Grade 4/Kitah Dalet - December HW, Gevurot in Hebrew and Transliteration

Hi Grade 4 Parents,

In this blog you will find

• the December HW Calendar
• our next prayer: the 2nd blessing of the Amidah, known as G'vurot
• G'vurot in Hebrew and Transliteration so that you can support your child if you are still learning Hebrew.

Also, you'll find a QR code on the calendar and on the G'vurot sheet.  This QR code will take you directly to the TI website where you can hear Cantor Ken singing Avot and G'vurot.  (Avot is the first blessing of the Amidah and they are chanted together.  This is excellent review for the kids!)  If you are new to QR codes, you'll need to download a QR code reader (they are generally free in the app store.)

As your kids master each line, they are welcome to call the Google Voice number and leave me a message.  720-PRAYER-1 (or 720-722-9371).

Thank you so much for supporting your kids and me!

L'Shalom,

Robin

Grade 4 - Kitah Dalet's Sunday

Kitah Dalet had Josh Satok as a sub on Sunday; he normally teaches grade 6 Hebrew, and he was excited to step in and teach the 4^th grade this week. The class spent the first half hour reviewing the story of Deborah, Barak, Yael, and the Battle of Mount Tabor; the second half was spent with characterization. The students were each assigned one of the major characters in the story, and spent time writing about their characters and seeking to understand their motivations and reasoning. They were asked both to write about specific actions their characters had taken within the story and to imagine the life their characters might have lived, given the details that Judges provides us. When they had done this, the students interviewed one another in character.

            Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukkah to you all—see you in a few weeks! 

Grade 5-Kitah Hey - Nov 23, 2015

We enjoyed our breakfast cereal, Chex, which kind of looks like a pillow(?).... representing the cozy rock pillow on which Jacob rested his head in this week's Torah portion. Hmmmm, sounds almost comfy!!??!? Our tefillah that followed was fun and joyful!  I sat with my boys, hoping to keep them a bit more focused.  It KIND OF helped..... Then back to class for Hebrew.  We are beginning to read and sing parts of the Torah service. I notice that some of my boys really do NOT like to sing.........but they are learning anyway. Thank you to so many parents for coming to share in our "kesher 13" program. Kesher means connections.  Our youth will be connecting with seniors.  Respecting our elders is a hugely important mitzvah.  Hoping to see that many of you will sign up!  It is a very rewarding experience! Just a quick mention of the court case we had midweek. Every student wanted to be the judge, so we each picked characters from index cards. Some kids were happy, some not so much......It was such fun.......even though a little chaotic........ Several students changed the story from the original Toldot as told in the Torah. Of course there was lots of laughter! ....Hollywood, here we come! Have a wonderful thanksgiving! And onward to Chanukah! Cindy

Parent Update: Something About Emails

Dear Parents,

Beginning in December, roughly every other month, you can expect to get an email from your  child's teacher with a short note describing an accomplishment, progress, or something special your child contributed to class.  We are calling these 

"Something About Emails"

During the first few weeks of December please watch for the first one.  It will come with the subject line "Something About [insert your child's name]"  It is important to note that each teacher will be emailing them directly to you and as they are completed.  Please do not expect to receive one for each of your children on the same day or even in the same week.  Do expect to receive one for each of your children by winter break.

If you would like a more formal mid year evaluation of your child please let me know.    I encourage everyone to use the "Something About" emails as an opening to a conversation with your child's teacher.

Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving Weekend.

Robin

Grade 1—Kitah alef, November 22, 2015

Thank you so much, parents, for attending and supporting our incredible Family Hanukkah Program today!  It was a wonderful day for learning together!

First, breakfast and a discussion about Jacob and his children, we joined the other classes for tefillah and singing a few Hanukkah melodies.  Thank you, Noam from grade 7 who helped us during breakfast.

Back in class, we studied Hebrew, first reviewing earlier letters, then learning our new letter: Our Hebrew letter this week was ה, hay.  Some words that begin with ה are Havdalah, har (mountain), haggadah, and Yom Huledet (birthday).

After blessings and snack, we met the parents and day-school families in the social hall, for the program.  Jacqueline Serebrani-Kesner first retold the Hanukkah story.  Then children began fashioning their lanterns with their parents.  As they formed the clay and shaped it around the glass, each group discussed values—family, courage, friends, freedom, etc.  Painting was next. 

 Everyone really enjoyed the activity.

