Sunday, January 31, 2016

What Happened in Grades K & 2 on Sunday, January 31...

Kindergarten


This morning in Kindergarten, while we waited for everyone to arrive, we drew pictures of what it means to treat other people the way that we want to be treated.


Next, we went to Kehillah. We sang HaTikvah and enjoyed our favorite snack - cheese itz! We said mezonot over the cheese itz and shehakol over our water.


Then we went to services. Today the Cantor was in a silly mood! We sang songs pretending that we were fish and pretending that we were our grandparents.


When we got back to the classroom, we had Circle Time. We each shared something special that happened to us during the week and something about how we can treat others the way we want to be treated.




In Art class today, we talked about what it means to be a friend and how we make friends. We used pipe cleaners and googly eyes and beads to make friends that represent everything that we learned about being a friend.

Grade 1

Our Grade 1 students were at home this morning, resting up after their busy day on Saturday! They led our congregation in Shabbat morning services as we all celebrated their Consecration together.

Grade 2


In Grade 2, we started our morning by talking about ways that we are the same and ways that we are different. This is because our theme today is B'tzelem Elohim, which means that we are all created in God's image. 


Next, we went to Kehillah. We sang HaTikvah and enjoyed our favorite snack - cheese itz! We said mezonot over the cheese itz and shehakol over our water.


Then we went to services. Today the Cantor was in a silly mood! We sang songs pretending that we were fish and pretending that we were our grandparents.


Back in class, we looked at the Hodahah (thanksgiving) part of the Amidah (the central prayer in our worship service). In this part of the Amidah, we thank God for many things, including making us uniquely in God's image.


In Hebrew, we reviewed sound alike letters. Here, we are matching the letters that make the same sound, like vav and vet
 

We also worked more on our flashcards, which will help us review at home. To make the flashcards, we traced the letters, which also helped us get in some more practice!



Sunday, January 24, 2016

What Happened in Grades 3-6 on Sunday, January 24...

Grade 3


This morning, Grades 3-6 had a presentation from 6-points Sports Camp. 6 points is in North Carolina and is a sports camp that is run the Union of Reform Judaism. They offer intensive training  in a variety of sports from swimming to cheer leading in a Jewish environment. They also offer a technology and science camp. 


After we learned about 6-points, we had Havdallah services and sang the Israeli national anthem, HaTikvah. We also sang Happy Birthday for Birthdays in December and January. Then we sang the blessings for snack: shehekol and mezonot


Tu b'Shevat starts tonight! In preparation for our art project, we read Solomon and the Trees. In the book it talks about Solomon in the forest and he cares about the trees and takes care of them. On Tu b'Shevat we celebrate the birthday of the trees and take care of them. 
 


Our project today focused on making our own trees. We put tape down for where we wanted the trees to be and then painted around the tape. After we finished painting, we pulled off the tape. It was interesting to think about how our trees were "negative space" (an art term for space that is artistically left blank) and how if we don't take care of our environment, our earth will be left empty.


In this picture, we are playing am aleph-bet game. In this game we all got 2 or 3 cards. Each card had a letter or vowel on it and then another letter or vowel to call out and "tag" the next person. We tried to see how fast we could go while our teacher timed us!  

Grade 4



To begin the day, Grades 3-6 had a presentation from 6-points Sports Camp. 6 points is in North Carolina and is a sports camp that is run the Union of Reform Judaism. They offer intensive training  in a variety of sports from swimming to cheer leading in a Jewish environment. Going there, we could have an opportunity to create long lasting bonds with others, while having fun over the summer. They also offer a science and technology part of the camp. 


During Kehillah we sang HaTikvah, had Havdallah and celebrated December and January birthdays.


Back in class, we got worksheets to fill out with the help of our fellow classmates. We had to ask questions about being an upstander, and if the person related to that statement, they signed the square. Once everyone filled our sheets out, we knew more about each other! It was a great and very active way to start our learning!


During Judaics, we discussed the Torah and all of its nicknames. One nickname for the Torah is Eitz Hayim, which means “Tree of Life.” We explored this analogy together and talked more about the upcoming holiday of Tu b'Shevat, the birthday of the trees.


Last, we drew pictures of things that we do that relate to nature. Whether they were outside or inside, as long as they involved nature we shared.

Grade 5


To begin the day, Grades 3-6 had a presentation from 6-points Sports Camp. 6 points is in North Carolina and is a sports camp that is run the Union of Reform Judaism. They offer intensive training  in a variety of sports from swimming to cheer leading in a Jewish environment. Going there, we could have an opportunity to create long lasting bonds with others, while having fun over the summer. They also offer a science and technology part of the camp. 


During Kehillah we sang HaTikvah, had Havdallah and celebrated December and January birthdays.



Back in class, we broke our class into two groups. Then, we were given either the story of Jeremiah or the story of Jonah, both of which we've been learning about over the past few weeks. Our task was to create a movie trailer for that story! It was super fun. We came back together and shared our movie trailers with the opposing teams before we dispersed for Hebrew.


Our movie trailers didn't leave us too much time for Hebrew, but we managed to squeeze in a fun partner read to practice the Kedushah.
 

