Gimel Goings On

Shalom Gimel Families,

The Gimel class has been working very hard since we returned from April vacation.

Hebrew
We continue to review some of our vocabulary, reading and Hebrew counting during our Sunday morning meeting.
Students have completed the first 7 verses of Ashrei and have done an amazing job practicing and singing it.  They are definitely ready to work on the remainder of it next year in the Dalet class.
Last week students were introduced to the prayer, Mi Kamocha.  They have done a great job mastering this using different strategies - reading from their binders, singing, and technology.

Students have also had opportunities to lead the Birkot Hashachar during Sunday morning Tefillah.
Hebrew board games continue to be a highlight of our Sunday morning Activity Centers.

Holidays
The focus during the week before last was on Lag B'Omer, the 33rd day of the Omer.  This is the anniversary of the passing of the great scholar Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.  It also celebrates the great Rabbi Akiva who taught his students The Golden Rule - treat others as you wish to be treated.  In honor of Lag B'Omer students had special activities in the social hall.  There were 2 stations:  tie dyeing and golf ball decorating.  Lots of fun had by all!
This last week we started talking about Shavuot - beginning with a conversation about the counting of the Omer where students enthusiastically shared examples of events they would count the days for - birthdays, end of school year, camp, and many others.  After watching short movie clips about the Ten Commandments students listened to the story No Rules for Michael and discussed why having rules is important.  The highlight of this unit was the edible Torahs that students made in class this past Sunday.  This week we will focus on Shavuot as a harvest festival and read the story of Ruth.

Torah
In the parasha 2 weeks ago we learned:
Do not insult the deaf
Do not put a stumbling block in front of the blind
In Hebrew School we played a game called "Step Forward if..."  Students were asked a question and if it applied to them they had to step forward.  The goal was for everyone to move from one side of the room to the other.  The game was followed by an interesting conversation about how everyone had reached the other side of the room in different ways, and how important it is to respect each other's differences and to be inclusive.
The activity, which was school wide, was to put rubber bands on the T-shirts which were tie dyed on Lag B'Omer.   Each student will receive a tie dye shirt to bring home.  Tie Dye is something I have been doing every summer for the last dozen years.  Gimel students looked at photographs of T-shirts that I have made over the years and they noticed that no shirt was the same as another -  illustrating that everyone is  unique!


Shalom

Elana and Marc