FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 2014 VOLUME 2 ISSUE 10

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1 B H th St, Edmonton, AB T5N 3L1 Phone: Fax: menorahacademy.org ~ office@menorahacademy.org Written by Shoshana W., Grade 4 Bright and early Thursday morning, our Grade 1 class headed off to the Kollel, dressed in our shabbos finery. Today we celebrated our Chumash Party! We explored the different rooms in the kollel (library, mikvah, women's section...) and had inspiring morning prayers during davening there. We then learned some fascinating things about the Torahs that were in the Aron. How beautiful the Ashkenazi one was! How regal the Sephardi one stood! We even recognized all the letters, although they look a little different inside a Torah. After picking out our very own balloons at the balloon store, we returned to school to greet our parents! We sang, spoke in rhyme, and pledged to continue the chain of Torah and pass it along. Aliza s father, Mr. Lehrer, shared a story about an inspiring ancestor of his, and we smiled for the camera as we received our first Chumash. After eating our Torah cake (which we made) and making a super fun craft, we floated back to class with our balloons. Chumash time! Menorah Academy hosted an exciting Chodesh Adar assembly, called Let s Make A Deal! Students grades K-9 took turns being contestants in a challenge. For example, If you can chew up hard gum and then make a presentable bubble or Whoever can blow up a balloon, tie it, then draw a reallooking clown face on it in approximately 2 minutes! The winners of each challenge were then presented with an unknown prize, followed by an option to make a deal with the teacher for a different unknown prize. Is the large box or the small envelope a better choice? Mishenichnas Adar Marbim B Simcha We increase our happiness as Adar approaches. This month s focus is finding happiness in mitzvah opportunities to grow closer to Hashem! A special thank you to Rabbi Glatt for being the game show host par excellence at the Rosh Chodesh Adar assembly! Have a good Shabbos, and Happy Purim!!

2 PAGE 2 MENORAH HIGHLIGHTS Getting excited for PURIM! Our Preschool and Art classes have been hard at work designing beautiful, detailed, custom-painted Purim masks, hamantaschen, groggers, costumes, Purim story illustrations and more! Watch learning come to life at Menorah Academy!

3 MENORAH HIGHLIGHTS PAGE 3 Language, Literature, Learning, Living Grade 6 Boys invited special guests, Rabbi Shfrin & Sylvia, to their classroom to share and explain a story their guests have not read! Written by Mr. Keith Johnson, Grade 6 English Teacher In our grade six language arts class, the students are in the middle of the engaging novel The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. It tells the story of a young boy who is bored with almost everything, until a mysterious package arrives and takes him on an adventure to a strange and wonderful land. Similar to such classic tales such as Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz, Juster weaves an exciting coming-of-age story that focuses on wordplay, puns, and idioms, much to the delight of our class. Last week, the students became both illustrators and storytellers when they were asked to compose a visual representation of a story told by an old Which (not to be confused with an old witch). The exercise allowed students to express themselves in different mediums and even to try their hand at teaching by explaining their drawing to Menorah staff who have not read the novel! The technique of telling a story within a frame story follows in the tradition of great literature. Shakespeare famously has a play within a play in Hamlet, and Geoffrey Chaucer has his characters tell stories to each other to pass the time on their Adar II Assembly, LET S MAKE A DEAL WINNER! Grade 9 Student, Aidan D., was the lucky winner to announce last week s Golden Broom and Fish Award. Much to his disappointment, his homeroom did not win the award, but was honoured to announce that Grade 2 was the triumphant winner. Aidan gave a compelling speech about his disappointment and oversight of his homeroom, and added his conviction it was a conspiracy... maybe next week Grade 8/9! journey to Canterbury in The Canterbury Tales. As a product of imagination and exhibiting an influence of its own, literature provides a gateway to worlds beyond our immediate surroundings, transcending time as easily as space. Literature also provides a record of our collective experience, allowing us to relate to our culture and ancestors. It is through stories, both the telling of and listening to, that true connection occurs; sharing of stories becomes the process by which we become human and our students are becoming better storytellers & more active citizens as readers here at Menorah Academy!

