Dear Kitah Hey Parents,
I'm very excited to be working with your students!
This year in fifth grade, we will be focusing on the prayers recited during the Torah Service.
On Sunday morning, we talked about the importance of the opening prayer, the Ein Kamocha, which we recite before the ark is opened. We discussed that this is a special time, where we are about to take out the most holy object in Judaism to read God's very own words. The question was posed, "What might people want to say in a prayer at this time?" After sharing our ideas, we looked at the English translation of Ein Kamocha. We started learning the first lines of the prayer, reading and then chanting (students participated in both choral reading and partner reading).
In class, we discussed our homework policy. Every student will be expected to practice Hebrew for 10 minutes every day, with the exception of the weekend. The fifth graders received a calendar with assigned lines for them to review as well as one new line to practice each day. On Thursday evenings, students will be asked to call my google voice number 508-656-0657 and record themselves either reading or chanting the assigned lines for that week. This practice will help the fifth graders master the prayers of the Torah Service and will assist students in becoming more fluent in their Hebrew reading skills. Each day a student completes their homework, I ask that you (or another adult) sign off for that day. For each day of homework completed, students will get to fill out a box on their incentive chart (located in the classroom). When all the boxes are filled, the students will be able to participate in a small celebration.
On Sunday, students were given a copy of a QR code which, when scanned using the "QR Reader/Scanner" app, directs students to an audio recording of Cantor Ken chanting the Ein Kamocha. Pretty neat, right? What isn't there an app for? If students are unable to download this app, the link to the website used is also provided on the same paper (which can be found in your child's black binder along with all other handouts).
Best,
Diana
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