Religious School Bulletin

Religious School Bulletin – 1/26/2012

By admin - Monday, January 30th, 2012

It has been such a joy for me to see your children in their classrooms, acting out the story of Joshua and Jericho, learning how to wear Tefillan and making pots for plants for Tu B'Shevat (which I encourage them to bring to Tu B'Shevat in the Park when we plant parsley seeds.)  I look forward to many more weeks of fun, experiential learning.

 

Please watch your mail for information about our Spring Fundraiser, "The Phantom of Shushan." I will be there and hope to see you.

 

Thank you to all of the 6th-8th Graders and 3rd-5th Graders who have signed up for parts in your special Friday evening services (6th-8th Grade Service is Friday, January 27. The 3rd-5th Grade Service is Friday, February 17.) If your child would still like to participate, there are spots available. For future reference, the K-2nd Grade Shabbat Service will be Friday, March 23 and the 3rd Grade Siddur Dedication Ceremony will be Friday, April 20.

 

Mark your calendars for the next Shabbat Family Experience on Saturday, February 11.  For the following one (Saturday, March 10) we will be meeting at Handmaker for some special programming with the seniors.   

 

Sunday, February 12 is our Tu B'Shevat in the Park.  We will be meeting at McDonald Park at 9:30 am and having three rotations (a Tu B'Shevat Seder, planting parsley seeds and Israeli dancing) in addition to going on a nature walk.

 

Please also save the date for Sunday, March 25 for our Keep on Truckin' Festival!

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Teachers' Classroom Recaps:

 

Kindergarten – Elana Weiner 

The kindergarten class learned the names of the animals in Hebrew.  We are also continuing to learn the letters and are up to "kaf."

 

1st Grade – Renee Hulsey

The first graders are doing such a great job with learning to recognize the Hebrew letters.  We now know 16 letters and three vowels.  We are working on writing the letters as well as knowing their names and sounds.  We are on track for learning all of the letters by the end of this year!!  In Judaics, we learned about our Torah this week.  We know that a scribe uses a quill to write the letters on parchment to create a Torah.  Lastly, we have started preparing to lead Friday night services with our kindergarten and second grade friends on March 23rd. Please mark this date on your calendars!  It will be a wonderful opportunity for our parents to see how beautifully we daven!

 

2nd Grade – Emily Riley-Saxton 

The class has been learning the Hebrew days of the week and recently began learning about the Hebrew months. Ask your child if he/she remembers which Hebrew month he/she was born in!

 

3rd Grade – Laura Olesen 

The 3rd graders have done a really good job on their booklets, that tell and illustrates Deborah the Prophetess and Barak's battle at Mt. Tabor in Northern Israel. They learned about Rosh Chodesh and the month "Shevat", and that Tu B' Shevat  is approaching. In Hebrew, they learned the vowel "segol" and worked on prayer building blocks and new key words. They  took home a practice page for the week! Please keep encouraging your child to practice. Great job 3rd graders! 

 

4th Grade – Rebecca Grossberg 

The fourth grade is learning about Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism. They learned about stories of humans speaking to God (Moses and the burning bush) and then formed their own mystical story.

 

5th Grade – Jesse Muller 

The fifth grade class learned about Israeli food and got to taste some of the foods (hummus, pita, krembo and bisli to name a few!) We are beginning our unit on Jewish life cycle rituals from birth to death. 

 

6th Grade – Layni Direnfeld

This week, the sixth grade was busy running through history.  We covered the opression Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe faced, explored the living conditions on the lower east side of New York, learned about the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the damage it caused.  In addition we also learned about the Reconstructionist movement in Judaism.  Finally, we started our unit on the movement of labor unions and the participation of several noteable American Jews including Samuel Gompers and Louis Brandeis. In tefilah we continued to work on Birkat Hamazon.  I look forward to seeing several of my students and their parents this Friday evening at Shabbat services for our class dinner! 

 

7th – 8th Grade – Joel Kanter & Jessica Cooper

The 7th and 8th graders divided up parts for the Religious School Yom HaShoah Service and examined pictures from Poland and Israel to determine which to use for the service.  The kids had a great time!