Sunday, October 25, 2015

What Happened in Grades 3-6 on Sunday, October 25...

Grade 3


Grades 3-6 started their day in the Social Hall with GUCI (our URJ summer camp). GUCI led us in several camp theme games, so we could see what it would be like to go to camp there. One game was a relay race where you had to put a ball on a spoon and race across the room without letting it drop and give it to the next person.


In Art class, we made visual brachot (blessings). 



Our visual brachot focused on the brachot that we say over food. After we sketched a food that went with the brachah we were assigned, we then painted our drawing with water color.


In Hebrew class, Ms. Hyman went around the room to check if we'd completed learning about the letter lamed. While she checked our work, she gave us a challenging worksheet that required us to rewrite words switching around the vowels. It was hard, but we liked the challenge!


Once we finished our worksheet, we read pg. 18 with our partners. As you can see, we were practicing the letter lamed and the holam vowel.



We ended today's class by dividing into two groups and took turns reading to either our madrichah Melissa or Ms. Hyman.



Grade 4


Grades 3-6 started their day in the Social Hall with GUCI (our URJ summer camp). GUCI led us in several camp theme games, so we could see what it would be like to go to camp there. One game was a relay race where you had to put a ball on a spoon and race across the room without letting it drop and give it to the next person.


In Judaics, we talked about the difference between respect and honor. In Judaism, it is a mitzvah to show Kavod to our parents. Kavod is sometimes translated as respect and sometimes translated as honor. While the words are similar, there is a difference! Honor is sort of like a one way street in that when you honor someone, they don't necessarily have to honor you back. But respect goes both ways. When you respect someone, they need to respect you back.



To see how the difference between respect and honor come up in the Torah, we looked at two stories, one was about Moses and one was about Joseph and put on skits to demonstrate how the people in the stories did or didn't show honor and/or respect.


In Hebrew, we learned about the shema and how when we say the shema we close our eyes to focus on this important statement of faith that declares that there is only one God. We also used games to work on decoding specific words that we are working on in the brachot we are studying.

Grade 5


To begin our day, Grades 3 through 6 went to the Social Hall to see a visitor. Our visitors were Jeremy and Ethan from Camp GUCI. They gave us a small presentation about GUCI and we were able to ask questions about camp Then, we played two games, each of which was a relay race. In the first one, we had balloons, and we put them between our legs. We then had to jump to get to the other side of the room, where another teammate was waiting to switch off with us. The next relay was ping pong ball balancing on a spoon. We had to hold the spoon in our left hands, so those of us who were right handed had a disadvantage. Afterward, grades kindergarten through second joined us for a special snack of popsicles. During this, we watched a video of all the fun that goes on at Camp GUCI. 


Back in class, we took attendance, saying ‘ani-po’ if we were here, and ‘lo-po’ if someone wasn’t. We updated our timeline and reviewed what we’ve learned. We just finished Moses, so now we’re moving on to Joshua. 


To learn about Joshua, we made a social media page about him. We split into groups and made these pages on paper, drawing them by using Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook as templates. We gave information about him, and learned about him, in a fun way. 


To begin Hebrew studies, we went to page 20 in our workbooks. We were finishing up the Avot v'Imahot. People who have been absent and who needed a little extra help with this prayer went to the library with our madrachim to study it more in-depth. The rest of us were with Ms. Winberg did a partner read-through of the prayer. 


After finishing up whatever work we had left in our Hebrew workbooks, we learned to chant the Avot v'Imahot as a class. 


Grade 6



To begin our day, Grades 3 through 6 went to the Social Hall to see a visitor. Our visitors were Jeremy and Ethan from Camp GUCI. They gave us a small presentation about GUCI and we were able to ask questions about camp Then, we played two games, each of which was a relay race. In the first one, we had balloons, and we put them between our legs. We then had to jump to get to the other side of the room, where another teammate was waiting to switch off with us. The next relay was ping pong ball balancing on a spoon. We had to hold the spoon in our left hands, so those of us who were right handed had a disadvantage. Afterward, grades kindergarten through second joined us for a special snack of popsicles. During this, we watched a video of all the fun that goes on at Camp GUCI. 


Back in class, Grade 6 went through attendance. Mrs. Zaas filled in for our normal teacher today. We learned about an upcoming program called “Count Me In,” then we began our daily lesson. In our lesson, we learned the word for “I am here,” which is Heneini. We talked about the times Abraham said this, the first being when he spoke to God at the burning bush. 


Next, we got examples of real life situations. We then had to match them up with Torah stories that had similar themes. In this, we used critical thinking skills and problem solving. Once we’d chosen which two stories matched, we read them aloud and our classmates corrected each other. 


