February 2015 Volume 12 Issue 6. February 21 at 10:00 am In the Marcus Chapel. (Newborn - 5 years old)

Transcription

1 February 2015 Volume 12 Issue 6 February 21 at 10:00 am In the Marcus Chapel (Newborn - 5 years old)

2 PRE-GAN {Sherry} We started off the New Year learning about choref (winter) and the mitzvah of taking care of animals in winter. We made bird feeders from pine cones, soy butter, and birdseed. Isaac J. reminded me of Winnie the Pooh trying to get the sticky honey out of the jar when he spread the nut butter on his pine cone. We learned the Hebrew word for bird (tsipor). Then we pretended to go ice skating by using paper plates as our skates. Isaac S. kept his feet on the skates the longest, and never fell down. Finally we learned the word for snow is sheleg. I made pretend snow out of shaving cream and baking soda. (1 can to about 3 boxes of baking soda made a good consistency if you want to make at home) Ari and Levi made animal footprints in the sheleg and cleared a path for the animals with our toy snow plows. The next week we talked about Tikkun Olam and how we can help by reducing, reusing and recycling. Shoshana jumped to the recycling box in our recycle relay race, and made sure all the paper and plastic didn't go into the land fill. We also discussed turning off lights and the TV when we are done using them, and turning off the water when you don't need it. However washing hands every other day is not what I had in mind when conserving water. Hopefully everyone will continue to do Tikkun Olam at home. At Mazel Tots, Bill Tucker, wins the prize for the best craft so far. He made bird feeders out of PVC pipe and the kids decorated and completed. Harper was Wonder Woman hammering her perches like a pro. I hope everyone finds a place to hang their feeders and continue the mitzvah all winter long. PRE-GAN {Sherryl} Pre Gan continues to learn about Shabbat. We read Come Let Us Welcome Shabbat". We have learned that Shabbat is a time for rest, for joy, and also peace. Peace means many things. We greet one another on Shabbat by saying Shabbat Shalom. We like to sing "Shabbat Shalom" and many other songs with Mitch in music. Hannah, Aaron, Savannah, and Shayne enjoyed decorating their own Kiddush cups! Each week Adrian, Reid, Livia, and all the children help us say the prayers for cookies and juice: Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha'olam borei minei mezonot and Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha'olam borei p'ri ha'adamah. The book Clap and Count! had action rhymes (finger plays) that we had fun doing together. I have sent a copy of the action rhymes home. We sang to the tune of Eentsy, Weentsy Spider. Little Sammy Spider Lived in a Jewish house and acted out Ten Fresh Challahs sitting in a row! Mazel Tots this month was wonderful as always! We made amazing bird feeders! The children were proud and excited to take their bird feeders home and fill them up with bird seed, also provided, to feed the birds in this cold winter! The next few weeks we will talk more about Tzedakah and sharing what we have with those in need. We will be making our own Tzedakah boxes. This is an important mitzvah in Jewish life. Come visit us anytime! KITAH GAN: Kindergarten {Debbie} It was good to welcome the Kindergarten students back in By looking at them, you d swear they grew several inches over winter break. We started the secular New Year off by reviewing the God Talk we learned and learning the I Am Jewish song. We finished the unit by discussing the topic Talking and Praying to God. The students listened to the book Daniel and the Silver Flute and learned that anyone can pray to God, anywhere, anytime, using any words in any way they can. Specifically for Judaism we discussed needing to have 10 Jewish Adults in a Minyan who read prayers out of a prayer book. They also learned that there are three types of prayers: Asking, Praising, and Thanking God. Each student wrote their own prayer Baruch Atah Ad-nai, Thank you God for.. You can see the prayers on the wall outside our door. The students also heard stories and watched a music video about Tikun Olam, taking care of the Earth. Next the students synthesized all of their learning to make posters for the I Am Jewish song in preparation for Consecration in February. Dylan and Athina enjoyed holding up the props to help us remember the words as we sang the different stanzas. Can you believe the Kindergarteners have already learned 16 of the Alef Bet letters? They only have 6 more to learn! And they have learned most of the vowel sounds! For even more practice, they played BINGO. Avi and Cassie really knew their letters and had a great time! It s hard to believe half the year has passed. I can t wait to see what exciting things these kids will learn next!

