accomplished much, but always much more to do than we have time.  Your children have gotten a good grasp of Hebrew reading and they should be proud of this. As they move to kitah gimmel they will build on what we have begun in kitah bet. Our Torah studies and holiday studies have been some fun experiential learning. I hope this is only the  beginning of lifelong Jewish learning  and Jewish living for your kids. 

There is no class on Sunday ( in honor of Mother's Day) there is class next Tuesday,May 12 and on Sunday May 17. There is still work to be done and I have left lesson plans and work for the guest teacher to complete with the class. On the last day your children should bring home all their books and materials in their mailbox.

We missed Bella, Ivy and Zachary today.

Enjoy your summer adventures and see you all in the fall. Please stop by and say hello.

Davida

Kitah Aleph Update

Dear Parents,

We were very busy learning the letter Shin. Shin starts with the words Shabbat, Shalom, Shofar, and many other words. The students had to look at various pictures and choose which Hebrew letter began with each word. Some letters were shown more than once so they had to think about each picture and match it to the correct letter. We then read sentences that said, The Torah is on the table. Students had to understand what the words meant. They had to read the sentence and decide which sentence matched the correct Hebrew phrase. This was not an easy lesson, however, the students did very well.

We reviewed all the letters and are down to the last two letters of the alphabet which will complete the entire alphabet. I am very proud at how hard each of your children have worked and how far they have come from the beginning of the year. They will be able to recognize letters and vowels and read basic sentences while understanding what they are reading.

We did an exercise on Shabbat and what it meant to them. They were given construction paper and glue sticks and doilies. They had to create their own Shabbat table without using scissors, tape, etc. Attached is a beautiful masterpiece from a student that created what Shabbat means to her. Each one of your children created beautiful pieces of art and will be bringing home all their artwork next week.

We roasted s'mores in celebration of Lag B'omer. The students had fun standing over the fire pit and putting together their s'mores. Its always great to coordinate an activity when there is a holiday as it is a better way to teach the students in a way that they will remember and understand different holiday's. We are almost done with the school year and I am so proud of each of your children. They were eager learners and they will remember many things they have learned in class this year. We did several projects such as making Seder plates to help them understand what each item on the plate represented. We will review on Sunday and they will be bringing home a special book they made which will show you some of the things they learned this year. I'm confident they are well prepared for next year and I look forward to seeing them in the hallways.

Thank you for sharing these special children I have really enjoyed each one of them and their special personalities. I have learned from them as well as they have learned from me.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Lisa Dresner Wais

YOUR REPUTATION PRECEEDS YOU

As our year comes to an end, our Kitah Dalet students are preparing for the future and we put the finishing touches on our values based discussions for the year.  We talked about reputations, and what it means to honor our names.  We talked about the importance of always doing the right thing, and maintaining high standards for ourselves and those we keep company with.

We studied a bit of Pirke Avot, literally translated as the Sayings of our Fathers, and tossed around the idea that we are given many names in our life, a name our parents call us, a name our friends call us, and most importantly the name we earn for ourselves.  We compiled an extensive list of the values we thought we possessed and the behaviors we regularly displayed in the classroom, and I asked our students to think about just what they wanted me to tell next years teachers about them.  It was quite interesting to hear the values they thought they should have, and the values they displayed on a regular basis.  Of course, I confronted them on the discrepancies, and promised we would revisit the issue.

By the time you read this, we will have observed Lag b' Omer and eaten s'mores around the campfire.  Please ask your students to share a little bit of their knowledge about this obscure celebration, starting with the connection of the number seven....days of mourning, seven days, seven weeks, and the receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.  Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend, and if you celebrate, a Happy Mother's Day.  See you next Tuesday!