Finally, we began our Hebrew studies. We said the Torah study blessing, then we talked a little about Mrs. Zaas’ favorite prayer, Shecheianu. We said the Shecheianu today because it was one student's first time with us on a Sunday! Then we worked on look alike letters and came up with tricks to remember which letter makes which sound when they look similar.


Lastly, Cantor Lawrence came into class and taught us about how the letter ayin has transformed from a gutteral stop to a silent letter.


Sunday, October 18, 2015

What Happened in Grades K-2 on Sunday, October 18...

Kindergarten


Today was Curriculum day; all of our parents came to Religious School and went to class with us. We got to show our parents what we do every weekend. We first went to services and showed our parents what we do in services. Then we got to listen to the Rabbi tell us about this week’s Torah portion, we learned that this week’s Torah portion was about seeing the world differently.


After services we went to the social hall and played games while are parents got to know ourteachers. The first game we played was The West Wind Blows, which is a game where someone goes to the middle of the circle and says what they like to do. If someone else in the circle likes it too then they have to swap places with someone else. The last person in the circle says what they like and it repeats. It  was fun because we got to spend time with kids in other grades.


We then played another game, called Indian Chief. In Indian Chief one person leaves the room and we choose a leader to follow. While everyone followed the leader, the one person came back and had to guess who the leader was. It was fun to do this and them we went and had snack and went back to are classrooms with are parents. 


After we went back to the classroom, we got in a group with are families. All of the families got 3 pictures. They had to discuss which picture showed someone loving their neighbor as themselves and which ones didn't. We then shared it with the class and we all shared our opinions. 


We then did arts and crafts. We all got to make pictures of what it looks like when we love our neighbor as ourselves. We had so much fun learning with our parents!


Grade 1


Today, October 18th, was Curriculum Day, and the parents. The parents joined us in T’filah and the Rabbi taught us about how this week's Torah portion is about finding new places or new mountains to see the world in a physically and spiritually better way.


The students split into two groups and we played games such as Where The West wind Blows and Indian Chief, in which the kids pick a person to go into the middle of the circle and say what they like to do or for example if they have a cat, then all the kids that have cats will get up and run to a different chair somewhere throughout the circle. This all happened while the parents were learning about the students' teachers in the classrooms.



Ms. Levy asked what a blessing is, and what we pray for. The kids came up with a list such as thanking God for creating the world, having a place to live, food, animals and for being Jewish.


Each family was split up, and drew pictures about what we say blessings for so they can hang it in their houses to remind them what they are praying for. Many were thankful for their families and for their homes and pets.


The final thing they did today, was sharing what they drew with the rest of the class, Ms. Levy holding them up so everyone could see what they had drawn.

Grade 2



Today was Curriculum Day! During T’filah, the Youth Choir helped sing Mi Chamocha


The parents and students split up after the morning service. Adults stayed in the sanctuary, and kids went to the social hall. There, we played fun games. The first game we played was called ‘the west wind blows.’ In this game, the person in the middle said something they do in their lives or something they like, then people who share that interest got up and had to take a chair. The person who was left without a chair was ‘it.’ We then played ‘indian chief,’ which was a copycat game. The chief had to change the move that everyone was copying, and the person who was ‘it’ had to name who the chief was.


Back in class, students reunited with their parents. We then went over what we learned last week, which was fun! We went outside and tried to notice things we usually don’t notice, such as veins on leaves or acorns on the ground.


Afterward, we played a fun game. We teamed up with our parents and went around to stations. Our room became a Jewish museum, and we rotated between six different stations, each with a different object to learn about. We filled out corresponding questions. These items were as follows: a mezzuzah, a Star of David puzzle, Shabbat candles, a menorah, a TaNaCH, and a shofar.


To follow up on this activity, we sat back down and had a discussion about new things we learned at the ‘museum.’ One fun fact that nearly none of us knew is that TaNaCH is an acronym! 

Sunday, October 11, 2015

What happened in Grades 3-6 on Sunday, October 11...

Grade 3


Today, Grade 3 started off with a special visit from Camp Wise. Instead of T'filah, Camp Wise led us in some awesome camp games to help us experience what it's like to be at summer camp. One of the games was called Person To Person. In this game, we had to connect body parts (elbows, hips, knees, etc) with someone else in the room and then share something about ourselves with that person.


After the games, we talked with Andy Saltzman, Assistant Director, about all of the activities that we can do at camp like dancing, hiking, canoeing and archery.


Back in the classroom, Ms. Hyman talked to us about the different types of food that we can eat (either because they are good for us or because we aren't allergic to them) and that we can't eat (foods that our parents won't let us have or that we are allergic to). We also talked about which foods we are encouraged to eat and which foods we aren't encouraged to eat.


Then, working in chevrutah (partners) we explored what the Torah has to say about food and how kashrut can play a part in our lives.


