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, 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 Bishvat Seder, planting parsley seeds and Israeli dancing) in addition to going on a nature walk.
Please also save the date on Sunday, March 25 for our Keep on Truckin' Festival!
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Teachers' Classroom Recaps:
Kindergarten – Elana Weiner
Kindergarten did not meet in observance of Martin Luther King Day. We look forward to class on Sunday!
1st Grade – Renee Hulsey
1st Grade did not meet in observance of Martin Luther King Day. We look forward to class on Sunday!
2nd Grade – Emily Riley-Saxton
This week we played our first game of Jewpardy. The topics included Hebrew vocabulary, the aleph-bet, prayers, and Torah. The children knew almost all 20 questions! I was truly impressed. We reviewed our flash cards, mitzvot, and worked in our workbooks. See you all Sunday.
3rd Grade – Laura Olesen
The 3rd graders began their study this week on Deborah the Prophetess. We are locating and marking our mini maps Mt. Tabor in the Galil, and surrounding areas. Our new vowel this week is the vowel "segol" and their Key word was "Emet" (truth). They did an excellent job practicing these words in class. Please encourage your child to continue practicing at home.
4th Grade – Rebecca Grossberg
This week in 4th grade we continued our unit on Kashrut and learned about shechita (kosher slaughter) and what is kosher. In Hebrew we worked on the V'ahavta and discussed the meanings behind all the words.
5th Grade – Jesse Muller
This past class the students learned about the origins of music in Israel, why music is such an important part of culture, and several different styles of music that exist. After a brief discussion we listened to some samples of Israeli music and tried to hear the differences between the instruments.
6th Grade – Layni Direnfeld
This week in the sixth grade we reviewed the rise and assimilation of German Jewish immigrants in American society. We used the lives of several famous German Jewish immigrants to demonstrate the principle of tzedakah ("righteous giving"). In addition, we began to learn the causes of the mass immigration of Eastern European Jews.
7th – 8th Grade – Joel Kanter & Jessica Cooper
The seventh and eighth grade class continued brainstorming ideas for this year's Yom HaShoah service, which they will be running for religious school on Tuesday, April 17 from 5:45 to 6:00 pm. In the second hour they did some fun games in Hebrew with the USY Shaliach from Los Angeles.