Religious School Bulletin August 30, 2013
Shalom. We are having a blast in Religious School! The younger students (grades K-2) began their electives of Creative Art and Israeli Dance. The older students had a great time in music and will have their first elective on Sunday, September 8. If your child is taking Band/Orchestra, please have him/her bring his/her instrument to Religious School on September 8.
Please remember to bring tzedakah to Religious School! From now until Sukkot, the money you bring will go directly towards enhancing Religious School programming as part of our congregational High Holy Days Appeal.
There is no class Sunday, September 1 due to the Labor Day weekend. There will be class on Tuesday, September 3.
We will not send a parent bulletin next week due to Rosh Hashanah. We wish everyone a Shana Tova U'Metuka, a Happy and Sweet New Year! The next bulletin will be on Friday, September 13 (Erev Yom Kippur).
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Tuesday, Sept. 3
Rabbi Robert Eisen will blow shofar for 3rd – 6th Grades at 4:00pm and for7th – 8th Grades at 5:00pm. (Please be on time!)
Tuesday, Sept. 10
All students and their families are expected to attend "Tashlich at the Park" at Reid Park Ramada 7 at 4:00pm. There will also be a community service project as part of this program.
Sunday, Sept. 15
Save the date for "Tee Off" at Golf n' Stuff from 10:00am-12:00pm. Enjoy unlimited miniature golf, go-karts, bumper boats and laser tag. The cost is $18 per person. Bring your friends and family to share in the fun!
Sunday, Sept. 22
Religious School students will enjoy a delicious breakfast prepared by the Men's Club, and then take part in a variety of fun learning stations about Sukkot. The program begins promptly at 9:00am, so please be on time and go straight to the Sukkah!
Thursday, Sept. 26
Save the date for our "Triple Bar in the Midbar" Simhat Torah dinner at 5:00pm. Enjoy salad, pasta and ice cream bars! The cost for CAI Members is $10 per adult and $6 per child (ages 3-11). Afterwards join us for Hakafot (circling the Torah) to include Israeli singing, dancing, refreshments and a Torah roll.
Teachers' Classroom Recaps:
Kindergarten – Renee Hulsey
The kindergarten class had a lot of fun this week! We learned that the Hebrew alphabet is called the "Alef Bet," that the first letter is Alef and that it is silent. Aron HaKodesh is the Holy Ark where the Torot are kept and it starts with Alef. We also enjoyed Minyan (prayers) with Nichole. Rabbi Eisen joined us and showed us how to blow a shofar. It was very loud! Our class also learned how to say L'Shana Tova, Happy New Year! No class next Sunday; I'll see you in shul! Don't forget to bring Tzedakah on September 8.
1st Grade – Nancy Auslander
This week was very busy! We took a tour of the sanctuary and opened the ark so the children could see the Torot up close and personal. When we looked at them, we talked about Selihot (prayers for forgiveness that we say at the beginning of the High Holy Days), and redressing the Torah in lovely white covers for the New Year. We walked around the sanctuary to see where the Rabbi stands, and where the Torah is placed when we read it, the Ner Tamid (eternal light), and of course, our beautiful stained glass windows. From there we went straight to Tefillah with Nichole Chorny and Rabbi Eisen, who showed us several Shofarot (rams horns), and he blew one for us. Then it was off to our electives: Creative Art or Israeli Dance. After a brief break on the playground, we worked on the first Hebrew letter, Bet. Your children now recognize Bet, and can draw it. For more fun, we used modeling beads (Floam) to sculpt the letter in a variety of sizes. They will never forget that dot in the middle, you can count on it! P.S. Since I won't be at Religious School on Sunday, September 22, Rabbi Herman has arranged for a substitute. I'll see you in shul over the holidays!
2nd Grade – Bryan Gordon
Second grade went great this week, as we cracked open the New Hebrew Primer for the first lesson and continued to practice writing our Hebrew names. We also decorated small cards with the words שנהטובהומתוקה Shanah Tovah Um'tukah "A good and sweet year" in script letters. The kids are learning their script letters really quickly! To complement Tefillah (prayer) class, where they are learning Shehecheyanu (the blessing we say over new experiences), we focused on learning the meanings of all the words in the prayer, and we also spent some time talking about this week's Torah portion, which prepares us to stand before God on Rosh Hashanah.
3rd Grade – Laura Olesen
We had a great week! We continued learning about Haifa and each student received his/her own personal maps to map out areas about which we are learning. We also learned about Rosh Hashanah and will continue next week! Students are encouraged to bring in a shofar next class. In Hebrew, we continued with Chapter 1 and learned some Rosh Hashanah words as well. As always, the students take home a practice page. They also started learning the V'Ahavta. Good job, 3rd Graders!
4th Grade – Elana Israel
This week, the students worked on completing the unit on important Mitzvot (commandments). We discussed the upcoming holiday of Rosh Hashanah and made plans for those Mitzvot to which we would commit in the year 5774. In Hebrew, we practiced converting block letters to script, and recognizing all of the Hebrew vowels. All in all, a successful second week!
5th Grade – Sarah Artzi
This week, we were happy to welcome the other half of our 5th Grade teaching team, Courtney DeYoung (Morah Devorah). She jumped right in to our discussion of how we each got our Hebrew and secular names, and even managed to learn everyone's name by the end of the day! We will continue to meet as one class, but will now have the opportunity to break up into sections to better explore our curriculum. I've had several questions over this past week regarding Hebrew. Students are currently being assessed for Hebrew placement and will begin their programs after Rosh Hashanah. Please keep in mind that Hebrew classes are fluid, with skill levels constantly changing, and that your child may be with a different group than they were last year. Our goal is to place each student so he/she feels comfortably challenged, yet fully supported. More information on Hebrew will follow in the coming weeks.
5th Grade – Courtney DeYoung
This week in class, it being my first week, I was introduced to the class. The entire 5th Grade remained together for class, and continued what they were working on: the history behind their secular and Hebrew names. I believe this year will be amazing!
6th Grade – MeMe Aguila
The 6th Graders jumped right into their studies! We have begun our Jewish American Studies by talking about immigration. We'll be doing a family tree based on immigration, so we'll follow where everyone's family was born, and we will use that information to look at immigration patterns. In addition to our Jewish American studies, we'll be learning the prophets. Each student was given a prophet to learn about and present to the class. In Hebrew, we have been learning vocabulary words and have begun working on understanding the use of masculine and feminine verbs.
7th – 8th Grade – Sivan Shahmoon
The students engaged in a lively discussion about their Bar/Bat Mitzvah experiences (or their anticipation of this milestone event), as well as about the process of becoming a Jewish adult. We are looking forward to a great year with lots of hands-on activities!