4 PAGE 4 MENORAH HIGHLIGHTS has logged of reading and earned a Sledding Party! Pictured above, students in our youngest preschool class gain a new perspective on Jewish customs and practice as they begin early to develop a love for reading and learning! Did you know Menorah students can start preschool with loving staff as young as 19 months? A Parent Advisory Council Project Menorah Academy Spring 2014 After School Clubs Extended M-TH afternoon daycare as late as 6pm REPLY TODAY! Some parents have expressed interest in after-school daycare for their children (of any age) until as late as 5 or 6 pm. If there is sufficient interest, we may be able to offer this at Menorah in the next few weeks. Please the office to confirm your interest specify age of children and until what time is needed.

5 MENORAH HIGHLIGHTS PAGE 5 Menorah Academy - Parnes Hayom To sponsor a day of Torah learning in honor of a special occasion BIRTHDAYS, ANNIVERSARIES, BIRTHS, GRADUATIONS, ENGAGEMENTS, MEMORIALS, YAHRZEIT, & MORE!. Science in Miss Condie s 6th Grade Boys came to life as students built electric cars of their own using batteries, circuits, gears, and more! please contact Ms. Scheelar at or info@menorahacademy.org January 20th, 2014 Joyce C. Goldford February 18th, 2014 Shloime Drelich February 25th, 2014 Miriam Drelich March 14th, 2014 Sammy Sinyor March 26th, 2014 Marilyn Lester Grade One engineered a puppet making project during their Language Arts class last week. Mrs. Parsons gave the class a list of mismatched and out of order instructions, which the students had to arrange. Once completed, they were to build from these blueprints their own paper bag puppy puppet! Enjoying Menorah Highlights? Family or Friends you d like to include? ADD THEM TO OUR NEWSLETTER MAILING LIST! info@menorahacademy.org and receive our fabulous newsletters bi-weekly! Mr. Mrs. Michael Proskiw on the engagement of your daughter Samantha to Michael Abromovsky from Atlanta!

6 PAGE 6 MENORAH HIGHLIGHTS Rabbi Seidenfeld Speaks to Menorah Students Written by Menucha W. Grade 6 This past Friday, Rabbi Seidenfeld from Los Angeles came to give Menorah students Grade 4-9 with a powerful pre-purim Dvar Torah. He spoke about all we can accomplish, and the opportunity include others and to bring more achdus through delivering Mishloach Manos especially to those we haven t gotten along with as well. As a result, the girls have been trying to include everyone else, which they call sisters. Our boys are working to make themselves exceptional examples as well! Mr. Laurier Ouimet visits Grade 3 and wows them with Science! World of Science & Light Grade 3 student, Sam Z. & his grandpa explaining the construction of our two instruments to test out in our Hearing & Sound Unit. Written by Ms. Darcie Klem, Grade 3 General Studies Teacher The Grade 3 class are really enjoying their hands on Science Unit on Hearing and Sound. They are learning through inquiry, observation and investigation, and are recording their theories as they test them out. Some of their recent lessons have been on the learner outcomes of: identifying sounds, vibration, hearing safety, pitch and soundproducing devices. They have learned how the parts of the human ear sense vibrations, and are currently constructing various sound producing devices and instruments. Written by Ms. Darcie Klem, Grade 4B General Studies Teacher The grade 4 boys are learning about Light and Shadow in Science. We have conducted some very interesting investigations and experiments testing out predictions and recording our observations. We have been learning about eye safety, sources of light, how light travels, shadows size and location and light reflection. Recently we tested out the concept of refraction and learned that light rays are bent as they travel through the air into the water. This causes the object in the water to appear to be in a different place than it really is.