3 KITAH ALEF: First Grade {Deena & Gail} Gail: Welcome back and a Happy Secular New Year to All! It's hard to believe that the school year is half over. It is so good to be back with our class. The students are glad to be back and eager to learn. Chana came in and worked with the class on manipulating playdough into various letters from our Hebrew alphabet. Chana taught the students the Hebrew words for duck, barvaz and tiger. We continue to work with letters vet and alef. In Tefillah with Mitch we play different percussion instruments for Halleluh, we are a herd of wild horses for Ashrei, where we eat chocolate and banana waffles, yum. Katie and Samantha lead the Barhu. Noah, Levi and Ethan lead us all in Shema. We all point to the mezuzah because that's where the Shema resides. The students colored different worksheets pertaining to the weekly Torah parasha. These lovely works of art are proudly displayed in the hall, just outside our room. Please come by and enjoy the creativity of your students. We scattered many Hebrew letters all over the room and I do mean All over the room. It kind of looked like the Xerox machine had exploded. We would ask them to find the letters and they ran all over the room trying to locate the letters, that they have been studying all year. We also divided the class into smaller groups and some played a Hebrew memory game, while the other half played a Hebrew bean bag game. These games are fun for all and they reinforce all the Hebrew we have been teaching. We read a wonderful book to the class entitled, The Stonecutter who wanted to be rich. It was a good lesson for the class about being who you are and not trying to be someone else. No matter what the character dreamed he wanted to be, he realized all he ever wanted to be was a happy stonecutter. We posed several questions to the class, one question was " do you think rich individuals are treated differently than people who have less?" The students were very insightful. Till next time, L'hitraot Deena:I hope you all enjoyed your winter break from school. Now that we are back in school, your children are working hard on recognition, pronunciation and writing of the aleph bet. They have been using play-doh with Chana to create the letters. In class they have all been given their very own dry erase boards to practice on. We have also incorporated games to help them quickly and correctly recall their letters. They are making great progress! We are also focusing on all of the Jewish holidays as they come along. We are currently discussing Tu B Shevat. In honor of Tu B Shevat, the children are working on a family tree project that we will proudly display on our bulletin board. Please keep your eyes posted for them! KITAH BET: Second Grade {Scott} Shalom! This month we have been focusing on learning three main things in second grade. We have been learning about Tu'BShevat, the Jewish values of Emunnah and Gimilut hasadim, and some new Hebrew letters, including chet, yud, and final mem. We have also begun learning some Hebrew words...specifically pronouns. Tu'BShevat is what we might call in English "the New Year for the trees". We have learned how in ancient Israel the holiday took on a somewhat different meaning than it does today, and even though it may seem like a minor holiday, it really is an important part of the Jewish calendar. This holiday helps us learn to appreciate the many different uses we have for trees, and how important they really are especially in Eretz Yisrael. The Kabalists (medieval Jewish mystics) even created a seder akin to the Passover seder as a way of observing the holiday. We have done two small projects to help us learn about the holiday one, planting our own "trees" (really, potatoes in a water filled glass which will bloom nicely over the next several weeks) and also we have made small placemats depicting the different fruits and grains we eat on Tu'BShevat. We have been hard at work learning about Jewish values as well this month. We have been studying Gimilut Hasadim and Emunah. The former we have learned is the concept in Judaism of helping one another mainly by doing activities, such as helping someone reach something that they otherwise could not, or visiting the sick. We have learned that Judaism considers this value higher even then that of tzedakah because Gimilut Hasadim is something anyone can do, regardless if they are rich or poor. The latter concept, Emunah, is the idea of belief in one God. This is of course the most fundamental of all Jewish beliefs. And last but not least, we have been making more and more progress in Hebrew. We have learned three new letters, chet, final mem, and yud. I am also pleased to report that we have begun learning our first set of vocabulary words as well.the ten Hebrew pronouns. We are slowly but surely going from being able to read Hebrew to being able to speak it. The class has been really excited about this. Come February we will be learning some additional nouns and verbs, and before you know it we will be not just reading, but speaking, IN HEBREW! Next month we will continue to learn more about Jewish values and holidays. including working on a very special project for Purim. Until next time L'hitraot!