Happy Thanksgiving.  The next Sunday class is December 13.

Esther and Tzipporah (Judy and Cheryl)

Grade 4 - Kitah Dalet Update 11.22

Hi Kitah Dalet Families,

This morning we continued our work on the First Blessing of the Amidah.  By over the next week, please make sure your child is fully caught up.  Everyone in the class should be able to read (or chant) 4 lines from Ashrei, the Friday Night Kiddush and the First Blessing of the Amidah.  

This week:

• Check out the TI website (music section) for audio files of Cantor Ken singing all three of these prayers.

• Encourage your child to make use of the Google Voice Number.  720-772-9371 (720-PRAYER-1)  Your child should say their name and read or chant what they are working on.  A few of your kids have used this and it's helped me help them, because I can listen through my computer (when they leave a message, I get an email with an audio file that I can play) and pin point exactly what their trouble spots are in then in class help them on exactly what they need help on.  TI's website.

• If you don't read Hebrew and would like to follow along with your kid as they practice, I've uploaded the transliteration in some earlier posts.

I've noticed the kids who practice regularly at home, come in more confident and excited to share their learning and move forward.  

Also this morning, each student was given a copy of the brit/class contract we've been working on and talking about since September.   Everyone signed a copy and I signed everyone's copy.  They are now living in your students binders so we can reference them easily. 

After Thanksgiving we'll be starting the Second Blessing of the Amidah.  Please be in touch with any questions.  I look forward to hearing their voices through Google Voice.

Isabel, Gabe, Max, Zach and Asher - I'll see you on Tuesday!

Have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving Weekend!

L'Shalom,

Robin

Kindergarten/Gan Class Update 11-22-15

Today we got to meet our new friend Sam from the Gesher Class!  He came to help us with breakfast and to ask us some questions that help us relate to the Torah portion of the week.  He was a super big help and we hope to see him again soon.

Some of the highlights from today were hearing the next Torah story, learning a new letter, playing an Aleph Bet game and starting our study of Hanukkah.

In our Torah Story unit we met Abraham and his wife Sarah.  They were too old to have children but after being kind to strangers they had a son and his name was Isaac.  We will revisit this story again soon so that everyone can enjoy it.

Our new letter is het.  Het begins the word challah.  Now that we have learned a whole bunch of letters, we have introduced a new ball game to help identify the letters and the sounds.  We will play several times throughout the year.

Our goal today in our Celebrations unit was to see what we already know about Hanukkah and understand the story of Hanukkah.  Many students shared their thoughts and identified Hanukkah as a time to spend with family, light candles, say blessings and gather with friends.  We will continue our exploration on Hanukkah on December 13th.

Our next class will be on December 13th which is during Hanukkah.  There is no class on November 29th or December 6th.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about the Gan Class.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Michelle

Grade 7/Gesher this Sunday

Shakespeare said, “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

As part of our life cycle study, we are exploring Jewish naming traditions, the meaning of our own names and the people for whom we were named.  We looked to the Bible and found that only after Adam named all the animals did he realize that he had no partner thus there is a connection between ‘naming’ and ‘knowing.’  We learned that Isaac was named for laughter and the meaning of Jacob’s name is ‘heel’ because at birth he was holding on to the heel of his twin.  We learned that Leah named her first four sons in celebration of God’s recognition that Jacob loved her less than her sister.  Our exploration will include a micrography project and verses from Psalm 119.

We have learned about Jewish birthing and Brit Milah.  Today we learned about what happens when a Jewish family adopts a child.  How do we bring this child into the Jewish community?  Prior to hearing from Gail Pearlstein, our guest speaker, students considered adoption and asked,

·      If a child was not born Jewish and is adopted by Jewish parents, what happens? 

·      What about the child’s birth identity? 

·      Do your children know that they’re adopted?  If so, when and how did you tell them?

Gail told the story of her daughters’ adoption.  Born in Russia, they were living with hundreds of other children in an orphanage.  Her daughters were brought to America and immersed in the mikvah under the supervision of a Beit Din.  They have known all their lives that they’re adopted and, as they’re grown older, they have asked what that meant.  Gail said that as young adults, adopted children often experience feelings that they have no sense of where they came from and they look at their parents and realize that they don’t look like them.  Adopted children ask, “Why did my birth mother give me up?”  Gail shared that it can be challenging but that she tells them, “Always remember that you were not born under my heart, you were born in it.” 

