Religious School Parent Bulletin March 8, 2013
There is a new chart by the Sanctuary doors for Shabbat Attendance. When your child comes to services, we will put a star in the column for his/her grade. There will be a special prize for the grade that attends the most times during the next two months!
Please continue to give tzedakah to your child’s religious school class so that we can raise enough money for each child to have a letter in Anshei Israel’s new Torah. The 6th Graders turned in a tzedakah box with $24.54, making our new total $95.89 towards our goal of $700 by December 2013. Yasher Koach!
Hope to see you at Shabbat Family Experience tomorrow!
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Saturday, March 9
Shabbat Family Experience 10:30am in the Epstein Chapel
Share in this interactive, spirit-filled and participatory service led by children in the Religious School and Tucson Hebrew Academy. Participants will lead services, discuss the meaning of prayers and determine how the teachings from our tradition apply to their lives. For more information and to RSVP, contact Kim.
Sunday, March 17
Religious School Passover Family Workshop 9:00am – 12:00pm
The entire family is welcome to join us for a fun-filled day of learning. Make a matzah cover or Seder plate, bake matzah, go on a Haggadah Scavenger Hunt and attend a Model Seder. Passover goodies will be served. The Shomrim and Gan Yeladim preschool families are encouraged to join us as well!
TEACHERS’ CLASSROOM RECAPS:
Kindergarten/1st Grade – Renee Hulsey
What a great Sunday class we had! We learned the letter zayin, as in zaev, which means wolf. We also learned that kelev is Hebrew for dog, and dag is Hebrew for fish! Pesah was also discussed, since it is our next holiday. Please remember that we are collecting tzedakah each week to help purchase letters for our new congregational Torah!
2nd Grade – Natalie Guerin
The 2nd Graders want to say "Todah Rabah" – "Thank you very much" to Gabe Krouse's mom, Nancy, who joined our class for three Tuesdays in a row to help us make our own kippot. We cut them out of felt, sewed them together and then decorated them. We couldn't have done it without her!
3rd Grade – Laura Olesen
The 3rd Graders looked amazing for their pictures for consecration! They also had their first practice in the sanctuary. Keep up the good work practicing solos and the rest of the service. In Hebrew, we continued with blessings for Shabbat and will begin blessings for Havdallah next week. In Judaics, we are learning about Joshua and Jericho. The students will re-enact this on Sunday.
4th Grade
In Judaics, Morah Sarah Artzi’s class covered the holiday of Rosh Hodesh and finished studying the Second Temple Period. Morah Shifra (Rodin) Molina’s class has been learning about the Spanish Inquisition and the exile of Jews from Spain. Students learned about forced conversion and Crypto-Jews and then completed a matching cards activity and Jeopardy-style game to review vocabulary from the section. In Hebrew, we've been learning the Mi Chamocha prayer, just in time for Pesah. Students have been learning the vocabulary and core concepts from the prayer. On Tuesday, students worked on their handwriting, making a poster with the Mi Chamocha prayer and an interpretive drawing of what freedom means to them.
5th Grade – Courtney DeYoung
On Sunday, we went into depth about growing up and moving away from home. The students were all so engaged in the conversation! On Tuesday, we discussed conversion. The students knew more than I expected. I'm so proud of them! In Hebrew, we began a new packet in conversational Hebrew. They learned how to answer questions regarding who they are and their names. We also discussed rooms in the house and family members. I feel as though they are catching on quickly and will do very well!
6th Grade – MeMe Aguila
In case you don't know about it, ask your 6th Grade student about the MITZVAH 613 project. In class we are taking a few moments to talk about it through the Hebrew letters. Each class we covers one Hebrew letter and a topic related to Torah. In addition, the 6th Graders have a tzedakah challenge: I have asked that each student bring in tzedakah. We are hoping for 100% class participation. That has not happened yet, though I do have a few who have not missed; we are closer each time. There is an total Religious School goal of donating enough money so each student dedicate a letter in CAI’s new Torah. By participation in this Religious School and classroom activity, the students are fulfilling two mitzvot (commandments): giving tzedakah and the 613th commandment to write a Torah.
7th – 8th Grade – Jacob Kotz
The 7th and 8th Graders rehearsed their parts for the Yom HaShoah presentation. We also divided up parts for the 7th and 8th Grade Siyum to be held Saturday, April 27.