4 KITAH GIMEL: 3rd Grade {Zahava} 2015 has begun with excitement in the 3 rd grade! Students received their scripts for the Gates of Prayer play and have been busy memorizing their lines. Each day in class, we review the Hebrew letters in script and practice reading them. Our recognition of the Hebrew letters in script has greatly improved. We have been working hard in tefillah reviewing the prayers we already know and studying new ones such as the Ashrei. Andrew said that he enjoys learning the Ashrei because it will help him get ready for his bar mitzvah. Tyler said Learning the Ashrei will help me get ready to learn more prayers in the future. Lily said that learning the Ashrei will help you when you get older so that you can teach your kids. The students have almost finished making their very own book of the prayers we say over food. This includes the prayer over bread, the prayer over the grape juice, the prayer over things that grow from the earth, the prayer over fruit that grows from trees and the prayer over sweets. In history we learned about Rambam s ladder of tzedakah and Yehudah HaNasi, the person who put together the Mishnah (the first layer of the Talmud). We read some wonderful stories in our Hebrew book, and the students took turns reading line by line. We will perform our play on February 22 for Siddur Dedication. Please help your children practice learning their lines. We hope to see you all there. KITAH DALET: 4th Grade {Ariel} Kitah Daled is excited for the fun we will have in 2015! We have concluded our unit on biblical judges and enjoyed celebrating Hanukkah together. One of our new focuses will be Israel post WWII. We have begun learning about Israeli leaders such as Golda Meir and Ben Gurion. We are learning about Aliyah and Israeli culture, as well as how we can support Israel here in the Diaspora. Isabel did a wonderful job helping make a poster with her classmates on Operation Ezra and Nehemiah (the large scale Aliyah from Iraq). Jared and Ross also did a great job contributing on a poster about the Six Day War. Baylee, Ethan and Maya made a spectacular timeline on Israel. We will continue our unit on Israel. Having the Chaverim (friends) from Israel is an exciting fun way for the students to learn more about the culture of Israel! In our Hebrew unit students are learning about pronouns, and how to change verb root endings. We are reinforcing these by doing various activities and games. We are excited to celebrate Tu'BShevat together in class! KITAH HEI: 5th Grade {Phyllis & Rob} Rob: We have started off the new year progressing very nicely with our Min Ha aretz curriculum and I can really see the students taking an interest in the subject matter. Some students have shared with me the changes they have made in their lives as a result of what we have studied. While that is not the objective of the material, it is certainly good to hear. In the coming weeks, we will be exploring the following additional subjects related to the curriculum; the difference between processed and whole foods in relation to our traditions, the concept of food miles and the distances that some items we eat travel to get to our plates, the obligations of providing food to others in conjunction with Tzedakah. The students have also taken a great interest in expressing their opinions with their feet in the classroom. In several instances, we have debated subjects in class and students were asked to a particular area of the room based upon where their own opinion falls. It has given them a chance to look at a subject in a different manner and be able to vocalize their feelings and opinions. I would like to welcome Ethan to the class. Ethan started with us after winter break and has jumped right into to the classroom activities full speed ahead! Welcome, Ethan!