Grade 4 - Kitah Daled Explore the History of Hanukkah 11.18 (Wed. Section)

Kitah Daled learned that history exists even before the Common Era began 2015 years ago and that the Hanukkah story, an event in our history, began about 2215 years ago.  We learned about Antiochus who sought to assimilate the Jews by outlawing Jewish practice and Mattathias and his son, Judah Maccabee who fought against the Syrian Greeks to reclaim the Temple in Jerusalem.  We learned that dreidel is a gambling game developed to deceive soldiers who suspected Jews of Torah study.  And we played the game to celebrate our history and because it’s fun!  All these facts were reinforced with a Hanukkah Rap enthusiastically read by our Kitah Daled students!

Grade 6 - Trope Class Update 11.17.15

A quick trope class update-- we've gone through all the trope (pages 3-6 in the packet, tracks 1-10), and the students should be practicing regularly.  They should be able to see any symbol, know the name, and know the tune.  They should also be able to sing through the trope song on page 7 (track 11), which they can finish highlighting if they didn't already. And, we started practicing and highlighting v'ahavta on page 12 (tracks 33 and 34).  They should do their best to sing it through using trope names and words, and to use the trope that we've been learning in class (which may be a little different from how they've normally heard and sung v'ahavta).  They can finish highlighting v'ahavta as well.  

Grade 6 - Kitah Vav 11.15.15

Last Sunday, Kitah Vav created individual pages for a comic book based on the story of Joshua and the Battle of Jericho; this Sunday, a copy of the complete comic book was given to each student to take home. Once we had looked through the book we made together, we spent the rest of class focusing on the story of Deborah, the only female judge mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Before addressing the story’s plot, the students were introduced to the characters: Deborah, the judge and prophet; Barak, the Israelite military commander; Jabin, the King of Canaan; Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite army, and Yael, the Kenite woman who unexpectedly secures the Israelites’ victory. Each student was given a character to get to know individually; we spent time in our character’s shoes and explored character traits and motivational factors before turning to the plot. Students were encouraged to listen to the story through the ears of the character they had spent time with beforehand, and to see how this affected their reading of the story. We will continue to work with characterization and motivation as we move forward through Prophets and Judges. 

Kitah Dalet's Sunday Class

This Sunday, Kitah Dalet finished up our subject matter from last week, and read through our complete, self-illustrated book on Joshua and the battle of Jericho. The illustrations that each student had completed last class were made into books that students could take home; we spent the first half of class reading through these books and explaining our illustrations to one another. In the second half of class, we moved on to the story of Deborah, the only female judge mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, and the only one to also be called a prophet. We had previously discussed what makes a prophet, and Sunday we had a similar discussion about judges: what does it mean to be a judge today, and what are the different roles that judges play in our community? What are the differences and similarities between judges today and in Ancient Israel? After the introduction to judges, the class listened to the story of Deborah, Barak, and the defeat of King Jabin’s army at the Battle of Mount Tabor. We will continue to explore this and other stories from Prophets and Judges moving forward. 

Grade 5 - Kitah Hey Update 11.15.15

So........ I hobbled into t.i. Sunday morning.......with my brace and my crutches, and waited in the foyer to greet my fabulous students.

Our class had been moved to downstairs in the chapel.  ( thank you Robin and Gretchen!)
As my students arrived, each came over to express concern, asking for details of my little mishap last Sunday......
Such thoughtfulness!
I received so many hugs!  (And some were big surprises!)
........from current students........and former students as well!
Wow.
I felt so loved and appreciated!
Once again, I can officially proclaim, "I love 'my kids' "

After sharing one of my favorite breakfasts cereals, kix, we joined together for community tefillah.  This has become a happy and high spirited way to begin our Sunday mornings.
Each class is dismissed with song..........  I asked cantor ken to please NOT dismiss grade 5 to the melody of hora this time................
         ...............  Since last Sunday I tried to DO the hora while exiting.      Ummmmmm......perhaps that wasn't my brightest idea ever?

Back in class we discussed the torah portion, toldot.
Sibling rivalry, parents having a favorite child, conflicting personalities, leadership, deception......
Was Isaac truly blind?  What else could it mean that he did not "see" or understand his sons?
Hmmmmmmm...... Disfunctional family to say the least!  Would make an interesting court case!
Perhaps we'll do that in Tues/wed session. Thanks for the idea!   😯

After break we jumped into Chanukah.
Everyone chose a side........
Are you a Jewish American ..........or an American Jew?
After some thought and moving back and forth, kids presented their position.
We discussed the pride we feel in America............and the pride we feel in israel, our holy land.
How do we show that pride?
Is there ever a conflict?
We concluded our day with singing star spangled banner and hatikvah!
This will all lead into Chanukah at our next class.

