GRADE 1--SHEMA PROGRAM MAY 22, 2016

Dear families:

A busy day today!  During breakfast, we talked about Mt. Sinai.  During tefillah, two alef students got to hold the flag for Hatikvah.  Students looked for the vowel .., two dots under a letter, pronounced “ay.”

Back in class, I read the story, First I Say the Shema, about how important that prayer is.  We say it morning and at bedtime, and in services.  We close our eyes, or cover them to avoid being distracted.  We recited the prayer as a class.

Then we studied Hebrew: First we reviewed previous letters, looking for similarities. The class learned the vowel sound “ay,” represented by . . under a letter. We find it in sefer, Yisrael, and several students’ names.  Our letter was “sin” ש, with the dot on the left side—"sin is never right” and “sin shakes left”—the first letter in Simhat Torah.  Then we reviewed letters in pairs.

We said the brachot and enjoyed our snacks.  We also had time for a few songs—David Melech, Hinei Mah Tov to the tune of Glory Glory Halelujah.  The students enjoyed the Color Song. 

Our main activity this morning was the Shema Family Program.  Jacqueline Serebrani-Kesner led us in exploring what we do at bedtime and why the prayer is important.  Then students decorated a pillow inscribed with the words of the shema.  Using their Hebrew name cards, the children wrote their Hebrew names on the pillowcases and decorated them.

Thank you, parents, for attending this morning to learn with your children.

There is no class next Sunday.  See you on June 5!

Judy and Cheryl (Esther and Tzipporah)