5 Phyllis: Kitah Hei came back from break to many different activities. On Wednesdays we have time to learn trope with Mitch and also end our day with 15 minutes of song. We learned Israeli history through newspaper headlines with our chaverim myisrael and then wrote our own headlines in Hebrew class with the help of a dictionary and Morah Phyllis. We continued to work on our verbs and read and translated a poem. Completing the unit about Kavod Atzmi, self-respect, each student named a skill or quality they were proud of. We are a talented group. Our newest student, Ethan, plays cello and Lacrosse. Zara is proud that she gets good grades, loves to sing and plays piano. Zachary is good at baseball and hockey. Eli chose baseball as well. Jacob, Josh, and Josh are proud of being athletic in general and Ben is proud of being strong. Tillie says her best attributes are being friendly and kind and she is proud of being a dancer. Talia loves being a creative kid. I love teaching this talented group of students. KITAH VAV: 6th Grade {Rachel} The 6th grade is delving into deep material as we start units on Shalom Bayit and G-d/Belief. Our Shalom Bayit unit kicked off with a discussion of the importance of this concept to Judaism and the many things throw off our 'shalom'. Students talked about everything from siblings, to money, to political disagreements, and the stress of work and homework. The students then enacted a play based on the Mishnaic conversations about Ben Sorer u'moreh: the Stubborn and Rebellious child. Our students who are in the process of becoming b'nai mitzvah examined what it means to be responsible for actions but not yet an adult, and the various ways that the Rabbis were in tune with family dynamics and how they can impact a child's behavior. Students journaled about their own 'trigger' moments; when they see themselves becoming "stubborn and rebellious. Over the next weeks they will work on PSAs (creative 'Public Service Announcements') about this ideas. Alongside this learning, we are examining our beliefs and struggles with the concept of G-d and how G-d is represented in text. In Hebrew, we are reading and translating children's stories into English in order to build our vocabulary and prepare to write our own Hebrew stories! Lastly, we've started our class with Rabbi Wise and the students are class-act scholars and enjoying the regular time for silence and meditation. KITAH ZAYIN: 7th Grade {Brett} Over the past month we were introduced to conversational Hebrew, started our next unit on Obligations, and volunteered at the Henry Hosea House. As our teens grow up they will have the chance to go/return to Israel and knowing the language can be beneficial and fun! This month we started to learn how to speak in Hebrew by practicing introducing ourselves. We learned phrases like Hello, My name is, What is your name? How are you feeling? I feel good/ok/so-so, see you later, and good morning/afternoon/ evening. We began our second to last unit: Obligations. As Conservative Jews, we have the obligation to fulfill the Mitzvot. Our understanding of the source of our obligation may differ greatly, but we share this obligation in common. We looked at the advantages of obligations, the benefits, and even the consequences. Our class will continue to study this concept through text study, self-discovery exercises, and class discussions. For January s Tzedakah Sunday project we volunteered at the Henry Hosea House, a mission that feeds those who are in need. The clients of the Henry Hosea house include men, women and children who are either homeless, low income, or have fallen on hard times. Our teens and their families met in Newport Kentucky, cooked a wonderful pasta dinner, and served 80 clients. Before the clients arrived our volunteer manager explained the history and the importance of the mission. Our class worked hard, learned a lot, and was able to see another way to perform a mitzvah. February s Class Tzedakah Sunday Project: Rescue Kit Preparation and Distribution Sunday, February 22, :30 PM 8:00 PM meet at the synagogue Food and hygiene donations are needed please contact Brett Schwartz for information about donating. Schwartz.brett@gmail.com

