What Happened in Grades K-2 on Sunday, May 1...

Kindergarten

This morning we came in and talked about how Mothers Day is coming up. As we waited for everyone to arrive, we drew pictures for our moms and talked about all of the things that they do to help us.

Then we went to Kehillah and had pretzels and water. Mrs. Milgrom sent out all of the teachers and our madrichim worked with us to compile a list of our favorite things about our teachers.

Then we went to T'filah. As a part of our prayer time, Cantor asked all of us about our secret talents. He did this as he was teaching us about what makes each of us holy, Kadosh.

Then we had Circle Time. During Circle Time we shared the pictures that we made of our moms and how they show the ways we appreciate them. Mrs. Bernstein also showed us how Mothers Day comes straight out of the Jewish value of Honoring our Mothers and Fathers! She showed us where we can find this value in the Torah.

Then we did an art project using celery roots to make the petals and celery stems to make the stems of roses on paper with paint for our moms.

Grade 1

To begin the day, Grade 1 colored some fun pictures. Afterward, we got in circle time on the carpet and shared with the class one fun thing we did over Passover and one thing we’ve done recently that makes us a Jewish hero! An example that one of our students came up with was giving tzedakah. 

Next we had a special Kehillah. The fourth graders who did their webquest got a special snack of donuts! The rest of us had some yummy pretzels and water. Also during this time, the teachers left us so we could write up ideas of what we appreciate most about them that they’ve done for us this school year. We really love them! 

Then, in T’filah, we sang about what we’re all thankful for, and then we talked about our hidden talents. A lot of us are good at sports, like lacrosse, soccer and gymnastics! We then sang the Kidushah, because our hidden talents are examples of ways that we are kadosh, holy. 

Back in class, we read a book called Joseph and his Brothers. It was about Joseph and his very colorful coat. While we read, we discussed examples of bad things that occurred in the book. Examples of this were when Joseph was sold by his brothers, when the brothers tricked Jacob into thinking Joseph died, and how Joseph bragged about his dream and being better than everyone else. 

After this discussion, we reread the story and gave examples of what the brothers, Joseph and Jacob could have done better than what they did in the story. 

 

To show our classmates how we would have acted differently in the characters’ shoes, we reenacted scenes. The scene we all did was when Joseph told his brothers about his dream, and the older brother reacted nicely instead of in a mean way.

To end the day, Grade 1 had art. We talked about freedom, and then we drew hearts full of love and how we can appreciate others. 

Grade 2

To begin the day, Grade 2 talked about where we want our tzedakah to go to. While we had many great contenders, we finally decided to give it to University Hospital’s Rainbow Babies. Afterward, we got in a circle on the carpet and talked about G’milut Chasadim. We gave as many examples as we could, everyone gave at least one. A great example was doing your sibling’s chores when they aren’t feeling well, but still giving them their money and not keeping it for yourself. 

Next we had a special Kehillah. The fourth graders who did their webquest got a special snack of donuts! The rest of us had some yummy pretzels and water. Also during this time, the teachers left us so we could write up ideas of what we appreciate most about them that they’ve done for us this school year. We really love them! 

Then, in T’filah, we sang about what we’re all thankful for, and then we talked about our hidden talents. A lot of us are good at sports, like lacrosse, soccer and gymnastics! We then sang the Kidushah, because our hidden talents are examples of ways that we are kadosh, holy. 

When we got back to class, we began our Hebrew lesson. We worked through letters Samech, Ayin, and Pay! We only have two more letters left until we’ve learned the entire Alef Bet!

Last, our librarian came in to read us two stories. Our stories were really fun today. Our first book was Labels for Laibel, and it taught us that sharing is caring. The boy in the story didn’t want his brother to sleep on his bed, so he labeled ALL of his things and that way, no one else would touch them! This backfired when his mom labeled the food she made for dinner, and when his dad labeled the driveway so Laibel couldn’t play there anymore. Our next story was called Grandma’s Soup, and it was all about Shabbat traditions. In this specific book, the tradition was grandma making lots of yummy special soup for her family.