Temple Emanu El Religious School: What Happened in Grades K-2 on Sunday, January 25...

Kindergarten

Today in Kehillah, we celebrated birthdays in January, but there is another birthday this month, for the Trees! This birthday is called Tu b'Shevat. (on the English calendar, Tu b'Shevat is in February, but the current Hebrew month is Shevat, and that is the month in which we celebrate Tu b'Shevat!)

Then, back in the classroom we played musical chairs while listening to music about Tu b'Shevat.

In our version of musical chairs, when somebody gets out, they get to answer a question about being kind to others, which is our theme for the year.

After that, we read a story about Tu b'Shevat.

In this story, a child and his grandfather plant a tree, and it grows and grows. The apples from this tree grew seeds, which were planted to become more trees.

Then, we started making decorations for our Tu b'Shevat party next week. (every good birthday party needs decorations!)

Some of the kids made Shrek masks for fun, as part of their arts and crafts.

Grade 1

The first graders began their day by sharing what they did this week to make them a Jewish Hero. Sammi shared that she helped her mom take her cat to the vet!

The class continued their morning in T’filah, sitting front and center, praying with Cantor Rick.

After T'filah, we stayed in the Sanctuary to rehearse for Consecration. Cantor Rick helped us with our songs and how the ceremony is going to happen. Everyone is very excited!

After rehearsal, we went back to the classroom to learn about Tu b'Shevat, otherwise known as the “New Year of the Trees.” Mrs. Levy read the class Sammy Spider’s First Tu b’Shevat so we could learn more about the upcoming holiday!

Grade 2

During T'filah, Cantor Lawrence taught us about this week's Torah portion, Beshalah. To learn more, go to http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Bible/Weekly_Torah_Portion/bshalah_index.shtml.