Hoping to be back upstairs for Tuesday's class!

Thank you for sharing your amazing kids with me!

Cindy

Grade 7 - What's Happening in Gesher?

Gesher students are studying the weekly Torah portion (parashat ha-shavua).

Gesher students are learning about the Prophets and currently studying Eliahu ha-Navi (Elijah).

Gesher students are learning about Jewish life cycle milestones from the experts!  

Gesher students are exploring the mysteries of Tefillin box contents with Rabbi Liben.

Grade 3 - Kitah Gimel

Kitah Gimel had a very busy Sunday morning!  During breakfast we discussed the Torah portion of the week - Parashat Toldot.  Students heard the story of how Esau sold his birthright for a pot of stew.  Students shared ideas of things special to them that they would never sell - trophies and books just to name a few were some of the ideas shared.

In Hebrew students started working in activity centers.  There were 3 centers today - Hebrew reading, script writing and Hebrew reading games.  Students spent about 10 minutes at each one.  They completed Lesson 2 in their script books and Lesson 6 in their reading books.  The Hebrew reading games involve reading and vocabulary review.  Students should spend a few minutes each day practicing the reading we do in class.  (This week p25&26 - Lesson 6 in the yellow Book, Alef Bet Quest.)

In our Holidays unit students are studying the holiday of Hannukah.  Last week the unit was introduced with the song Candlelight by the Maccabeats.  Students used the information from the song to brainstorm ideas about Hannukah in the following categories:  food, traditions, objects and songs.  This week students studied the story of Hannukah in groups by means of a Readers Theatre.  Each group was given a portion of the story to summarize and during the week we will use their summaries in a class wide iPad project.  More details about this to follow.

I hope everyone has a good week!

Elana

From Robin: One of my favorite things 11.15.15

Each Sunday morning, Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon we begin our days with prayer/tefila.  

Our Sunday service focuses on the opening of the morning service - Pseukei D'Zimra/Vereses of song and the Shema. We tend to sing (often with hand motions) our way through the tefila inserting a kavannah - the intention of each prayer along the way.   

Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons we focus on the Minha service which is 3 prayers: Ashrei, Amidah and Aleinu.  

One of my favorite parts of each day is the conclusion of these services.  We sing Oseh Shalom, a prayer for peace and then a younger student and an older student share the responsibility of bringing the Israeli flag to the center of the prayer space and together we sing Hatikvah.  

That moment of an older student and younger student standing together as we sing Israel's National Anthem is always a powerful one for me.

Classes are dismissed from the sanctuary, we at TI, we don't just dismiss the kids.  We know the importance of a good transition so each class is sung and danced out to a popular song.  Hand motions are always included and the hora is quickly becoming a minhag/custom.

Parents, you are always welcome to join us!  You voices and presence is most welcome.  Our service is about 30 min.

Kindergarten/Gan Class Update 11-15-15

Today was an incredibly busy day for the Gan Class.

Together we experienced a new Torah Story.  This week we heard about Noah and how God trusted him to build an ark.  The ark held two of every animal and seven of all the kosher animals.  Being on the ark saved the animals and Noah and his family during the very long flood.  We continued to illustrate in our workbooks and are looking forward to meeting Abraham and his family in our upcoming stories.

Our new letter today was bet.  Bet makes the sound b-.  Bayit, the word for house is a word that we learned that starts with bet.  

In our celebrations unit we  chatted about how we say goodbye to Shabbat by having Havdalah.  For Havdalah we need to see at least three stars in the sky.  We sniff the spiced from a spice box to remind us of the sweetness of Shabbat, we light a braided candle and have wine or grape juice.  Each student got to make their very own spice box that looks something like this:

We also learned about Jewish meals.  Each meal begins with a blessing over bread and ends with a blessing about bread.  We practiced saying HaMotzi together in class and have been exposed to Birkat Hamazon during Tefillot the past several weeks.  Students reflected on all the things that have to happen so that we can have bread, rain and sun and farmers and machinery and bakers and trucks and money to buy the bread were all some of the ideas that we came up with.

Next week we will begin learning about Hanukkah which begins on December 6th.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about the Gan Class.

Michelle