Religious School Parent Bulletin
February 21, 2014
Friendly reminders:
Join us on Friday, February 28 at 5:45pm for an energetic service led by our 3rd-5th Graders in the Religious School and at THA. After the service, we’ll have a delicious Shabbat dinner at 7:00pm. A letter went home to all 3rd-5th Grade students inviting them to sign up for parts in the service. Please send the form at the bottom of the letter back to Rabbi Herman indicating the part that you want. A flyer for the dinner went out in the same mailing. Please RSVP for the dinner by February 24 to Kim.
We are having a special assembly at the end of Religious School on Sunday, March 2 to talk about Rosh Hodesh. We are going to have once a month assemblies for the entire school to build community.
Looking for a great way to spend Shabbat? Then join us for Shabbat Family Experience, an interactive, spirit-filled and participatory service on Saturday, March 8 at 10:30am in the Epstein Chapel led by children in the Religious School and THA. Participants will lead services, discuss the meaning of prayers and determine how the teachings from our tradition apply to their lives.
TEACHERS' CLASSROOM RECAPS:
Kindergarten and 1st Grade – Renee Hulsey
We had a great time at Religious School this week! We had Tefillah with Nichole and learned a new tune for Mi Chamocha. We visited the Festival of Israeli Art Show and created art with Morim Leslee Gluck, Julie Stein and Devin Hulsey. Both classes learned the letter “ayin” and the 1st Graders learned the vowel sound “ee.” There is no school on Sunday for Rodeo Break. We hope to see everyone on Saturday, March 1 for Mallory’s Bat Mitzvah at 9:00am and/or the USY Ruach Service at 10:30am. Don’t forget tzedakah on March 2.
2nd Grade – Bryan Gordon
Our superb 2nd Graders have practiced every letter in the alphabet and all nine basic vowels, and are learning some of the special, advanced facts about "final" letters. On top of our studies of the Purim story, we are adding worksheets about what we are learning in prayer class (right now, "Ein Keloheinu"), so that there is a Hebrew component to all our Judaics content. On Tuesday the class decided they were ready for more challenging materials, and more outdoors Hebrew activities; let's see how far we can go!
3rd Grade – Laura Olesen
We had a very good week at Religous School! The students are doing well in Hebrew as they worked on both Ma Nishtana and Birkat HaMazon, and then reinforced this with the computer program connected to the chapters. The 3rd Graders are progressing well with Siddur Dedication preparation, and the solos are coming along well, too. In Judaics, we learned about Deborah and discussed Mount Tabor in northern Israel. The students did a great job with their Mount Tabor illustrations and mapping of it. Looking forward to their pictures!
4th Grade – Elana Israel
This week, the 4th Grade Judaics class began learning about the Jews in Tzfat, as well as those in Italy. We wrote songs and taught each other about their different hobbies, foods, fashion, and jobs. In Hebrew, we learned the letters “Koof” and “Kaf,” and played many games outside to enjoy the weather and practice reading!
5th Grade – Courtney DeYoung & Sarah Artzi
This past Sunday, the 5th Grade enjoyed a "field trip" within the building when we attended the Festival of Israeli Art Show. They were asked to select their favorite pieces and take some notes about their selections. We certainly had a broad range of personal tastes and opinions, but there were two paintings in particular that our class seemed to identify with most strongly. It was a wonderful change of pace from our Life-Cycle Unit which will culminate next week with a visit from Phyllis Broad, our synagogue's long-time Basic Judaism class teacher and mentor, who will share with us the many details and requirements of those seeking to convert to Judaism. Our class has already begun preparing its questions for Mrs. Broad, and it will, no doubt, be an informative and thought-provoking discussion for all of us.
6th Grade – MeMe Aguila
The 6th Graders gave reports on Ralph Lauren and George Burns as part of their unit on Influential Jewish Americans.
7th – 8th Grade – Sivan Shahmoon
This past class we went outside to enjoy the beautiful day and further discussed the Holocaust.