Spring 2021 Education Program

February 2021 update

K-1:
(Morah Rina)
It's been wonderful getting to know your children and thank you for always sending outdoor gear so we can explore nature as part of our class!  From our first class back in January, we jumped right into building our classroom community!  We began by cleaning up the outside space in the back of the school for use as our nature classroom.  There was lots of teamwork moving heavy branches, establishing boundaries, picking up litter and even building a nature sculpture.  While we have yet to use the space for our meeting time, we've still explored it for collecting natural materials and to enjoy being outside together.  As the weather improves, we'll use this space for larger portions of our class.  The class also voted on a name for ourselves (Teva class, which means nature!) and everyone picked a job they wanted to have for the class, such "Protector of the Boundaries" and "the Safe Bodies Guard".

We have been delving into the four core values chosen for as the focus this semester (Manhigut (Leadership), Emet (Truth), Tzedek (Social Responsibility) and Achrayut (Personal Responsibility).  We learned about different styles of leadership during the parting of the Red Sea (Pharaoh, Moses and Nachshon.  We even tried to replicate this miracle, by building dams and trying to hold back the water.  The class discussed levels of responsibility and then created classroom commandments that we want to keep.  We also talked about social justice by reading a book about a family who helps out a soup kitchen every week, then we made cards to go into the synagogue Mishloach Manot as a way to support our Jewish community.

We always try to fit in some Hebrew vocabulary during our weekly lessons.  We learned about the colors through a Mana collection game (colored bottle tops), numbers 1-10 for the commandants (find the number in chalk when it's called out in Hebrew), and even vegetables (while playing a stone soup matching game).  We look forward to continuing to explore Torah stories, Jewish values and community work when classes return after break. 

Hebrew:

(Morah Sharon)
This semester we are working toward targeting each student’s Hebrew needs more effectively.  There a students who are able to work independently with only “check-ins” with me.  However, we still have students who require more direct work specifically in learning the aleph-bet system.  Our goal is to have all students proficient in the aleph-bet enough to read simple conversational sentences.  To that end, working on this at home during the week will be a great help.  I am happy to send practice activities home to aid students with independent at-home work.  Additionally, I’m happy to meet students online to work with them during the week.

(Morah Gabi)
The students are thriving in our new Hebrew Resource Room. With an abundance of Hebrew games, words and letters, the students are able to pick and choose the way that best supports their learning. The beauty of the resource room is that everyone is able to go at their own pace. On occasion we do come together to learn as a group. We have explored the numeric meaning behind each letter (gematria) and learned the words to my favorite Purim song "La kova sheli." If you want to practice a bit more before the holiday here is a link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrNcxIuggHY 

(Morah Lena)
What a nice group we have in advanced Hebrew! We start each lesson with a conversation, question/answer session. It has been so nice to get to know each other while learning new Hebrew vocabulary in the process! Then each student proceeds to his/her reading comprehension story and conclude with Hebrew cursive writing answering questions about the story they read.

Judaics:

(Morah Gabi - grades 2-3)
I am excited to share that this semester's theme is Jewish heroes from biblical times all the way up to today. We started by establishing what makes a person a "hero" and debated whether or not you needed to be Jewish in order to be considered a Jewish hero. It is through our explorations of what makes ordinary people into heroes that we are understanding the importance of leadership (manhigut), responsibility (achrayut), truth (emet) and justice (tzedek). Some of the heroes we have investigated so far are Ruth Bader Ginseberg, King Solomon, Oskar Schindler, Alfred Dreyfus and Queen Esther. 

(Morah Sharon grades 4-6)
This semester we are, once again, exploring Jewish Values of: 
- Manhigut (Leadership) in it's various forms
- Emet (Truth)
- Tzedek (Social Responsibility)
- Achrayut (Personal Responsibility)
And asking these questions: 1) How could the these Jewish Values help me live a happier life; 2) How might these Values make a positive difference in the world?

We began this semester by exploring the overall meaning of the word “Values” and how they aid us in making decisions in our daily lives. Students took an inventory of their personal values which we refer to throughout our time together.  Ex.: Which value might be behind picking up after themselves? Self-control, Accountability, Self-responsibility, etc.  We have now examined the first three Jewish Values aided by our guest speaker, Rabbi Jon who spoke and answered great student questions about how these values influence his work in the K’hila (Community.)  As Judaics is a Project Based Learning opportunity, the discussions regarding our final project are leaning toward filming Public Service Announcements which would dramatize and inform others of the Jewish Values from this semester.  At present, the videos would remain accessible to our congregants only.

On a personal note, I am enjoying my work with both classes very much and look forward to seeing them again after break.  Thank you for sharing them with me. ☺️