Grade 6



To begin the day, Grades 3-6 had a presentation from 6-points Sports Camp. 6 points is in North Carolina and is a sports camp that is run the Union of Reform Judaism. They offer intensive training  in a variety of sports from swimming to cheer leading in a Jewish environment. Going there, we could have an opportunity to create long lasting bonds with others, while having fun over the summer. They also offer a science and technology part of the camp. Then, we sang HaTikvah and the sixth grade got to help with Havdallah! We also sang happy birthday to our classmates who had birthdays in December and January.




During class, Mrs. Gabay led us in an awesome review game! Set up like Jeopardy, our "Jewpardy" game helped us review everything that we've learned so far this year. It was really impressive to see how much we've accomplished!


During Hebrew class, we read Devarim (Deuteronomy) 8:8, "It [Israel] is a land of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates; of olive oil and honey." Many of the foods that we eat for Tu b'Shevat come from this verse of Torah.


We got to try some of these foods, as well as others, during our class Tu b'Shevat seder!

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

What Happened at our Grade 3 & 4 Retreat...

We had a fantastic time at the Grade 3 & 4 Retreat this past weekend! In class, the Grade 3 students have been learning about how to bring holiness into our world by caring for ourselves and others and the Grade 4 students have been learning about how Jewish values can help us navigate our relationships with other people. Incorporated into both grades' curricula is the idea of standing up and being a leader, taking charge of a situation to work to make the world a better place. 

The Retreat focused on a piece of text from the Talmud, "In a place where there is no leader, work or try to be a leader" (Brachot 63a). During the Retreat the students examined Moses, one of Judaism's most important leaders (and also someone who was reluctant to take on a leadership role!), as they considered what leadership means, as well as what qualities make us good leaders. 

As students and parents arrived, there was a family activity where everyone at the table read a scenario together and then had to choose from a list of options as to how they would respond to the scenario. Participants were then challenged to convince the other people at the table as to why their response was the best choice.

Once everyone arrived, we moved into the Sanctuary for services.


Cantor Lawrence and our youth group Religious and Cultural Vice President, Samantha Eisner, co-led a Disney themed T'filah. As we welcomed Shabbat, the Disney theme of services set the tone for the evening, as Disney characters are often called upon to stand up and become leaders.


Following services, we enjoyed a delicious Shabbat dinner, after which it was time to say goodbye to the parents!


Before jumping into our activities, we created a brit (behavior contract) to make sure that everyone understood the rules for the evening. Then, we played a get-to-know-you game. Everyone was given a half of a leadership word and we had to find our match (like "resp" and "onsible"). Once we found the other half of our word, our cards matched up and had get-to-know-you questions on the back. Once we got to know our partner, we shared what we learned with everyone else in the group.


Then, Ms. Evans red us a story about Moses. After the story, we talked about what we can learn from Moses' life about how to be a leader. We got the chance to implement the leadership qualities that we talked about by participating in a series of three Moses themed leadership games!


Challenge 1: Collect the Hail
We were told that a plague has come to Egypt and the ground is covered in hail. It was our job to clean the hail up in one minute. After each attempt, we were given time to come up with strategies for improving our results.


Challenge 2: Finding the Path Through the Sea of Reeds
We were told that we had arrived at the Sea of reeds and need to cross to get away from the Egyptians. The only problem is that the path to safety is invisible! Through trial and error we had to find the right spots to step on and remember which ones were wrong. To add to the level of difficulty, we had to work together as a group without being able to talk to one another!


Challenge 3: Crossing Holy Ground
We were told that we were standing on the holy ground surrounding the Burning Bush and that we needed to find a way to cross over the holy ground. Just like Moses, we removed our shoes for this challenge! The object of the challenge was to trade places with a partner in the circle without touching anyone else.

After practicing our leadership skills in the challenges, it was time for PJs, a movie and bed!


In the morning, after a breakfast of freshly made pancakes, Cantor Lawrence led us a drum circle T'filah.


To review the leadership skills we'd discovered from learning about Moses, we worked in small groups to rank the qualities that it takes to be a leader from least important to most important.


We then considered how those leadership qualities could come to life in different scenarios:

Scenario: During lunch period a girl is making her way through the lunch line when a classmate approaches to ask if she can cut in front of her place in line. The girl replies no, saying that it isn’t fair to the people behind her. Annoyed, the other girl shoves her forcefully and takes her place in the line, all the other kids see this but, are afraid: You see this, what should you do?

Scenario: Your teacher introduces Eric, a new student, to the class. Eric is from another country. His clothes and way of speaking are different from the rest of his new classmates’. At lunch, Eric sits alone. You notice that. But many of your classmates think Eric is weird because of his clothes and the way he talks.
What should you do?

Scenario: It’s gym time and the teacher has elected you captain of one of the kickball teams. She tells you that you need to choose the players for your team. You want to pick the best players, but you know that some kids don’t play so well and are always picked last. You see them all standing in front of you waiting to be picked. What should you do?

Scenario: When you try to enter the bathroom at school, you see a younger student in tears. Three older students told him that he cannot use the bathroom. They have blocked the doors to the stalls as well as the exit. The older student blocking the entrance says to you, “You can’t come in, and if you say anything, you’ll be next.” What should you do?


We were allowed to choose five props...



... and got to perform one of the scenarios, and our idea for how we could be a leader in the given situation.


To end our time together, we decorated CDs with leadership words. The CDs act as mirrors so we can see ourselves as the leaders that we all know we can be!

Sunday, January 10, 2016

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.