During Hebrew, we played a Jewish version of "Would You Rather." First, we warmed up with questions like "Would you rather celebrate Chanukah or Pesach." Then, Ms. Hyman started giving us commands in Hebrew. For example, she'd say "If you'd rather have a cat, go to the schulhan (table) and if you'd rather have a dog go to the luach (board)."


Then we opened up our books to learn about the letter tav, which starts words like T'filah, tapuach (apple) and Torah! Like the letter bet that we learned last week, a tav can also sometimes have a dagesh (dot) inside of it. However, unlike with a bet/vet where the dagesh changes the sound, with a tav, the dagesh doesn't make a difference.

Grade 4


We started the morning with a visit from two Camp Wise staff members. In addition to playing camp games with us, they showed us a cool video about what it's like to spend the summer at Camp Wise.


During Judaics, Mr. Stone challenged us to pick up and move our star to the other side of the hallway.


After successfully moving the star, Mr. Stone asked us what was challenging about moving the star and what we found easy. As we talked about the experience of moving the star, we commented on how we could only move it if all of us were focused on being helpful and working together. It took each of us holding onto the string to successfully get the star across the hallway.

We learned that we are about to begin a unit of study that will focus on the importance of people stepping in to be helpful. Judaism teaches us that even if we’re not sure we will be successful, we always have to try. Our unit will focus on the quote "It is not upon you to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it" Pirke Avot 2:21.



Next, Mr. Stone helped us each make a review cube. The cube had one question on each side: 

1. The word “work” doesn’t just mean “a job or career.” How do people work to help others?
2. Why do you think should we start to work on something even if we might not be able to finish it?
3. There are stories in the news of children who don’t have enough food to eat. Lo Aleiha … you don’t have to completely solve this situation, but how can you work to help?
4. There are stories in the news of children who bully others. Lo Aleiha … you don’t have to completely solve this situation, but how can you work to help?
5. Think about or starfish activity we did. How is this an example of Lo Aleiha … that you alone could not help the starfish? What work did you do to help?

In small groups, we took turns rolling the cubes and answering the questions.



During Hebrew, we played Hebrew Jeopardy to review Hebrew decoding and the fall holidays that we all just experienced. The girls were today's proud winners!


Grade 5


To begin the day in a fun way, Grade 5 immediately went to the social hall for a presentation by a couple of visitors from Camp Wise. We played some fun games, which were examples of the activities that are in store for us there. One of the games was to meet each other and introduce ourselves, and another was just for fun; it was partner tag! Afterwards, we asked any questions we had about the camp. We then had Kehillah, where we had a snack of goldfish and water, and we watched a video about Camp Wise. All of the kids looked like they were having so much fun! A few of us from the fifth grade class are already going to Camp Wise. 


Back in class, Ms. Winberg had a fun activity in store. But first, we reviewed what we learned last week. We made a Jewish History Timeline, starting all the way back at 2000 B.C.E.! Then, we began our activity, which was interviewing prophets. We got into groups, and then we asked questions from a sheet. Our madrachim and teacher were filling in for the prophets today. We met Samuel, Ezekiel, and Hosea. Afterward, we had a discussion as a class about thoughts on prophets, what makes a prophet, how prophets are successful, et cetera. Feel free to ask us which off the prophets that we met was our favorite!



After our lesson, we began our Hebrew learning. Last week we learned the Amidah, and how it has 18 OR 19 brachot, depending on the congregation. Today we began to talk about the Avot v’Imahot. We got into groups of 2 or 3, then we played a fun game where we spelled words out from the Avot v’Imahot on a worksheet to get four in a square. Once we got 4, we won. 


To end class, we worked in our workbooks to find the origin of the Avot v’Imahot, and we began to learn the vocabulary. 


Grade 6


We had a special surprise today! Camp Wise visited us and instead of T'filah, we played camp games. In one game, we had to split up into groups of four and share the most fun thing that we did during the summer. 


During another game, we played partner tag. Unlike regular tag though, we had to use a walking motion and we could hide behind other people.





After our time with Camp Wise, we went to Art class with Mrs. Schulgasser. She taught us how to make 3D Hebrew letters. Each of us made the first letter of our Hebrew name. Over the next few Art classes, we're going to decorate the letters with images that depict how we want others to see us.


After Art class, we practiced fire safety by having our annual fire drill. We all excited quickly and quietly.


In Hebrew, when we got back to the classroom, Mrs. Gabay had written L'asot b'divrei Torah which means "Studying the words of Torah." Tradition teaches us that learning ishould be sweet, so Mrs. Gabay helped us make mini-Torahs out of smarties! 


Our learning in Hebrew class today focused on when and why we study Torah, as we begin our exploration of the Shabbat  morning Torah service. In looking at what the text tells us about Torah study, we got into a great discussion about the language that our tradition uses to talk about God and began brainstorming our own God concepts.