6 MUSIC AND TROPE WITH MITCH COHEN Trope: Grades 5 and 6 As we began the new semester, we focused on critical skills for each grade. The 5th graders' enjoyed earning points by volunteering to sing the Haftorah tropes I would call out. Tillie, Benji, Josh, Eli, and many others were excited to volunteer. The class is doing a great job remembering all of the various melodies, and everyone is earning lots of points. 5th graders also worked on mastering the long "blessings after the haftorah". 6th graders worked on learning "Torah Tropes" and davening the Torah service. Shoshi enjoyed drawing our pretend Ark on the blackboard for our Torah service, and Adam volunteered to close the ark curtain (by his drawing on the board). The class led all of the Torah service prayers and then marched in a "hakafah" around the classroom as they held pretend Torahs. The Torah service is one of the services that the students lead on their Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Music: grades K-2 and 3-5 As we approach the holiday of Tu B'Shevat, the kids were excited to sing our original song, "Thank G-d for making our trees". Students get to call out different types of trees to include in the lyrics, such as real trees like Lemon and Olive, and very creative trees like chocolate trees! This song also gives us the chance to mix in Hebrew vocabulary, such as limonim (lemons) and tapuchim (apples). We also began working on music for the Youth Service coming up on Saturday morning February 21st. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders will help lead the musaf service and sing a number of prayers, including an up-beat version of Yismichu, which even includes a little bit of beat boxing! We also began working with our recorder flutes again to prepare songs for Shabbat School at the end of the semester. The kids did a great job learning Romimu and more. In K-2 Tefillah, we added our special Adon Olam this month, and the students got out their pretend drums, symbols, flutes, and more. RESOURCE CENTER {Chana & Toby} Toby: Students continue to show progress in their reading skills by enjoying the many activities designed to meet their individual learning styles. In addition to the ipad, computer, board games and magnetic aleph bet letters, a new game using word flash cards, when correctly read allows the student to take a step, reading until they completely circle the room. This is active, fun on these cold, indoor days! Please take time to notice/admire the STARS on the windows of the school lobby. Have your child identify the one they carefully selected 12 triangles cut from kipot, and glued to make the most unique Magen David, proving that "We All Are Stars at Adath Israel!" Chana: Students returned from winter break as we started reading from Shemot, the second book of the Torah. Hebrew enrichment students are using the story of the Exodus to improve their Hebrew reading and comprehension. They are also learning vocabulary for the upcoming holiday of the trees, Tu B'shvat. Here is what the different grades worked on: Kindergarten and 1st grade used play-doh to form the initial letters of Hebrew football words the week of the play-offs. Last week students started to learn a song about Moses and Pharoah that parallels the weekly portions. The song is mostly in English with some Hebrew vocabulary. B nei Yisra el suffered bitterly As Moshe watched the sheep one day Moshe heard G-d tell him Moshe was seen killing a Mitzri A baby lamb ran away To lead the Jews from Mitzrayim From Mitzrayim, Moshe fled He followed the lamb and saw Moshe and Aharon told Par oh Yitro s daughter then he wed A bush burning more and more Let the Jews go Older grades also learned this song. They identified the Hebrew words and spelled them in Hebrew. Second grade used vocabulary from the portion of the week and Tu B'shvat to improve letter recognition and vowel sounds. They especially enjoyed matching singular and plural Hebrew names for produce. Third grade also studied Tu B'shvat, including using Hebrew numerology to figure out the date of the holiday. (It's in the name.) Fourth and fifth grades read basic Hebrew stories about the exodus from Egypt. They also worked on clay tiles that depict the 7 species of Israeli produce. Sixth and seventh graders finished adapting a Hebrew recipe for chocolate treats and are prepared to make them in two weeks. They started a new project: using Hebrew from the weekly readings to construct Moshe's family tree.

7 Special Activities

8 February 2015 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT Mazal Tots 9-10:30am Atid/Jewish Stars Circus event 12:30-3pm Family Service 10:15am 15 NO SCHOOL Presidents Day Weekend 16 Kadima/USY Ski Trip@ Perfect North Youth Service Tot Shabbat-10am Marcus Chapel Kids on the Bimah 22 Ceremony Sunday 11am David Arnow 2/24/03 Jacob Baron 2/20/07 Lily Liss 2/11/09 Noah Cochran 2/16/04 Lucy Salters 2/22/09 Levi Deardorff 2/1/08 Joshua Willis 2/9/04 Aidan Deardorff 2/9/06 Oliver Wittenbaum 2/9/03 Samone Harris 2/11/09 Eli Zelvy 2/6/06 Seth Kahn 2/10/03 Aaron Zelvy 2/16/09