Second Grade-Kitah Bet is off to a great start!
Sunday morning we met as a class for a game we called "Shin Shakes Right" where we tried to guess who was the Shin Shaker, it was a nice way for the students to move around a bit and to reconnect with friends they had not seen for a while.
We shared what everyone is looking forward to learning this year. Reading Hebrew was by far the most popular choice! Many students are also excited to learn about the Jewish Holidays and Israel.
We also created a short list of 8 expectations for classroom behavior. Included is the need for safe bodies, sharing and following directions. Most importantly we stressed being kind, and of course having fun.
It was wonderful to see the Bet students participating in our school wide tefila (prayer session). During the year we will have the opportunity to pray both with the entire school and separately with the younger grades. Our focus in Kitah Bet will be learning the Shema and V'Ahvta prayers, both their meaning and how they are recited.
We are fortunate that on Sundays we are able to meet in smaller groups for learning about holidays and Hebrew. The Hebrew class is located upstairs and meets with Margie and the Holiday class is located downstairs and meets with Joanne. Rachel Greenberg is also in the class on Sunday mornings. Rachel is part of our "Madrchim " program which places teens in the class. Rachel is a graduate of our school and is currently a Junior in High School.
In our holiday class we shared our excitement about the coming holiday as we read the book "Sophie and the Shofar" and saw a
real shofar. We sang the Shofar song about Rosh HaShananah.
In Hebrew we reviewed the letters Shin, Bet and Tav, and learned the "ah"vowels. We were able to combine them on our whiteboard to read the Hebrew word Shabbat! On Tuesday and Wednesday the students will be receiving binders and text books. In the binders there is a pouch that will have a card for each letter and vowel as it is learned. The students will be coloring in the cards as we implement a new mnemonic system for learning Hebrew. For instance we learned the "Bet is a brown box with a ball in it". Be sure to look through the binders with your children this week. We will also be using the binders for any communication and as a homework log.
Homework will be assigned regularly and should not take more than 10 minutes. At this point, the homework will be to practice reading as a review to what has been learned in class. If you are a Hebrew reader you can listen to your child read and offer praise or gentle corrections. If you are not a Hebrew reader, the cards in the pouch have prompts on the back as to the sounds the letters/vowels make. Perhaps you could learn along with your child!
We are all looking forward to a year of growth and learning in Kita Bet!
Margie Matross
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