What Happened in Grades K-2 on Sunday, January 10...

Kindergarten

This morning while we waited for everyone to arrive we colored pictures of lots of different types of fruit like dates, figs, grapes and apples. We also colored pictures of people helping the environment and planting trees. We focused on fruit and trees in preparation for our learning about Tu b'Shevat!

We were finally back in the Social Hall for Kehillah! To start, we sang HaTikvah (Israel's national anthem) and then we recited the brachot (blessings) over our snack. While we ate, we talked about how Tu b'Shevat is the birthday of the trees, so we are going to have a birthday party to celebrate! We planned the menu for our Tu b'Shevat party by talking about our favorite fruits.

In T'filah, we talked about how Tu b'Shevat is celebrated both in the United States and in Israel.

After T'filah, we had Circle Time. We haven't seen each other is so long - we all had a lot to share!

During Circle Time, we practiced showing each other Kavod by waiting patiently, listening carefully and waiting for our turn.

Then, we worked on decorations for our Tu b'Shevat party.

Grade 1

To begin class, Ms. Levy read us Sammy Spider's First Tu b'Shevat. We are excited to learn about Tu b'Shevat, but we also had a lot of hard work to do today in preparation for Consecration!

We were excited to be back in the Social Hall for Kehillah today with all of the other grades!

In T'filah, Cantor helped us recite Birkot HaShachar (morning blessings). During this prayer we express our gratitude for being able to get up in the morning and get dressed and eat breakfast.

After T'filah, we rehearsed for Consecration in the Sanctuary! We practiced our songs and reciting our D'var Torah.

We also practiced getting into our assigned spots and what it will be like when Cantor reads from the Torah during the ceremony.

In Art class with Mrs. Schulgasser we finally got back to learning more about Tu b'Shevat, the holiday that celebrates our earth and trees. We made trees out of the words from our D'var Torah because the Torah is like a tree of life, providing nourishment to our souls.

Grade 2

To begin our first day back from winter break, Grade 2 colored pictures of our newest letter from the Alef Bet: Vav. We learned that Mr. Stone, another Religious School teacher, was going to sub for Mrs. Henry later in the day for Hebrew and Library. We went through small introductions, giving him our names, then we finished up with our coloring. 

Afterward, we had Avodah. During this time, we reviewed our discussion from last class, which was all about God and air, as well as God’s imprint. Then, we made finger paintings of our own imprints. This week, we began to learn about praising God. We learned that brachah means "blessing" in Hebrew, then we got an activity sheet where we created blessings that thank God for the things in our life we love.

 

Next we had Kehillah. It had been awhile since we’d had it together in the social hall! It was a nice change. We had graham crackers and water. Afterward, we went to T’filah. We discussed what we’re thankful for, then the upcoming holiday, which is Tu b'Shevat. 

Following T’filah, we split into groups and then went to different stations as a class for a scavenger hunt. For our first task, we looked through the windows at the Ark in the Sanctuary and listened to a song. Afterward, we made a brachah (blessing) about what we heard. Second, we looked out the front windows of the synagogue and discussed what God had made and provided for us. We saw birds flying up above, trees swaying, and snow falling. Third and last, we went back to our classroom. During this time, we looked around and discussed what God had made around us, or more importantly, what he’d enabled us as humans to make for ourselves. This helped us see and find God's blessings everywhere!

To finish off the day, we reviewed the Alef Bet with Mr. Stone briefly, then we had library. The books the librarian read us today were Trees, Trees, Trees, an informational book all about how trees grow and how trees differ in species, and The Littlest Tree by Sylvia Rouss, which was about a small tree and his troubles of being so small and surrounded by larger, better trees. All of the trees were used to make parts of the town’s new synagogue, and the little tree didn’t know what he was going to be- a leg to a chair? A leg to a table?- but he became perhaps the most important thing of all; the Torah.