Religious School Bulletin

Religious School Bulletin 9-13-1

By Debra Lytle - Thursday, September 13th, 2012

RELIGIOUS SCHOOL PARENT BULLETIN 9-13-12

Wishing everyone a Shana Tova U'Metuka, a Happy, Sweet New Year!

Please note: There will be Religious School every Sunday during the High Holy Days; however, the next time we have class on a Tuesday is Oct. 16 because many of the holidays fall on Tuesdays. To make up for lost time, we are asking all families to attend Tashlich on Sept. 20 and the "Hava NaGRILLA" Family Sukkot Program & Dinner on Oct. 4.

I am encouraging each class to bring tzedakah (coins to help those in need) to our classes. At the end of the year, each grade will decide to which cause their tzedakah will go.

Due to this very busy time of year, the next Parent Bulletin with teacher classroom recaps will be sent on Oct. 18. I plan to send a brief bulletin between now and then to announce upcoming programs and to give you a sense of some of the activities that have occurred in school.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
Thursday, Sept. 20
All students and their families are expected to attend "Tashlich at the Park" at the JCC (River/Dodge) at 4:00pm. Teachers will be attending as well. RSVP here.

Sunday, Sept. 30
5th and 6th Grade trip to collect willow branches for Sukkot. Students will decorate the congregation's sukkah.

Thursday, Oct. 4
"Hava NaGRILLA" Family Sukkot Program & Dinner
Join us for a festive event 6:00 – 8:00pm to include learning stations, an art project and a drama game, as well as a bounce house. Teachers will be attending the dinner. RSVP here.

Sunday, Oct. 7
Breakfast in the Sukkah for K – 6th Grades at 9:30am. Can you help with this event? Contact Rabbi Herman. 

Teachers' Classroom Recaps:
Kindergarten – Sarah Artzi
Sunday was a very busy day for the Kindergartners! We started our morning with the sound of the shofar blown by Rabbi Eisen. He brought in several "shofarot" – one very long in size, one very short, and one somewhere in the middle – and blew each one so we could hear the different sound that they make. It certainly got our attention and reminded us that Rosh Hashanah is almost here! Your children loved reading "Sammy Spider's First Rosh Hashanah," making New Year cards for our families, and eating apples and honey. After our song session with Dan Jurkowitz, we took a "field trip" down to the Sanctuary and looked at all the holy things in this very important room. We even got to see the Torot dressed in their special covers for the holidays. Wishing each of you a Shanah Tovah, a sweet and joyous New Year!

1st Grade – Renee Hulsey
The 1st Graders had a busy day learning this past Sunday. We heard Rabbi Eisen blow shofar. He also taught us that a shofar can be made from any animal that has a horn except a cow! The reason is that we don't want to remind God of a time that we (Jews) didn't do what we were supposed to do (think of that golden calf idol incident). We also learned that on Rosh Hashanah, we eat apples and honey to have a sweet new year and greet our friends with a hearty Shanah Tovah, to wish them a good new year. Don't forget to bring tzedakah to Religious School this Sunday!  

2nd Grade – Natalie Guerin
We had our full schedule on Sunday with minyan (prayer service), tefillah (learning about prayers) and music, and we look forward to art this coming Sunday. We finished 'Adam and Eve' and even acted out the story with one student asking the others why they did what they did. We learned about tzedakah and started talking about to where our tzedakah would go at the end of the year. In Hebrew we added the letters "Mem" and Lamed," and our new word is "Shamash."

3rd Grade – Laura Olesen
This week in Judaics, the 3rd Graders did a great job on identifying Israel on their maps and learning about what makes Israel our homeland. Everyone did a super job on their first quiz! They are also learning new things about Rosh Hashanah and are working on a few projects that will be brought home next Sunday. Ask them about it when they show you what they've learned! Each student received a copy of Hebrew pages to practice at home, and I encourage all parents to see that your children to practice. They are doing very well with Hebrew and the more practice they put in, the more they will progress. Shanah Tovah!

4th Grade – Rodin Molina
This week went very well. In Hebrew we continued reviewing letters and syllables. We worked on identifying letters that sound the same, and began reading and writing review with full words. Students especially appreciated an activity where they "translated" their names from block print to script. On Sunday in Judaics, we discussed Rosh Hashanah and heshbon hanefesh (accounting of one's deeds in the past year). Students had a chance to try blowing a shofar and wrote a letter to themselves about their goals for the coming year. On Tuesday, we discussed God's covenant with Israel and the task of helping God to complete the world through mitzvoth, leading to some great classroom discussions.

4th Grade – Elana Weiner
This week in class we focused on mitzvot (commandments), and how, as partners with God, we use mitzvot to help repair the world. In Hebrew, we learned new prefixes and suffixes, and started reading and breaking down the beginning of the Amidah prayer. On Tuesday, we began our Rosh Hashanah work which we will continue on Sunday.

5th Grade – Courtney DeYoung
This week we covered a lot of the Welcome to Israel book due to Hebrew testing. On Tuesday, we continued our conversation on Rosh Hashanah.

6th Grade – MeMe Aguila
The 6th Grade class had some great discussions on why the Torah Portion for Rosh Hashanah is the Birth of Isaac. We also continued with learning about Jewish American History and the first Jewish Settlers and their struggles. The first Jewish American pioneer we have studied is Asher Levy. If you're not sure who he is, ask your student!   Our Hebrew evaluations our completed and we are looking forward to getting to work on our Hebrew.

7th – 8th Grade – Jacob Kotz
The 7th and 8th Graders had a conversation about the 9/11 terrorist attacks. We then read and discussed, "Love and Terror," about a Palestinian couple who were involved in terrorist activities.

Rabbi Ben Herman